Lady Pamela Hicks passed away on June 5. She was Louis Mountbatten’s younger daughter, and first cousin to Prince Philip (if my genealogy is correct). She was close to both Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II and she was somewhat close to King Charles. In 2023, there was a kerfuffle around Charles’s coronation, because he did not invite Pamela Hicks nor many of relations from the Philip/Mountbatten side of the family (and yet the Middletons were invited). Pamela Hicks’ daughter India Hicks was extremely irritated by the snub. Well, now Pamela has passed away and her funeral is the same day as Trooping the Colour (Saturday). Will Charles chopper in?
King Charles’ calendar has a conundrum this weekend. The King, 77, has big plans on Saturday, June 13, as the British Army celebrates his official birthday with the Trooping the Colour parade in London. However, the long-scheduled spectacle conflicts with a more solemn family occasion: the funeral of his cousin, Lady Pamela Hicks.
According to Hello! magazine, a peerage notice published by The Times revealed that Hicks will be laid to rest on June 13, which is the same day as Trooping the Colour. The outlet said that the funeral will take place at 3 p.m. at Brightwell Baldwin Church in Oxfordshire, which is about an hour’s drive from London.
With the Trooping the Colour parade set to kick off around 10 a.m. and conclude with a flypast over Buckingham Palace at 1 p.m., there’s a chance that the King could attend the service afterward. Last weekend, he attended the morning wedding of his nephew Peter Phillips and appeared at the Betfred Derby Day, about 100 miles away, just hours later.
Hicks was closely connected to the royal family as the daughter of Prince Philip’s beloved uncle and father figure, Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India. She served as a former lady-in-waiting to the late Queen Elizabeth and chose then-Prince Charles as a godfather to her youngest child, India Hicks.
India announced her mother’s death at age 97 in a statement shared to social media on June 5, reflecting on her long life and how they would mourn her.
“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,” the interior designer and humanitarian began the heartfelt tribute.
India said that her late mom “made incomparable company” and maintained her grace “right up to the end,” with “impeccable style, sharp mind, and effortless charm that made her not only a cherished institution, but truly the last of her kind.”
Given Charles made a point of snubbing Lady Pamela for the coronation and given that Trooping is usually a lengthy affair, I doubt he’ll make it to the funeral. This is the kind of situation where he should send his heir as well, but y’all know that Prince William would probably throw a huge tantrum at the very idea of attending a family funeral in his father’s place. Maybe Charles will send Princess Anne? But I could see why there’s an expectation that Charles should go – after all, Lord Mountbatten really was his mentor and a godfather-like figure to him.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
