The Queen’s bridesmaid Lady Pamela Hicks has not been invited to King Charles's coronation, her daughter India Hicks has said.
In a post on Instagram, the designer and former fashion model revealed that Buckingham Palace had told her mother that she would not be invited to the coronation due to their decision to slim down the guest list. She said that the Palace rang her mother to give her the news.
"One of the King’s personal secretaries was passing on a message from the King," she wrote. "They explained 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."
However, she said that her mother, who turned 94 on Wednesday, was unbothered by the news.
"The King was sending his great love and apologies, he was offending many family and friends with the reduced list," India said. "My mother was not offended at all. 'How very, very sensible' she said. Invitations based on meritocracy not aristocracy."
She said her mother added: "I am going to follow with great interest the events of this new reign."
In the same Instagram post, India wished her mother a happy 94th birthday.
Lady Pamela, who was also the Queen’s lady-in-waiting, is the daughter of the King’s great-uncle Earl Mountbatten, who was murdered by the IRA back in 1979.
The late Queen Elizabeth II had eight bridesmaids in total: HRH The Princess Margaret, HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent, Lady Caroline Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Lady Mary Cambridge, The Hon. Pamela Mountbatten, The Hon. Margaret Elpinstone, and Diana Bowes-Lyon.
Meanwhile, another snubbed royal, Sarah Ferguson, exclusively caught up with OK! about her plans for the coronation after it was revealed she won't be attending.
"It is a really exciting new chapter and a new way ahead," she said of the King's reign.
"I can think of no better person for the job. I think it's going to be a wonderful moment to unite the nation as we will all be out there celebrating. I just admire him and everything he does so much.
"I will definitely be watching it on television and will be championing it from there. I'll be watching with the Corgis [Muick and Sandy] who will be up there barking away."
As the coronation fast approaches, royal expert Jennie Bond also revealed to OK! that there's a replica of Westminster Abbey being used as practise for the 74 year old monarch.
"It’s a facsimile model of the altar at Westminster Abbey, built in Buckingham Palace – almost an exact copy of what is there, so King Charles and the rest of the family will be able to practise walking up and down the steps and sitting in the right place," she said.
"Of course, William’s going to be involved in that as well. So there's a heck of a lot going on. The replica has been built in the Ballroom, with the altar and exact copies of where all the things for the ceremony will go at Westminster Abbey."
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