Royal bridesmaid India Hicks shared a “very nice gesture” she received from an unexpected source during a last-minute sleepover at Kensington Palace. Speaking to Gyles Brandreth on The Rosebud Podcast, Hicks shared her memories of the historic 1989 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, and the chaotic traffic that lead to the “lovely” surprise gesture.
“The day was remarkable,” Hicks told the podcast host, before admitting “funnily enough, the night before was even more remarkable.” The night before Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding, there was a royal fireworks display in Hyde Park, which members of the bridal party and the royal family attended.
India Hicks (second from the left) was a bridesmaid at Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
India Hicks assists Princess Diana with her iconic train.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“Afterwards, we realized that London was at a standstill with the traffic, and I was never going to get back with my mother to Albany,” the apartment building in Piccadilly where the Hicks family has a lavish apartment. “I had to get to Clarence House early in the morning” before the wedding, India Hicks revealed, but travelling home “was going to take too long and I was going to be too tired.” India was only 13-years-old at the time of the wedding, and the night was already getting late.
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India revealed a surprising royal invitation solved their traffic woes. “Princess Margaret said, ‘Look, no problem ‘I’ll take India back to Kensington Palace with me’,” Hicks revealed, referring to Princess Margaret’s twelve-bedroom apartment within Kensington Palace—now occupied by Prince William and Princess Kate.
Princess Margaret lived in Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace.
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Princess Margaret at home at Kensington Palace with her children.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Despite having so many bedrooms, India Hicks says she wasn’t given the most regal guest room for her impromptu night at the palace. “Very sensibly, Princess Margaret wasn’t going to waste a guest room on me,” she reveals, saying “I was put in a slightly dusty nanny’s room.” Due to the last-minute change in plans, India had nothing but the clothes she wore to the fireworks display, and was unprepared for a royal sleepover.
“My vivid memory is a knock on the door,” she shared. “There was Princess Margaret in her nightie, offering me her toothbrush.” The generous gesture of the princess’s own toothbrush demonstrates her secret maternal nature. “Isn’t that lovely?” India reflected. “I don’t think I used the toothbrush, but it was a very nice gesture.”
India Hicks shared her memories of the 1989 Royal Wedding.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
India Hicks accompanies her mother, Lady Pamela Hicks, to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
India’s mother, Lady Pamela Hicks, was a very close friend to the Royal Family. Lady Pamela served as a bridesmaid at the wedding of then-Princess Elizabeth and Phillip Mountbatten, who was her cousin. Later, she served as lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II. After the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, Lady Pamela became the oldest living direct-descendant of Queen Victoria.