Two Mountbattens, Two Bombs
- Patrick Duggan
- Feb 19
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 25
# Two Mountbattens, Two Bombs
On August 27, 1979, it took 50 pounds of gelignite to bring down a Mountbatten.
On February 19, 2026, it took 329,473 documents.
The First Mountbatten
Lord Louis Mountbatten — last Viceroy of India, Supreme Allied Commander of Southeast Asia, First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy, uncle to Prince Philip, great-uncle to King Charles III — was killed when the IRA detonated a bomb hidden aboard his fishing vessel *Shadow V* in Donegal Bay, off Ireland's northwest coast.
The bomb was 50 pounds. Gelignite. Planted overnight by Thomas McMahon, an IRA volunteer, on the hull of a 30-foot cabin cruiser moored at Mullaghmore harbour.
The explosion killed four people: Mountbatten (age 79), his grandson Nicholas Knatchbull (age 14), crewmember Paul Maxwell (age 15), and Doreen Knatchbull. Three more were severely injured.
McMahon was arrested at a routine Garda checkpoint eighty miles from Mullaghmore. They found nitroglycerine on his clothing, paint from the Shadow V on his boots, and sand from Mullaghmore in his treads. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The assassination was the first blow struck against the British royal family by the IRA. It hardened Margaret Thatcher's government. It changed the course of the Troubles.
The Second Mountbatten
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — second son of Queen Elizabeth II, Duke of York (stripped), known to the world as Prince Andrew — was arrested today at Sandringham House by Thames Valley Police on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
On his 66th birthday.
No bomb. No gelignite. No fishing vessel. Just documents.
The Document We Had
**EFTA00022062.** A 41,365-character Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty request from the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division to the Central Authority of the United Kingdom. Dated April 3, 2020.
Subject line: **"Request for Assistance in the Matter of Material Witness PA."**
The document states:
> "U.S. authorities seek to interview H.R.H. Prince Andrew Albert Christian Edward, the Duke of York, also known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, relating to two ongoing criminal investigations."
Two investigations. Not one.
**Investigation I: The Epstein Investigation.** The DOJ wrote:
> "The investigation to date has revealed that Prince Andrew may have been a witness to and/or participant in certain events of relevance to the ongoing investigation. For example, one victim has alleged that Maxwell introduced her to Prince Andrew who, according to this victim, was present for certain of the victim's interactions with Epstein and Maxwell."
> "Documentary evidence uncovered during the course of this investigation has revealed information suggesting that Prince Andrew had knowledge that Maxwell recruited females to engage in sex acts with Epstein and other men."
> "There is evidence that Prince Andrew engaged in sexual conduct involving one of Epstein's victims."
**Investigation II: The Peter Nygard Investigation.** The DOJ also revealed:
> "On at least one occasion, Prince Andrew travelled to Nygard Cay in the Bahamas, a location where Nygard is believed to have trafficked minor and adult female victims."
Two separate sex trafficking investigations. Both involving a member of the Royal Family. Both documented in a formal MLAT request that the DOJ sent six years ago.
The DOJ asked for a voluntary interview. They warned: if he refuses, **compel him under oath.** He refused. The UK did not compel.
Then on January 30, 2026, the DOJ released the documents.
Twenty days later, handcuffs.
The Provenance
We can prove we had this document before the arrest.
| Timestamp | Event |
|-----------|-------|
Microsoft pulls this feed daily. AT&T pulls this feed daily. Starlink pulls this feed daily. Get the DugganUSA STIX feed — $9/mo →
| **2026-02-07T20:10:51Z** | DugganUSA creates the `epstein_files` search index |
| **2026-02-08T00:09:58Z** | EFTA00022062 indexed — 11 days before the arrest |
| **2026-02-09T03:27:39Z** | Duplicate copy (dataset9) indexed |
| **2026-02-19** | Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested at Sandringham |
The document sat in our index for **eleven days** before the arrest. Nobody searched for "Mountbatten" or "Prince Andrew" during that time. Zero queries. The MLAT request was there, waiting, in a searchable database that anyone on Earth could query for free.
The search engine is at [epstein.dugganusa.com](https://epstein.dugganusa.com). Search "Mountbatten." You'll find EFTA00022062 — the document the DOJ sent six years ago asking the UK to bring in Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
The Comparison
In 1979, it took **50 pounds of gelignite** to bring down a Mountbatten. A physical bomb on a physical boat, planted by a man who was caught because he had paint on his boots and sand in his treads. Four people died. Two of them were children.
In 2026, it took **329,473 documents** to bring down a Mountbatten. Weightless. Digital. Released by the Department of Justice, indexed by two people in Minnesota, searchable for free by anyone on the planet. Nobody died. Nobody was injured. The only explosion was transparency.
The IRA's bomb destroyed a boat and killed a war hero. The DOJ's documents destroyed impunity and arrested a prince.
The Detail That Haunts
The Epstein files themselves — the very documents that brought down Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — contain a newsletter referencing the assassination of his great-uncle.
**EFTA00015646**: An internal DOJ/MTA news brief from August 27, 2021, includes a "Significant Dates in History" section noting: *"On August 27, 1979, Lord Louis Mountbatten is killed when Irish Republican Army (IRA) terrorists detonate a 50-pound bomb hidden on his fishing vessel Shadow V."*
The documents are recursive. They contain their own history. The files that arrested one Mountbatten include the history of how they killed the last one.
The Numbers
50 pounds of gelignite. 329,473 documents. 41,365 characters in one MLAT request. 11 days between indexing and arrest. 6 years between the DOJ's request and UK's action. 0 searches for "Mountbatten" in our logs before today. $76 a month. Two people.
One family name connects a 1979 IRA assassination to a 2026 arrest over sex trafficking documents. Both times, a Mountbatten was brought down. The first time took explosives. The second time took transparency.
The bomb got smaller. The blast radius got bigger.
*Built by DugganUSA LLC. EFTA00022062 was indexed February 8, 2026 — eleven days before the arrest. Every claim is verifiable. The API is free.*
*Her name was Renee Nicole Good.*
*His name was Alex Jeffery Pretti.*
The cheapest, fastest, most accurate threat feed on the internet.
275+ enterprises pulling daily. 1M+ IOCs. 17.4M indexed documents. We beat Zscaler by 43 days on NrodeCodeRAT. Starter tier $9/mo — less than any competitor’s sales demo.
Comments