Pamela Hicks, a cousin, bridesmaid, and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II, witnessed significant moments in British history. Her life spanned royal connections and pivotal historical events, including the transition of India to independence. She passed away on Friday at the age of 97.
Her daughter, India Hicks, announced her passing on social media, without disclosing the location of her death.
Born in a suite at the Ritz Hotel in Barcelona with King Alfonso XIII of Spain overseeing, Hicks lived a life richly intertwined with Europe’s royal families. She was a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and first cousin to Prince Philip, Elizabeth’s husband. Her father, Lord Louis Mountbatten, descended from the Battenberg dynasty of Germany, was a mentor to King Charles III. Hicks and her elder sister, Patricia, were third cousins to Elizabeth and were bridesmaids at the royal wedding in 1947.
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Her life encountered tragedy when her father died in a 1979 bomb attack organized by the Irish Republican Army. Her mother, Edwina Ashley, an affluent and attractive heiress, was known for having lovers, including one who lived with the family with apparent consent from her husband.
In 1947, when the Mountbattens relocated to New Delhi amid Britain’s withdrawal from India, her mother reportedly developed a strong bond with Jawaharlal Nehru, who became India’s prime minister. Hicks consistently denied biographical claims of their relationship having a romantic nature.
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