Lady Pamela Hicks was laid to rest today following her death earlier this month at the age of 97. A first cousin to Prince Philip and a former lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II, her funeral was held at Brightwell Baldwin Church in Oxfordshire. She passed away on June 5.
As her wicker coffin, adorned with a delicate flower arrangement, was carried into the church, her youngest daughter, India Hicks, watched tearfully.
Family and Background
Lady Pamela Carmen Louise Hicks was the youngest daughter of Edwina Ashley and Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was Prince Philip's uncle. Her father was tragically killed by an IRA bomb on his fishing boat off County Sligo, Ireland, in 1979. She was also a great-niece of the last Empress of Russia, Alexandra Feodorovna.
Life and Service
Born in Barcelona, Lady Pamela later attended school in New York with her elder sister, Lady Patricia Mountbatten. Thanks to her family's close ties to the royal family, she was chosen as a bridesmaid at Princess Elizabeth's wedding to Prince Philip in 1947.
She became a lady-in-waiting to the princess before and after she ascended the throne. Lady Pamela was present at key moments, including when King George VI died while the Queen was on tour in Kenya. She also accompanied the Queen and Prince Philip on their six-month Commonwealth tour from 1953 to 1954, visiting Jamaica, Panama, Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia, Libya, Malta, and Gibraltar.
Marriage and Later Years
Lady Pamela married David Nightingale Hicks on January 13, 1960, in Hampshire, with Princess Anne as a bridesmaid. The couple had two daughters, Edwina and India, and a son, Ashley. David died of lung cancer in March 1998 at age 69. Following Queen Elizabeth II's death in 2022, Lady Pamela became the oldest living descendant of Queen Victoria.
Tributes
In an Instagram post announcing her mother's death, India Hicks wrote: "My mother died peacefully today. Whilst there is no tragedy in the death of a 97-year-old who has lived a full life, I know grief will be unavoidable... but today I am simply grateful that she was my Mother. She made incomparable company, carrying her memories lightly, and always with humour. She maintained right up to the end the impeccable style, sharp mind, and effortless charm that made her not only a cherished institution, but truly the last of her kind."
