The India Hicks Podcast
A wonderfully intimate look into the life and work of India Hicks and her extraordinary family. In Season One we're talking Movie Stars, Matadors and Maharajas as we have tea and cake with Lady Pamela, daughter of Lord and Lady Mountbatten and of course India's much moved mum. Now in her 90s Lady Pamela's stories will astound you; she's first cousins with Prince Philip, travelled the world on the famous Commonwealth tour when Princess Elizabeth became Queen, befriended everyone from Grace Kelly to Gandhi and had a front row seat as her father, the last Viceroy of India, oversaw the complicated process of partition.
Episodes
17. Lady Pamela's Life Lessons
From a life shaped by duty, service, family and faith, Lady Pamela shares the values that have guided her through extraordinary chapters of history: unwavering loyalty, quiet endurance, curiosity, kindness, and a deep belief in understanding others. With warmth, wit and wisdom, she reflects on the lessons passed down through generations which have guided her through her extraordinary 96 years — an
16. The Royal Wedding; The Future Queen Elizabeth Marries
When the future Queen Elizabeth was due to be married to Lady Pamela's cousin, Philip, Lady Pamela was chosen as a bridesmaid. The wedding of the future Queen was of course a major international event and broadcast on radio to millions around the world. Inside Westminster Abbey were two thousand guests, including seven queens and six kings, and the 18 year old Lady Pamela, busy alongside her fello
15. Princess Alice; The Queen's Extraordinary Mother in Law
We're sitting in the drawing room of Lady Pamela Hicks' home in Oxfordshire listening intently to Lady Pamela's mesmerising stories. It's just India and her mother Lady Pamela and Lisa the producer recording it and putting it all together. We've chosen to have no studio, no formalities just plenty of conversation and of course tea and cake. This episode is all about Princess Alice, mother to Princ
14. Lady Mountbatten: Part Two, The Transformation
The concluding episode in our two part series about Lady Louis Mountbatten, one of the most intriguing and intelligent debutants of her day and of course mother to Lady Pamela and grandmother to India. Born Edwina Ashley she was the goddaughter of Edward VII and heiress to a vast fortune. She married Louis Mountbatten, great grandson of Queen Victoria, in 1922 and in this episode Lady Pamela explo
13. Lady Mountbatten; Episode 1, Party-Loving Heiress, Wife and Mother
We're sitting in the drawing room of Lady Pamela Hicks' home in Oxfordshire listening intently to Lady Pamela's mesmerising stories. It's just India, Lady Pamela and Lisa the producer who's recording it and putting it all together. We've chosen to have no studio, no formalities just conversation and plenty of tea and cake. This episode is all about Lady Louis Mountbatten, one of the most intriguin
12. SPECIAL EPISODE; India Hicks in Conversation with Tina Brown
India is joined by a very special guest, Tina Brown, award-winning journalist, author, founder of the Women in the World summits and former editor-in-chief of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker sonf more. Awarded a CBE in 2007 for services to journalism she founded Women in the World in 2009 as a live platform for female leaders, CEO's, celebrities, and global activists. Tina has popped in for af
11. Viceroy's House Part 4; A Bittersweet Goodbye
We're sitting in the drawing room of Lady Pamela Hicks' home in Oxfordshire hearing Lady Pamela's stories of living through some pretty extraordinary and now historic times. It's just India, Lady Pamela and Lisa the producer; no studio, no formalities just conversation, tea and cake. In the last of our Viceroy's House episodes Lady Pamela recalls the sadness of coming to the end of their stay in I
10. Viceroy's House Part 3; The Chaos After Partition, Gandhi and Nehru
We're sitting in the drawing room of Lady Pamela Hicks' home in Oxfordshire having a generally very informal conversation about Lady Pamela's memories of living through some pretty extraordinary and now historic times. It's just India, Lady Pamela and me – Lisa the producer recording it and putting it all together – we've chosen to have no studio, no formalities just conversation and plenty of tea
9. Viceroy's House Part 2; The Build Towards Indian Partition
In the second Viceroy's House episode Lady Pamela regales more of her incredible memories as a teenager living in India when her father, Lord Mountbatten, was given what he knew was the 'impossible job' as the last Viceroy of India. In the now very tense build up to Indian partition 18 year old Lady Pamela and her mother Lady Louis Mountbatten are still working in the refugee camps, have become cl
8. Viceroy's House; 17 Year Old Lady Pamela's First Months in India
When her father, Lord Mountbatten was given what he knew was the 'impossible job' as the last Viceroy of India, Lady Pamela, still only 17, along with her mother, knuckled down to work. They spent time in the refugee camps, sat spellbound at meetings with Gandhi and Nehru and had a front row seat at one of the most challenging times in Indian and British history. Lady Pamela tells us, through the
7. SPECIAL EPISODE; The Bahamas, Hurricane Dorian and Support
This is a special episode of the India Hicks Podcast on which India tells us of the traumatic events surrounding the hurricane in the Bahamas, the place she calls home, and how we can support these wonderful islands and people. Amongst many organisations, charities and foundations offering support, we are highlighting the group that was first to deliver relief to those hit hardest by Hurricane Dor
6. The Commonwealth Tour, Life Aboard Britannia and Exploring the Empire
The Commonwealth Tour resumes, this time for six whole months, with Lady Pamela as Lady in Waiting to the new Queen. In this episode we hear all about life on board the new Royal Yacht, Britannia, the thrilling adventures in far-flung corners of the Empire and the pressures on the Royals as they made their way around the world. Intriguingly enough, it all starts with a Lebanese boyfriend…
5. A Royal Love Story, a Commonwealth Tour and a Princess Becomes Queen
Lady Pamela is first cousins with Prince Philip and also grew up very close to her, albeit more distant family, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret and of course their parents the King and Queen. Lady Pamela tells how the Royal couple met and married and what it was like being on the famous Commonwealth Tour, including that poignant moment at Treetops in Kenya when Princess Elizabeth is told her fat
4. Distinguished Visitors; Royals in the Family, Movie Stars and the Maharajah Who Died at Lunch
With Royals, 'Subroyals', Grand Dukes and Duchesses, Tsars and Tsarinas in the family, having the likes of Noel Coward, Grace Kelly, Douglas Fairbanks, Wallis Simpson and Eisenhower visit was not so out of the ordinary. On this episode Lady Pamela tells stories of the grandmother she shares with Prince Philip, the extraordinary other family members and some of the wonderful characters the Mountbat
3. The Mountbattens at War; Dispatched to New York with the Vanderbilts
Like so many families the Mountbattens' lives were disrupted significantly in the Second World War with Lady's Pamela's father, Lord Mountbatten, missing after his ship was sunk. In this episode India and producer Lisa are transfixed by Lady Pamela's account of being dispatched to New York to the house of the legendary Vanderbilts and the extraordinary time she had in their house next to Central P
2. Childhood as a Mountbatten; Lions, Coatimundis, Bears and Being Left in Budapest
Imagine growing up in a house with a lion, a bear, a mongoose and a coatimundi (yes we had to look it up too). We're having tea and cake at home with Lady Pamela, daughter of Lord and Lady Mountbatten and India Hicks' much loved mum. In our second episode, India, Lady Pamela and producer Lisa Francesca Nand talk about the exotic creatures that both terrified and tantalised the Mountbattens and the
1. Childhood as a Mountbatten; A Plethora of Kings
The family and friends who visited the Mountbattens during Lady Pamela's childhood read like a list of who's who in royalty, politics, high society, the world's greatest authors and artists and Hollywood's finest. Lady Pamela Hicks, India Hicks and their producer Lisa, listen as Lady Pamela regales astounding stories of Kings, Queens and lovers and the weird and wonderful life of growing up as a M
