King Charles' coronation guest list doesn’t include Prince Philip’s cousin — and she responds
Lady Pamela Hicks, who was one of Queen Elizabeth II’s bridesmaids, has responded after recently finding out she would be left off the scaled-back guest list for King Charles III’s coronation next month. "How very, very sensible," Pamela's daughter, India Hicks, wrote in an Instagram post Wednesday of her mother's reaction after receiving the call from the king’s personal secretary. India noted her mother appreciated that the invitations were based on "meritocracy not aristocracy." She said Lady Pamela added, "I am going to follow with great interest the events of this new reign." India continued, "The King was sending his great love and apologies, he was offending many family and friends with the reduced list. My mother was not offended at all." She said it was explained that while Queen Elizabeth II had 8,000 guests at her coronation in 1953, Charles wanted to scale it back, "alleviating the burden on the state." Lady Pamela is the daughter of Lord Mountbatten who was assassinated by the IRA in 1979 and a first cousin to Prince Philip.