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India Hicks

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India Hicks
Born
India Amanda Caroline Hicks

(1967-09-05) 5 September 1967 (age 57)
Lambeth, London, England
Alma materGordonstoun School
New England School of Photography
Occupation(s)Designer, writer, businesswoman, former model
TelevisionBravo's Top Design show (season 2)
Spouse
David Flint Wood
​
(m. 2021)​
Children5
Parent(s)David Nightingale Hicks
Lady Pamela Mountbatten
RelativesMountbatten family Mountbatten-Windsor
Websiteindiahicks.com

India Amanda Caroline Hicks (born 5 September 1967) is a British designer, writer, businesswoman and former fashion model. After graduating from the New England School of Photography, Hicks became an interior designer and a model for Ralph Lauren, among others. She moved to the Bahamas in 1996, where she published books, promoted home and beauty products, and introduced a line of jewellery. Hicks travels frequently to disaster sites in her role with the non-profit organisation Global Empowerment Mission. A daughter of Lady Pamela Hicks, she is a maternal descendant of the House of Mountbatten and a relative of the British royal family.

Early life

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Hicks was born in 1967[1][2] in Lambeth, London.[3][4] Hicks is the third child of Lady Pamela Mountbatten and David Nightingale Hicks. Her mother was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II and her father was a famous interior designer.[5] She is the granddaughter of the Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma and the second cousin and goddaughter of Charles III.[2][6]

Hicks grew up in Oxfordshire, England.[7] She spent holidays at the family estate in Ireland and at her father's self-designed and built Bahamian-holiday home.[6] As a child, she was a tomboy who kept her distance from royal affairs.[8] Hicks was exposed to design at an early age through her father and brother, who were both architects.[5] The 11-year-old Hicks was on holiday in Ireland in 1979 when her grandfather was killed by a bomb planted on his boat.[9][10] In 1981, she served as bridesmaid to Lady Diana Spencer at her wedding to Prince Charles.[8]

Hicks went to boarding school in Scotland at Gordonstoun, from which she was expelled for having boys in her room.[2] She then backpacked across India.[2] Hicks moved to Boston, Massachusetts at age 18 to study photography[11][12][13] at the New England School of Photography,[14] where she graduated in 1990.[citation needed]

Career

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After graduating college, Hicks' father introduced her to Emilio Pucci in Florence, Italy, where she modelled swimsuits.[15] Later, she modelled for Ralph Lauren in New York City,[15] Tod's,[16] J.Crew,[17] and others.[18] She lived in Paris for three years, before moving to New York City for three years.[11] Hicks moved to the Bahamas in 1996.[18]

In the Bahamas, Hicks restored homes, invested and remodelled a hotel, and published several books on design and lifestyle.[8] Her first book called Island Life was a design book with photographs of Hibiscus Hill, a house she designed.[11][17] This was followed by a second book, Island Beauty,[5] and a third book on photography and design, Island Style.[19] Hicks also started a boutique shop in the Bahamas called the Sugar Mill Trading Company with business partner Linda Griffin.[5] The shop sells jewellery, clothes, household goods, and other items.[12]

From 2005 to 2014, Hicks worked with Crabtree & Evelyn as a spokeswoman and creative consultant for home and skincare products.[12][13] The company created the India Hicks Island Living and India Hicks Island Night lines of soaps, candles, and perfumes.[8][12][17]

In 2008, Hicks co-hosted the second season of the Bravo interior design show Top Design in Los Angeles, California.[6][12][17] She introduced her own line of jewellery in 2011.[12] Hicks also became a public commentator on events surrounding the royal family and the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.[17][20] In 2015, Hicks created an e-commerce venture called India Hicks Inc. with partners Nicholas Keuper and HauteLook.[13][14] It sells jewellery, handbags, perfumes, beauty products, and other goods.[13][14] The business grew to more than $10 million in annual revenues.[13]

Hicks also worked with the Home Shopping Network on a line of bedding products called India Hicks Island Living.[18]

Personal life

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Hicks visiting the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, as part of the Global Empowerment Mission, 2019

Hicks met her husband David Flint Wood as a child.[14] He was previously in a relationship with her cousin, Lady Helen Windsor and then Susannah Constantine, a fashion journalist and the former girlfriend of her other cousin, David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon.[21] India and David re-connected as adults[18] during a holiday in the Bahamas.[14][15] She was pregnant with their first child four months after moving to the Bahamas in 1996.[4][11] They have five children.[2][22] In late 2020 she announced plans to marry Flint Wood.[22] She married Flint Wood on 10 September 2021 at St Bartholomew's parish church in Brightwell Baldwin, Oxfordshire.[23] Guests at the wedding included Brooke Shields, Kirstie Allsopp, and Sophie Dahl.[23]

The couple have a house, "America Farm" in Ewelme, Oxfordshire, built on land that Hicks had inherited and replacing two redundant farm workers' cottages.[24][25][15][26] Hicks' book about the project, India Hicks: The Story of Four Houses – A Slice of England, was published by Rizzoli International Publications in 2018.[27][28]

Hicks has competed in several marathons. She also rode a 100-mile (160 km) bike ride to raise money for cancer victims, in memory of her adopted son's biological mother.[2] She partners with a local food bank[29] and with the disaster relief agency Global Empowerment Mission (GEM).[30] She joined the Global Empowerment Mission's board in 2019.[31] On behalf of GEM, she visited the Abaco Islands after Hurricane Dorian, Alabama after it experienced a tornado, Florida after the surfside condominium collapse, and Poland during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.[31] She is also an ambassador for The Prince's Trust, a charity that helps young people find training, and work opportunities.[32]

In 2020 Hicks pleaded guilty at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court to shoplifting a coat and was ordered to pay costs and a victim surcharge. Her spokesperson stated "The court accepted that at the time of taking the coat, India had simply been absent-minded and hadn't intended to leave without paying for it".[33]

Books

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  • 2004: Island Life: Inspirational Interiors
  • 2006: Island Beauty
  • 2015: India Hicks: Island Style
  • 2018: India Hicks: A Slice of England
  • 2020: An Entertaining Story
  • 2024: Lady Pamela

References

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  1. ^ Lasson, Sally Ann (27 February 2010). "My Secret Life: India Hicks, interior designer, 42". The Independent. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Williams, Sally (5 May 2012). "India Hicks: He was all alone – I cried and took him in". The Telegraph. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  3. ^ "India Hicks - Births & Baptisms [1] - Genes Reunited".
  4. ^ a b Coke, Hope (22 April 2020). "Lockdown in paradise: India Hicks isolates in the Bahamas". Tatler. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d Harris, Waheeda (24 February 2007). "British gal born into style: India Hicks expands her empire". The National Post. p. PH6.
  6. ^ a b c Muhlke, Christine (19 February 2009). "Profile in Style: India Hicks". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  7. ^ Shorr, Kerry (27 December 2018). "25 Things To Know About India Hicks". Fort Lauderdale Illustrated. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d Haughney, Christine (1 March 2011). "A Royal Wedding? She's Been There". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  9. ^ Saner, Emine (19 August 2019). "The Day Mountbatten Died review – an atrocity that still haunts lives four decades on". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Murder of a Royal". TV & Satellite Week. 17 August 2019.
  11. ^ a b c d Macdonald, Marianne (29 March 2004). "Runaway bridesmaid". Evening Standard. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Kim, Susanna (12 April 2011). "Fairytale Life of Princess Diana's Bridesmaid". ABC News. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  13. ^ a b c d e "Ambassadors of India: India Hicks Sells a Way of Life". Direct Selling News. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  14. ^ a b c d e "India Hicks Shares Her 25 Favorite Things". Jupiter Magazine. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  15. ^ a b c d Armstrong, Lisa (14 July 2018). "How India Hicks went from Princess Diana's bridesmaid to the new queen of accessible luxury". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  16. ^ Moore, Booth (22 June 2011). "Designer India Hicks's new jewelry line is tribute to her famed father". The Seattle Times.
  17. ^ a b c d e Muther, Christopher (20 June 2012). "India Hicks is inspired by her father's designs". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  18. ^ a b c d "Feature: India Hicks: The Isle of India". Muses and Visionaries Magazine (4): 50–57. 22 April 2014.
  19. ^ Gilbert, Sarah (7 January 2009). "India Hicks: Island Style". Princeton Magazine. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  20. ^ "20 Odd Questions: India Hicks". WSJ. 22 April 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  21. ^ https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/runaway-bridesmaid-7290613.html
  22. ^ a b Sampson, Annabel (8 December 2020). "Inside India Hicks' 'tiny' upcoming wedding". Tatler. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  23. ^ a b Furness, Hannah (10 September 2021). "Princess Diana's bridesmaid India Hicks married long-term partner David Flint Wood". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  24. ^ "AMERICA FARM".
  25. ^ "India Hicks and Her Family Build a Country Retreat in Oxfordshire". www.homejournal.com.
  26. ^ AMERICA FARM — Luxury villas & luxury holidays
  27. ^ "Inside India Hicks's Dreamy English Country Home". Vogue. 28 March 2018.
  28. ^ India Hicks: A Slice of England, The Story of Four Houses by India Hicks | 9780847861774 | Booktopia – via www.booktopia.com.au.
  29. ^ Coke, Hope (30 November 2020). "Prince Philip's goddaughter India Hicks announces her engagement". Tatler. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  30. ^ "India Hicks – Global Empowerment Mission". www.globalempowermentmission.org.
  31. ^ a b Brennan, Zoe (22 March 2022). "Why Prince Charles's goddaughter has swapped the Bahamas for the Ukrainian border". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  32. ^ Friel, Mikhaila (3 February 2022). "Prince Charles' cousin India Hicks grew up attending royal weddings and vacationing with the prince. But she insists she's not a royal". Insider. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  33. ^ Wet, Nici de. "Prince Charles' goddaughter branded a thief!". You. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
[edit]
Lines of succession
Preceded by
Jordan Brudenell
 Succession to the British throne Succeeded by
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