India Hicks says Lady Pamela Hicks died at 97
India Hicks said Lady Pamela Hicks, her mother and a former lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II, died at 97. The announcement closes the book on one of the few remaining first-hand links to the court culture around Elizabeth’s early reign, from Kenya in 1952 to Westminster Abbey in 2022.
India Hicks on her mother
India Hicks announced the death on Instagram and called her mother a “cherished institution, but truly the last of her kind.” She added that her mother “made incomparable company, carrying her memories lightly, and always with humour” and kept “the impeccable style, sharp mind, and effortless charm” right up to the end.
“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,” India Hicks wrote. That line carries the practical reality for the family: Lady Pamela Hicks leaves three children — Edwina, Ashley and India — and a public life that was always measured against the royal household she served.
Kenya in 1952
Lady Pamela Hicks was with Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in Kenya in 1952 when Elizabeth learned her father had died and that she would ascend to the throne. On India Hicks’s podcast in 2019, she described the moment as Elizabeth coming into the room, and said, “I go over to her, give her a hug and think ‘Oh my god, it’s the Queen’ so I go into a deep curtsy.”
She also recalled Elizabeth’s words: “I'm so sorry. It means we've all got to go back.” That episode is the strongest reminder of why her death matters beyond royal nostalgia. She was not a peripheral observer; she was physically present at one of the most consequential transitions in modern royal history.
Queen Elizabeth II links
A spokesperson for King Charles III said he was “greatly saddened to learn of the death of Lady Pamela Hicks, a sorrow tempered by the fondest memories and deepest gratitude for her long life and loyal service to Queen Elizabeth.” Hicks was also a bridesmaid to the late Queen, later calling that role a “tremendous rush” in a 2017 interview and saying she had less than a week to prepare after returning to the UK from India.
She said then that “All the other bridesmaids had endless rehearsals,” but “I was thrown in the deep end, because by the time we arrived in London, there was less than a week to go. I only had time for two dress fittings.” That detail cuts through the formal image: even inside royal ceremony, her experience was improvised, fast-moving and very human.
From The Crown to Westminster Abbey
Born in Barcelona in Spain in 1929, Lady Pamela Hicks was married to the British interior designer David Hicks, who died in 1998. India Hicks wrote in 2016 that her mother thought The Crown was “rather good,” and Hicks herself appeared in a tiny portion of the series, a brief screen trace of a much longer life in royal circles.
Hicks attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in 2022, but did not attend the coronation of King Charles III the following year because fewer people were invited than to the 1953 coronation. That makes her death more than a family announcement: it removes another living witness from the circle that bridged Elizabeth’s accession, her funeral, and the shrinking guest lists of the next reign.
