Lady Pamela Hicks shares her life lessons as she turns 96: Queen's bridesmaids reveals how she was 'brought up to love everyone' - as her daughter India shares historic photos
Lady Pamela Hicks, who served as a bridesmaid at the late Queen Elizabeth II 's wedding in 1947, has revealed her life lessons as she turns 96.
Speaking in her daughter India Hicks' podcast, recorded by her grandson Amory Flint Wood, Lady Pamela said that she was taught 'manners' to 'accept all faiths' and to 'be loyal' by her parents Lord and Lady Mountbatten.
Lady Pamela's father, Lord Mountbatten, was Prince Philip 's uncle and the last Viceroy and Governor-General of India.
'I was taught by my parents to respect all faiths,' she said.
'During my late teenage years when I was living in India. I saw this illustrated by my time with Gandhi.
'Religion is one tree with many branches' he would say. During this time I was friends with Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists.
'We never felt any division, although these were politically heavy times. When I heard of the divisions that existed elsewhere, I quickly appreciated the way I had been brought up, without prejudice or suspicion of any other religious group.'
Lady Pamela's daughter, India Hicks, 57, whose godfather is the king, also shared a carousel of throwback photographs from different stages of the aristocrat's life, including a number of black-and-white snaps.
10 Life Lessons from Lady Pamela in full
1. DUTY & SERVICE
'Duty and Service above everything, a lesson learnt from my parents and observed through Queen Elizabeth's absolute ridged dedication to both. To whom much is given much is expected'
2. LOYALTY & FAMILY
'Family; love those closest to you unconditionally. Loyalty; to know you can really rely on someone and they can rely on you.'
3. ENDURANCE
'Whatever happens, you must move forward.'
4. INTROSPECTION ( and a QUIET WISDOM)
'Not being self-involved, but being self-aware. In the old days you didn't think about yourself, now everyone only thinks of themselves'
5. CURIOSITY
'A curious mind is the secret to a broader life.'
6. A SENSE OF HUMOR, A SENSE OF FUN & A SENSE OF ADVENTURE
Lady P has inherited her father's wicked sense of humor, she remembers him addressing 500 boys of the Dragon School in 1977, among them his youngest grandsons Ashley, Nicholas and Timothy, he said ' I well remember being your age. At school, in my boarding house. On the first evening we all went up to the 2nd floor and had a competition to see who could lean farthest over the bannisters. I won. When they picked me up off the ground floor I had surprisingly few injuries.'
7. MULTI FAITH and MULTI RACE
'Taught by my parents to respect all faiths. During my late teenage years when I was living in India I saw this illustrated by my time with Gandhi, 'Religion is one tree with many branches' he would say.
'During this time I was friends with Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists. We never felt any division, although these were politically heavy times. When I heard of the divisions that existed elsewhere, I quickly appreciated the way I had been brought up, without prejudice or suspicion of any other religious group.'
8. MANNERS
'Manners make life more comfortable for everyone. Rudeness just upsets everyone.'
9. UNDERSTANDING
'Always look at things from other people's perspectives'
10. GRIEF
Dealing with the death of family and friends 'Be grateful you knew them, and had a chance to love them, and be happy you have the memories of them, but look forward, don't look back.'
'Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you'
Lady Pamela was born on 19 April 1929 to Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma.
India 's post on Instagram included 12 photos, starting with a full-colour portrait of Lady Pamela sitting in a car, wearing a camel-coloured coat and a chic scarf covering her head and tied under her chin.
In the image, she looks straight at the camera with a soft smile on her face while holding a wooden walking cane.
India also released a podcast and video highlighting Lady Pamela's life lessons from her 96 years on earth, titled 'Lady P's Final Podcast: Life Lessons'.
Mother and daughter discussed 10 of her top life lessons in the podcast, from duty and service to one's country, which Lady Pamela says she learnt from her parents and the late Queen, to the importance of a sense of humour.
The aristocrat said of loyalty and family: 'Family; love those closest to you unconditionally. Loyalty; to know you can really rely on someone and they can rely on you.'
She also highlighted the importance of 'not being self-involved, but being self-aware'.
'In the old days you didn't think about yourself, now everyone only thinks about themselves,' she lamented.
Lady Pamela said she was also taught by her parents to have respect for people from all faiths.
Recalling her late teenage years living in India, she said: 'During this time I was friends with Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, and Buddhists.
'We never felt any division, although these were politically heavy times.
'When I heard of the divisions that existed elsewhere, I quickly appreciated the way I had been brought up, without prejudice or suspicion of any other religious group.'
Among the other images in India's Instagram carousel, the second shows Lady Pamela as a little girl, wearing an intricate smock dress and holding a teddy with a studded collar.
From there, fans are given glimpses of Lady Pamela at different ages. She is pictured as a young teenager alongside her mother Edwina and older sister Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma.
Other photos showed Lady Pamela on her travels, which she did a lot of while accompanying the late Queen as lady-in-waiting on the monarch's royal tours to Jamaica, Panama, Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia, Ceylon, Aden, Libya, Malta, and Gibraltar in 1953 and 1954.
One snap showed Lady Pamela as one of the eight bridesmaids who attended the then-Princess Elizabeth's nuptials to then-Prince Philip.
The seven other bridesmaids included Princess Margaret, Princess Alexandra of Kent, Lady Caroline Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Lady Mary Cambridge, Lady Margaret Elphinstone, and Diana Bowes-Lyon.
They all wore matching gowns, with a full-length ballgown skirt and shrugs covering their shoulders, along with elbow-length gloves and hair accessories that encircled their heads.
India also included a photograph of her mother dressed in uniform as the Corps Commandant of the Girls' Nautical Training Corps.
She held the title from 1952 to 1959 and was photographed inspecting members of the units in Portsmouth.
There was also a sentimental photo of Lady Pamela cradling India as a baby, with her late husband David Nightingale Hicks by her side.
The final photo in the carousel was of Lady Pamela dressed in an elegant blue dress, sitting in a garden armchair with India stood at her side on the grounds of her Oxfordshire home.
In her caption, India wrote: 'Mum is 96 years old today. 96 years of a long life. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mum.'
Fans also sent their well wishes to the nonagenarian in the comments and spoke warmly of her 'remarkable' life.
One person wrote: 'Happy Birthday Lady Pamela! You're looking as lovely as ever! May this year bring good health and pure joy!'
Another said: 'Happy birthday to your lovely mum! She is so lucky to be living such a long, healthy and a wonderful life!'
Lady Pamela was born at the Ritz Hotel in Barcelona under rather unusual circumstances, despite being related to the royal family.
Her birth came as an early surprise and due to the suddenness of her arrival, Lady Pamela was delivered into the hands of an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist - due to some confusion on the hotel's part.
In her 2024 book Lady Pamela, India wrote that even after the 'somewhat tumultuous labour', no proper crib was available so the newborn spent her first few nights sleeping in a small dog's basket until something more suitable could be found.
Later in life, Lady Pamela became a part of the Royal Family's inner circle and was present for several important moments in the late Queen's life.
She not only witnessed the then-Princess Elizabeth wed Prince Philip, but she was also there in Kenya when the couple received the news that King George VI had died and Elizabeth had become Queen.
In 1960, Lady Pamela married interior decorator David Hicks and together, they had three children - Edwina, Ashley, and India. David died in 1998 from lung cancer.
Tragedy struck in 1979 when the IRA planted a bomb in Lady Pamela's father's small fishing boat while the family were staying at their castle on the west coast of Ireland.
Lord Mountbatten was killed in the blast along with Patricia's son Nicholas and her mother-in-law Doreen, and Paul Maxwell, a local boy who was serving as crew.
Despite having lost so many loved ones, Lady Pamela's outlook on grief is a positive one.
She told her daughter in her latest podcast: 'Be grateful you knew them, and had a chance to love them, and be happy you have the memories of them, but look forward, don't look back.'
Lady Pamela is a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria through her father - and her oldest living descendant.
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