India Hicks is the kind of royal-adjacent that the Windsors approve of. White, rich, eccentric in a British way, and aristocratic as can be. Hicks is King Charles’s second cousin AND his goddaughter. She is the granddaughter of Lord Mountbatten and daughter of Lady Pamela Hicks (daughter of Lord Mountbatten). Hicks is married to David Flint Wood, they have five children together and they spend most of their time at their home in the Bahamas, although she also maintains a presence and home in England. She was recently profiled by the Telegraph to promote all of her collaborations with British fashion labels, and some of her quotes are rather interesting.

Whether she watches The Crown: I ask if she has seen it and she quickly says no. “We don’t really get Netflix out here.”

She went to QEII’s funeral: “It was extraordinary being there for [Elizabeth II’s] funeral. I was very relieved to find myself in England with my mother during that period. The Queen’s death was a chapter closing for all of us, but for my mother [who was a bridesmaid and lady-in-waiting to the Queen] it was grief on a more personal level. I often wondered how she was and she kept using the word ‘acceptance’.”

On British fashion: “There is a very unpretentious side of British fashion, one that doesn’t take itself too seriously, that I’m such a fan of. There’s also a grittiness that I love. I spent time in Paris after the lockdown – it was wonderful to be there and see that energy but I prefer the style in England.” Gritty, these collections are not – but Hicks explains that she had an urge to work on pieces that were slightly removed from her life in the Bahamas. “Cold-weather dressing is great fun – and I can be drawn into being a little lazy and doing that LA thing where you wear your leggings all day long.”

How her aristocratic roots have influenced her taste: “I definitely shy away from the word ‘class’. Good taste is everything, but in the end it has nothing to do with class. My father came from an ordinary background but he was anything but ordinary. He was a difficult father but a brilliant designer and made me realise good taste and design are by no means dependent on money.”

Whether she’ll give the new Princess of Wales one of her designs: “She wants to not be given things, but maybe. She really is an extraordinary woman and has now developed a very strong sense of style which goes hand-in-hand with the work she is doing. She has found the balance, her style doesn’t overtake or overpower her or her causes – and you don’t necessarily remember all the individual pieces, but instead have the impression of something very beautiful.”

[From The Telegraph]

“Good taste is everything, but in the end it has nothing to do with class…good taste and design are by no means dependent on money…” Sure, but money helps buy all of those tasteful, classy things. We’ve made it so the most tasteful and luxurious things are more expensive, so that “tasteful” carries a cachet of being solely for the wealthy. As for what Hicks says about Kate the button princess, I find those comments to be kind of underhanded? “You don’t necessarily remember all the individual pieces, but instead have the impression of something very beautiful…” As in, Kate is unmemorable, the things she wears are unmemorable, and we’re only seeing her in her boring, unmemorable “work clothes” anyway. Once again, I’m reminded of the fact that the truly aristocratic women don’t think much of Kate beyond “she’s not disagreeable” and “she’s unmemorable.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.