Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty
Lady Pamela Hickswill not be among the 2,000 guests in Westminster Abbey forKing Charles' coronation.
Queen Elizabeth’s bridesmaid and lady-in-waiting turned 94 on Wednesday, and her daughter India Hicks shared her take on the scaled-down guest list for the May 6crowning ceremonyin anInstagrambirthday tribute.
India, 55, said they received a message from one of King Charles' private secretaries, explaining that “this coronation was to be very different to the Queen’s. 8,000 guests would be whittled down to 1,000 alleviating the burden on the state.”
“The King was sending his great love and apologies, he was offending many family and friends with the reduced list,” wrote India, who is a goddaughter of King Charles and served as a bridesmaid at his wedding toPrincess Dianain 1981.
“My mother was not offended at all. ‘How very, very sensible’ she said. Invitations based on meritocracy not aristocracy. ‘I am going to follow with great interest the events of this new reign,’ " India continued in the caption.
“Today my mother turns 94 years old, she must be one of the few remaining people with such a memory intact, about to live through a third coronation,” the designer, writer and entrepreneur wrote. “Happy Birthday to my darling Mum.”
Lady Pamela served as a bridesmaid when her first cousinPrince Philipmarried then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947. She was even abroad in Kenya with the couple in 1952 whenKing George VIdied — making 25-year-old Elizabeth the new Queen.
“I remember going and hugging her. And then thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, she’s Queen’ — and going into a deep curtsy,” Pamela previously toldPEOPLERoyals.
Queen Elizabeth and Lady Pamela.
Lady Pamela and India attended the state funeral and committal service forQueen Elizabethin September, a somber invitation the designer described as “a privilege.”
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King Charles' crowning ceremony will bemuch more modestthan his mother’s coronation 70 years ago. In addition to a smaller guest list, the King and Queen Consort’s church service has also been streamlined to 60 minutes — a third ofQueen Elizabeth’s nearly three-hour coronation in 1953.
Making up the congregation will be members of the royal family,community and charity representativesandroyals from around the world, including foreign monarchs, in a break from previous tradition.
source: people.com
