Senior members of the Royal Family were unable to attend the funeral of Lady Pamela Hicks after the service coincided with Trooping the Colour, the King’s official birthday celebrations in London.
Lady Pamela, one of the last surviving links to the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and a close friend of both the late Queen and Prince Philip, was laid to rest on Saturday at St Bartholomew’s Church in the Oxfordshire village of Brightwell Baldwin.
The service took place just over a week after her death at the age of 97.
King Charles and Queen Camilla did not attend the funeral as they were carrying out official duties at Trooping the Colour in central London, where thousands gathered to watch the annual military spectacle marking the monarch’s official birthday.
The Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children were also taking part in the national celebrations, meaning the most senior working royals were absent from the Oxfordshire service.
Despite their absence, members of the wider Royal Family and aristocratic circles gathered to pay their respects to a woman who spent decades at the heart of royal life.
Among those attending were Lady Helen Taylor, daughter of the Duke of Kent, and Penelope Knatchbull, Countess Mountbatten of Burma. Maddison Brudenell, a cousin of the Prince of Wales, was also among the mourners.
Lady Pamela’s daughter, India Hicks, and other family members were present as mourners gathered outside the historic parish church before following the coffin into the service.
The funeral was held according to Lady Pamela’s wishes, with hymns and prayers but no formal sermon or eulogy.
Born Pamela Mountbatten, she was a first cousin of Prince Philip and a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She served as a bridesmaid at the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten in 1947, a role that placed her at the centre of one of the most significant royal events of the 20th century.
She later became a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II and accompanied the then Princess Elizabeth on her tour of Kenya in 1952. It was during that trip that news arrived of the death of King George VI, meaning Lady Pamela was present at the moment Elizabeth unexpectedly became Queen.
Following her death on June 5, King Charles paid a personal tribute, saying he was “greatly saddened” by the loss.
In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, the King said his sorrow was tempered by “the fondest memories and deepest gratitude for her long life and loyal service to Queen Elizabeth”.
He added that her “warmth, wit and perspicacity always made such an impression” and said she would be “so dearly missed by all those who knew and loved her”.
Lady Pamela spent much of her later life at The Grove in Brightwell Baldwin with her husband, the renowned interior designer David Hicks, who died in 1998.
She is survived by her children, Edwina, Ashley and India, as well as several grandchildren.
