It’s now the best part of half a century away.
But the blast that killed Louis Mountbatten, Prince Philip’s uncle and Prince Charles’ surrogate grandfather, on this day in 1979, still echoes through the years.
The bomb the IRA placed on his fishing boat in Mullaghmore on Carlingford Lough killed Mountbatten, one of his twin grandsons, Nicholas Knatchbull, his daughter-in-law Lady Doreen Brabourne and a local 15-year-old, Paul Maxwell.
On the same day, another eighteen lives were lost when the IRA ambushed a convoy of British soldiers with two roadside bombs at nearby Warrenpoint.
The bloodshed and loss of someone so close has shaken the royal family to its very foundations.
Born Prince Louis of Battenberg in Windsor in 1900, the son of Prince Louis of Battenberg and Princess Victoria of Hesse was affectionately known as ‘Dickie’.
His great-grandmother was Queen Victoria, meaning that in addition to his relationships with the late Duke of Edinburgh, he was also a distant cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.
It was also Lord Mountbatten who introduced a young Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip while the royals were on a tour of Dartmouth Royal Naval College.
And when Philip had to relinquish his title as Prince of Greece to marry Elizabeth, he chose to take his beloved uncle’s surname.
Admiral of the Fleet Lord Louis Mountbatten (1900 -1979) in the Ministry of Defense on his retirement from the office of Chief of the Defense Staff, 15 July 1965
The IRA planted a bomb on Mountbatten’s yacht, Shadow V, while it was moored at Carlingford Lough in 1979. Above: Mountbatten with his family on the same boat
Prince Charles with Lord Mountbatten after watching polo at Smiths Lawn, Windsor
The 79-year-old was a well-known figure in Britain thanks to his close relationship with the Queen, Philip and his pupil Charles, the Prince of Wales, as he was then.
Mountbatten had also been head of the Royal Navy and had been Viceroy of India when the country gained independence from Britain in 1947.
He was the first Governor-General and returned to Britain a year later. Mountbatten continued his work in the Navy and was appointed Personal Assistant-de-camp to the Queen in 1954.
The title, which was awarded to members of the royal family, positioned Mountbatten as an honorary soldier to the Queen.
In August 1979 he was on holiday in Ireland when the IRA planted a bomb on his fishing boat while it was moored overnight in the Irish village of Mullaghmore on Carlingford Lough in County Sligo.
The next morning, he set out with his family and a 15-year-old sailor in the signature white-and-green Shadow V.
The group had just reached a set of lobster pots set up the day before when the 50 pounds of plastic explosives hidden in the engine compartment went off.
The Daily Mail called it a day of ‘unprecedented horror in Ireland’
Dickie, as he was affectionately known, was the last Viceroy of the British Indian Empire
Prince Charles and Prince Philip talk to Lord Louis Mountbatten during a polo match in 1977
In a massive explosion, Shadow was blown to pieces. Mountbatten’s grandson Nicholas Knatchbull and teenage crew member Paul Maxwell were killed instantly.
Mountbatten, who survived the initial explosion, died while being carried ashore.
The others on board, Mountbatten’s daughter Patricia and her husband John Knatchbull; their other son Timothy and Knatchbull’s mother Doreen were all seriously injured.
Doreen died the next day, while Patricia would live another twenty years. John Knatchbull passed away in 2005 at the age of 80.
Mountbatten had a close relationship with the royal family. Pictured: Lord Mountbatten, the Queen and Prince Philip wave from the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the Silver Jubilee procession
Lord Mountbatten on holiday with the Knatchbull twins on the beach below his castle in County Sligo
An Irish police officer looks through the rubble of the Shadow V boat Earl Mountbatten was on when it was blown up by the IRA
Timothy, now 58, who had to do without his twin brother, was laced with wood splinters in the explosion and also had a huge black eye.
On the same day as the Mountbatten assassination – and not far from it – the IRA also detonated two roadside bombs near Warrenpoint, killing 18 soldiers.
It was the deadliest attack on the British Army during the Troubles.
The Daily Mail’s coverage called it a day of ‘unprecedented horror in Ireland’ as the Provisional IRA said they carried out the killings to ‘arouse the attention of the British people to what is happening in Northern Ireland’.
As a sign of the depth of their grief, the royal family held a week of mourning at court.
Lord Louis Mountbatten’s coffin with the Union Jack flag draped over the top
The Queen and Prince Philip seen at Lord Mountbatten’s funeral at Westminster Abbey
King Charles was very close to Mountbatten, who had tutored him as a teenager. Above: The then Prince of Wales at his great-uncle’s funeral
On the day of Mountbatten’s funeral at Westminster Abbey, Charles, who was tutored by him as a teenager, marched behind his great-uncle’s coffin.
According to his wishes, Mountbatten was later buried at Romsey Abbey in Hampshire.
Charles left behind a wreath of red roses and carnations, with the message, “To my HGF and GU from his loving and devoted HGS and GN.”
The words were family code, with Charles regarding Great-Uncle Mountbatten as his “honorary grandfather,” who in turn referred to Charles as “honorary grandson and great-nephew.”