One of the Queen’s bridesmaids and former lady-in-waiting, Lady Pamela Hicks has revealed the sweet note the monarch sent her following Prince Philip’s death in April last year.
The 92-year-old said in an interview that the Queen wrote back to her after she sent Her Majesty a note following the Duke of Edinburgh’s death on 9 April.
Hicks’ daughter India said to her mother during the interview: “One thing that was moving: When you wrote to [the Queen] after Prince Philip’s death, she wrote back to you, saying, ‘Of course, you have known him longer than I’.”
When asked how the Queen is doing as we near the one-year anniversary of Philip’s death, Hicks said: “Yes, she is doing fine.”
“She wrote and thanked me for her Christmas present,” Hicks told People. “She remarked on her enormous extended family but said because of coronavirus, of course, they were a much-reduced but still large family party for Christmas.”
Hicks is the cousin of Philip and recently revealed that the Duke used to “show off” around the Queen and her sister, Princess Margaret, when they were younger.
Speaking during a panel called “70 Years of Duty and Friendship” to celebrate the Queen’s 70-year anniversary on the throne in February, India said to her mother of Philip and Elizabeth’s pairing: “Your father, my grandfather, had already thought it might be quite a good thing.
“They met when she went to visit Dartmouth College at 13 and already then she was rather struck by Prince Philip.”
Lady Pamela replied: “Well, he was a Greek god, and of course, showing off like mad because he was told to look after the two princesses, and so he showed off like mad. Later, every girl in England was in love with him. He really was stunning.”
During the same panel, Hicks revealed there were two “catastrophes” during the Queen and Prince Philip’s wedding.
She said the first “near-disaster” was when the Queen decided she wanted to wear pearl necklaces gifted to her by her father, King George VI.
Hicks said: “The Princess suddenly said, ‘Ooh, I’d like to wear the pearls Papa has given me’. Everybody looked at each other and was asking where were the pearls – of course, they were in St James’ Palace where all the presents were shown.
“So somebody had to rush off to St James’ Palace from Buckingham Palace to seize the pearls.”
Before the ceremony began, there was also a “panic” to find the wedding flowers.
“It took quite a lot of time to find them,” Hicks added. “Luckily, [the catastrophes] were all solved.”
