George Mountbatten

Lord George Mountbatten is the Duke of Westminster, and the current Prime Minister of Bretonia, and leader of the Crown Royalist party. Lord Mountbatten is a retired Bretonian Armed Forces officer, who held the rank of Commodore at the height of his military career.

Though currently in high favor with Queen Carina I, he recently led a rebellion against her. He was pardoned by Her Majesty after renouncing his rebellion and was reinstated in the BAF at the rank of Commander. After serving for a short time, Lord Mountbatten retired his commission, and took up a seat in the House of Lords.

During his career in the House of Lords, he quickly rose to a leading role among the more progressive element of the Crown Royalist party, and his charismatic appeal among the masses gave him a sizable following in the House of Commons as well. He was eventually able to weaken the government of former Prime Minister James Worthington to the point where it was no longer able to function. For this, Queen Carina appointed him Prime Minister and allowed him to form a government.

Since taking power, Lord Mountbatten has proven a steady, charismatic leader, popular among both members of the military as well as the citizens of Bretonia. He is often regarded as one of the most popular Prime Ministers in Bretonia's history, rivaling even that of Queen Carina.

Background

Lord George Mountbatten was born on May 23rd, 769 A.S., and is the son of Lord Nelson Mountbatten. His childhood and early life was quite typical of a Bretonian in his social class. Upon reaching adulthood, George chose a career in the Bretonian Armed Forces over a career in academics and government, as was the family's tradition.

After arriving at the Dartmouth Naval Academy in 787 A.S., George distinguished himself as an able, charismatic leader. Combined with his quick grasp of military strategy, he was selected for the Command track where he excelled. In his final year at the Academy, he was given the singular honor of commanding the HMS Harlow (The BAF's training ship in Salisbury), and graduated with honors in 791 A.S. From there, he was assigned to the HMS Sovereign under the command of Captain James Wright.

Serving under Captain Wright, George Mountbatten proved himself as capable in actual service as he was at the academy, and rose through the ranks at a regular rate, and gained further responsibilities. In 798, he was promoted to Commander and given the role of Executive Officer of the HMS Sovereign. He served well in this role and was expected to receive a command of his own in short order.

In late 799 A.S., forces of the Rheinland Military invaded Bretonian space, inciting the short-lived Nomad War. The Sovereign was on the forefront of this battle. Shortly into the conflict, Captain Wright was killed in battle, and Mountbatten received a battlefield promotion to Captain. In the remaining battles, the Sovereign and a handful of other ships held the line against superior Rheinland forces long enough for a large BAF fleet to arrive. For his actions here, he received the Distinguished Service Order from Queen Carina herself. It was shortly after this that Lord Nelson Mountbatten died, but not before passing him fraudulent information that led to the Constitutional Crisis of 816.

Over the following years, Mountbatten served the BAF honorably, and was eventually promoted to the rank of Commodore, and granted command of a small task force. Unknown to all but a few fellow conspirators, it was during this time that Mountbatten began to lay the groundwork of his later rebellion in 816.

Constitutional Crisis of 816

In September of 816 A.S., Commodore Lord George Mountbatten made a claim on the throne of Bretonia, based on genealogical information received from his father that erroneously indicated that he, not Queen Carina, was the rightful Monarch of Bretonia. He gained a substantial following among the BAF, including the former Admiral of the Essex Great Fleet, Admiral Florence Haye. He also received support from more progressive elements in Bretonian society, who were disaffected by the imperialist government that was in power at that time.

When a Parliamentary investigation failed to reach a satisfactory conclusion on whether Mountbatten's genealogical records were genuine, this only managed to inflame the conflict. Soon after this, however, Lord Mountbatten managed to gain access to his father's private records, where he learned of his father's actions in falsifying records, and using his position at Cambridge to delete or alter any definitive information from the archives there.

Upon realizing his error, Lord Mountbatten immediately halted his forces, and issued a public statement wherein he released all the information to the public. After that, he surrendered to the QCRF, and was taken to the Royal Detention Facility at Marlborough Pile on Planet Leeds. Everyone expected that he would soon be executed for his actions, so it came as something as a surprise when he and his followers all received full pardons from the Queen herself. After this, he returned to the BAF, where he was reinstated at the rank of Commander, and allowed to retain command of the Sovereign.

Political Career

After commanding the HMS Sovereign on the front lines of the Tau War, Lord Mountbatten decided that it was time for him to retire from active service. After his retirement, Lord Mountbatten took his family's ancestral seat in the House of Lords, which had remained empty since his father's retirement from public life. Using the same charismatic style that had served him well throughout his career, he quickly rose to leadership among the previously fractured progressive elements of the Crown Royalist party. He championed various progressive issues, often pushing them through despite fierce opposition. With each success, he weakened the imperialist majority a little further. Eventually this culminated in the Constitutional debate in early 817, which was a crushing defeat for Prime Minister Worthington's Government.

After this defeat, Lord Mountbatten was appointed to the position of Prime Minister by Queen Carina, and formed a new, more progressive government. Since becoming Prime Minister, Lord Mountbatten has done his best to balance the needs of the Bretonian people with the necessities of a war that is not going well. With his trademark charisma, and steady, strong leadership, he is extremely popular among both the military and the citizens of Bretonia.