August 14, 2025

[Notice kept on his desk while working on his biography of Lord Mountbatten] Remember. In Spite of Everything. He Was A Great Man.

Philip Ziegler (1929–2023), British historian, in Andrew Roberts, Eminent Churchillians (1994), Jay p.397

What must have been the general opinion of Mountbatten that his biographer needed such a reminder? What sort of disclaimer would you recommend to your biographer?

On balance, Mountbatten did play the Great Man role very well, better than many other aristocrats. Perhaps that was because he had a good idea of how to use the media. Whether he was in fact a truly great man is yet to be determined.