Lady Pamela Hicks has been witness to some of the most significant events in British royal history in a life defined, says her daughter India, by "loyalty and family, endurance, quiet wisdom and curiosity".
The younger daughter of Earl Mountbatten of Burma, the last Viceroy of India, Lady Pamela lived in India with her parents from the age of 17, before returning to the UK and acting as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II both before and after her coronation. She was also a bridesmaid at the then Princess Elizabeth's wedding to Prince Philip – Pamela's cousin – in 1947.
Princess Elizabeth was a regular visitor to Lady P's home, Broadlands in Romsey, Hampshire, with her sister Princess Margaret, often coming for riding weekends.
"My father was a second cousin of George VI, and myself, Patricia, the Queen and Princess Margaret played together as children from a young age – ropes around our waist, galloping through the grounds of my parents' home," Lady Pamela says.
"Someone was the rider, someone else the horse. The Queen was very serious as a child. Margaret was rather more mischievous."
Lady Pamela was a bridesmaid at Princess Elizabeth's wedding in 1947 and a lady-in-waiting for two Commonwealth tours – in 1952, when the Princess was told in Kenya of the death of her father, George VI, and in 1953.
She had been given strict instructions from Queen Mary to address her friend as "Princess Elizabeth" and "Ma'am" and never "Lilibet" in her new role. However, she didn't always follow protocol. Remembering the moment when Elizabeth learnt of her father's death, she says: "I instinctively gave her a hug, but quickly remembering that she was now Queen, I dropped to a deep curtsy."
Five months after the coronation, the Queen and Prince Philip embarked on a six-month Commonwealth tour. "I would hold her handbag if she had to present new colours to a regiment, and when she met well-wishers, I was to take the bouquets that she could not hold," says Lady P, who also replied to "huge amounts" of unofficial correspondence.
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