Lieutenant David Michael Mountbatten, 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven, (12 May 1919 – 14 April 1970) was a British peer and naval officer. Styled Viscount Alderney before 1921 and Earl of Medina between 1921 and 1938, he succeeded his father as Marquess in 1938 and served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.
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Early years and education
David Michael Mountbatten was born on 12 May 1919 in Edinburgh, Scotland, the only son of George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven (who had been born as Prince George of Battenberg), and Russian Countess Nadejda (Nada) de Torby, who married in 1916. His paternal grandparents were Prince Louis of Battenberg and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. He was therefore a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria. His maternal grandparents were Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia and his wife, Countess Sophie von Merenberg, who was descended from the House of Nassau-Weilburg through a morganatic line. He was also a descendant of the Russian writer Aleksandr Pushkin as well as Peter the Great's African protégé, General Abram Petrovich Gannibal.
He grew up at the family home in Holyport, Berkshire, and enjoyed a close friendship with his first cousin Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later the Duke of Edinburgh. They both attended Dartmouth Naval College. He served as best man to the prince at his marriage in November 1947 to Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II.