Lady Pamela Hicks Dies at 97, Last Queen Victoria Descendant

Lady Pamela Hicks died on June 5 at age 97, ending the oldest surviving direct line to Queen Victoria. The daughter of Earl Mountbatten of Burma and first cousin to Prince Philip, she served as lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II and was present in Kenya in 1952 when the young princess learned she had become queen. Her death removes one of the last living witnesses to pivotal moments in modern British royal history.

A Life at the Heart of the Royal Family

Pamela Mountbatten was born prematurely in 1929 at the Ritz Hotel in Barcelona while her mother holidayed in Spain. King Alfonso XIII of Spain and the Duke of Kent served as her godparents. As a child, she played with Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II, and her sister Princess Margaret. She later became close enough to the royal family to serve as lady-in-waiting to the young queen.

Witness to a Pivotal Moment in 1952

Hicks accompanied Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip to Kenya in 1952. While there, the royal party received news that King George VI had died in London and that the princess had become queen. Hicks recounted how she embraced the new queen and then realized she must curtsy to her sovereign. She later accompanied Queen Elizabeth II on the six-month Commonwealth Tour following the coronation.

A Privileged Life Grounded in Reality

Despite her aristocratic background, Hicks remained unpretentious throughout her life. At age 89, she was hospitalized with pneumonia and spent 20 hours lying on a hospital trolley in a corridor awaiting treatment. She shared the experience of many elderly pensioners in the British health system. In 1960, she married interior designer David Hicks at Romsey Abbey. He died in 1998.

A Family Legacy Ends

King Charles III issued a statement saying 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.” Her daughter India Hicks, a television personality and author, described her mother as “a cherished institution, but truly the last of her kind.”

Final Thoughts

Lady Pamela Hicks was the last living great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and a direct witness to the transformation of the modern British monarchy. Her death closes a chapter in royal history that spanned nearly a century.

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