Inside the extraordinary life of Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten, Baroness of Brabourne, as Tatler remembers her on her birthday

In her partnership with John, Patricia had 8 children. It was an enduring and faithful marriage, which saw Patricia devote much of her life to raising their family at Newhouse in Mersham, Kent (part of the Brabourne estate.)

In August 1979, Patricia became one of three survivors of one of the best-remembered episodes of the Troubles. While the Mountbattens were holidaying on the Irish Coast, the IRA strapped a 50-pound bomb to the hull of her father’s fishing boat, Shadow V. On a clear blue…