I masterminded the plot to blow up Lord Mountbatten: Ex

A ruthless ex-IRA commander has sensationally confessed to The Mail on Sunday that he was behind the assassination of King Charles's beloved great-uncle.

In an astonishing admission set to cause huge pain to Charles, Michael Hayes callously boasted that he designed the explosive device that killed Lord Mountbatten, and masterminded the atrocity.

Lord Mountbatten – a mentor to both Prince Philip and the then Prince Charles – was murdered aged 79 when the IRA blew up his pleasure boat during a holiday at his summer home in Co Sligo, on the west coast of the Republic of Ireland, in August 1979.

Only one member of the IRA was ever convicted of the atrocity. Thomas McMahon was arrested on the day of the blast and jailed for life but later released under the Good Friday Agreement. 

But now, after being approached by a MoS reporter, Hayes has bragged: 'I blew up Earl Mountbatten.'

Michael Hayes (pictured) callously boasted that he designed the explosive device that killed Lord Mountbatten, and masterminded the atrocity

Hayes (pictured) said that he did not regret killing Lord Mountbatten and coldly described the two teenage boys who died as 'casualties of war' 

Lord Mountbatten – a mentor to both Prince Philip and the then Prince Charles – who was murdered aged 79

Killed alongside the earl were his grandson Nicholas, 14; Doreen Brabourne, 83, Nicholas's grandmother; and crewman Paul Maxwell, 15, of Enniskillen.

Legal experts this weekend told the MoS that Hayes's admission made him liable for prosecution for the murders, if the Irish police and Director of Public Prosecution decided to pursue him.

Hayes said that he did not regret killing Lord Mountbatten and coldly described the two teenage boys who died as 'casualties of war'.

As Buckingham Palace last night declined to comment, Ian Paisley Jr, the Democratic Unionist Party MP for North Antrim in Ulster, called for the Garda Síochána, the police service in the Republic of Ireland, to 'immediately' investigate Hayes.

'The sensational, shocking and blood-curdling statement by a self-confessed, cold-blooded murderer ought to be immediately investigated by the police and the man brought to justice,' he said.

Queen Elizabeth II pictured chatting with Lord Louis Mountbatten at the Guards Polo Club on June 1 1975

The IRA blew up Mountbatten's pleasure boat during a holiday at his summer home in Co Sligo, on the west coast of the Republic of Ireland. Pictured: The wreckage after the explosion

Legal experts this weekend told the MoS that Hayes's admission made him liable for prosecution for the murders. Pictured: Part of the wreakage of Lord Mountbattens boat the Shadow V, circa August 1979

The brutal killing of Lord Mountbatten, who was affectionately known as 'Uncle Dickie' by the Royal Family, affected Charles deeply. In his diary, the 31-year old Prince of Wales wrote of 'agony, disbelief, a kind of wretched numbness'. But in 2015 Charles showed forgiveness, shaking hands with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams after travelling to Ireland to see where Mountbatten died.

Hayes, a grandfather who lives alone in Dublin, was previously named as one of four men behind the 1974 IRA Birmingham bombings and has taken what he called 'collective responsibility' for all of the IRA's actions in England.

But he has never before linked himself to the murder of Lord Mountbatten and the other victims who died when a remote-controlled 50lb bomb ripped through the hull of the Shadow V. Speaking to a MoS reporter, Hayes revealed that he was McMahon's 'commanding officer'. He said: 'Tom McMahon, he was only a participant. I am an explosives expert, I am renowned. I was trained in Libya. I trained there as an explosives expert.'

Asked if he was saying that he was the man who designed the bomb, he boasted: 'Yes, I blew him up. McMahon put it on his boat ... I planned everything, I am commander in chief. '

Hayes has never before linked himself to the murder of Lord Mountbatten and the other victims who died when a remote-controlled 50lb bomb ripped through the hull of the Shadow V. Pictured: Debris of the boat following the blast

The brutal killing of Lord Mountbatten (pictured), who was affectionately known as 'Uncle Dickie' by the Royal Family, affected Charles deeply

Prince Charles is pictured with Lord Louis Mountbatten at a polo match holding pint of beer 

Earl Mountbatten's coffin is carried during his funeral following his death at the age of 79

An alleged IRA accomplice, Francis McGirl, was also arrested on the day of the attack but he was later acquitted. He died in a farming accident in 1995.

Hayes confirmed to the MoS that he was also in County Sligo at the time of the bombing, adding: 'Francis McGirl made a b

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