06 June 2026 , 09:10
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Lady Pamela Hicks, a bridesmaid to the late Queen Elizabeth II, has died aged 97, her daughter India Hicks said.
In a social media post, the designer and former fashion model said her mother died “peacefully” on Friday.
Lady Pamela, who was also the Queen’s lady-in-waiting, was the daughter of the King’s great-uncle, and last viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten, who was murdered by the IRA in 1979.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the King said he was “greatly saddened” to hear of Lady Pamela’s death, describing her as a woman whose “warmth, wit and perspicacity always made such an impression”.
In a post on Instagram, Ms. Hicks, whose godfather is the King, shared a photograph of her smiling mother holding an open book in her lap.
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Ms. Hicks said: “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, lurking around waiting for me, but today I am simply grateful that she was my mother.
“And through the prism of a crowded and remarkable past, she made incomparable company, carrying her memories lightly, and always with humor.
“My mother 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.”
A spokesperson for the King said: “His Majesty 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.
“The King and Queen’s thoughts are with Lady Pamela’s family, as they mourn a woman whose warmth, wit and perspicacity always made such an impression, and who will be so dearly missed by all those who knew and loved her.”
Lady Pamela was portrayed on-screen as a minor character in Netflix’s The Crown, featuring in the show’s retelling of Elizabeth’s wedding to the late Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip.
Writing in Town and Country magazine in 2016, Ms. Hicks revealed her mother, who was also Philip’s cousin, judged the show to be “rather good”.
As lady-in-waiting, Lady Pamela accompanied Elizabeth and Philip on a trip to Kenya in 1952, where the princess learned of her father’s death – and the news that she was to become Queen.
Speaking to her daughter on The India Hicks Podcast in 2019, Lady Pamela recalled the moment Philip was told the news, recounting: “Philip just takes the newspaper and covers his face with it, hides behind it and says ‘This will be such a shock’.”
She added: “As she (Elizabeth) comes into the room. I think ‘Oh, poor girl, her father’s died’. So 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.
“And she says ‘I’m so sorry. It means we’ve all got to go back’… She was only thinking of all of us.”
In November 1983, Lady Pamela accompanied the Queen to the unveiling of a statue of the late Lord Mountbatten in Westminster, at which the monarch gave a speech.
Lady Pamela attended the late Queen’s state funeral in September 2022.
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