THE BRITISH royal family is set to make history with its first gay wedding, with one of Queen Elizabeth’s cousins getting married later this year.

Lord Ivar Mountbatten, 55, third cousin once removed to the Queen, will marry his longtime partner James Coyle in the coming months.

The royal is lifelong friends with the monarch’s youngest son Prince Edward and serves as godfather to his eldest child Louise.

Lord Ivar came out in 2016 following his 2010 divorce from the mother of his three children, Penny Mountbatten.

In his announcement the royal confessed that he had struggled with his sexuality throughout their 16 year marriage.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Lord Ivar revealed Penny would be giving him away, an idea the former couple’s three daughters — Ella, 22, Alix, 20, and Luli, 15 — came up with.

“It makes me feel quite emotional. I’m really very touched,” Penny said.

Lord Ivar also joked that he, Penny and James make a “funny threesome” and have formed a strong friendship.

“Ivar is so much more relaxed these days. He’s so much kinder. He’s become a great cook. I now call him Fanny Cradock,” Penny said.

“He probably wasn’t even aware that by keeping his sexuality a secret it was really quite tormenting him.

“Now it’s ‘out’ he’s a completely different person. Everybody says they’ve never seen him happier.”

Lord Ivar said he “never thought” he would marry another man and had “lived my whole life as a heterosexual” prior to coming out.

“All my good friends have accepted James. I basically told everyone: ‘I’ve found somebody — it’s a bloke.’ They just started laughing. Then they met James and one particular mate said: ‘If I was gay, I’d certainly go for him,” he said.

Revealing there had been no proposal, Ivar said he and James agreed to wed in “acceptance of this great love”.

Lord Ivar and James will marry in the coming months in front of 120 guests at a private chapel located on the royal’s private estate in Devon.