The King’s goddaughter, India Hicks has touched hearts with a warm and lighthearted tribute to her mother, Lady Pamela Hicks, after confirming the aristocrat’s death at the age of 97.
Sharing her memories alongside the announcement, India reflected not only on her mother’s remarkable life, but also on her famously witty approach to living well.
She once jokingly attributed simple pleasures – chocolate biscuits at eleven o’clock and a lifelong fondness for treats such as Charbonnel and Walker chocolates and Toblerone kept close at hand.
India also recalled her mother’s enduring belief in always maintaining a sense of occasion, noting that even the most ordinary moments were met with her elegance, humor and insistence on being “properly dressed, even for the pub”.
Lady Pamela lived a life closely linked to the royal family.
The daughter of Lord Mountbatten of Burma, she was the great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and cousin of Prince Philip, later becoming the first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.
His long-standing relationship with the late queen began in childhood and evolved into a deep personal trust.
Pamela was one of Princess Elizabeth’s bridesmaids at the 1947 royal wedding and later became one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting, remaining a member of her entourage for many years.
She was also married for nearly four decades to renowned interior designer David Nightingale Hicks, with whom she shared three children: Edwina Victoria Hicks, Ashley Louis David Hicks, and India Amanda Caroline Hicks.
Their 1960 wedding was attended by members of the royal family, with Princess Anne among the bridesmaids.
The news of his death was shared by India Hicks on social media.
“My mother died peacefully today,” she wrote, describing a life lived fully and without regret.
