Lady Pamela Hicks, who served as a lady-in-waiting and bridesmaid to Queen Elizabeth II, has been laid to rest after dying aged 97.

The aristocrat, who was the daughter of Lord Mountbatten of Burma, was also a first cousin to Prince Philip.

Her family gathered on Saturday to pay their final respects at Brightwell Baldwin Church in Oxfordshire, following her death on June 5.

Lady Pamela’s youngest daughter, India Hicks, watched on tearfully as her mother’s wicker coffin, adorned with flowers, was carefully carried into the church.

Earlier this week, India shared a message ahead of the funeral relating to her mother’s final wishes.

She wrote on Instagram: ‘In death, as in life, my mother wanted things to be uncomplicated.

‘When my father died, he left a book of instructions for his funeral. A book. My mother left an envelope. We opened it this weekend.

‘Inside was a single page: a few words about how much she loved us, followed by a simple request: no eulogy, no sermon, no memorial. But please, lots of rousing hymns. And that is exactly what we intend to do.’

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India Hicks (right), her brother Ashley Hicks and sister Edwina Brudenell follow behind their mother’s coffin

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India Hicks, the youngest daughter of Lady Pamela, appeared tearful during the funeral

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Lady Helen Taylor, the Duke of Kent’s daughter, represented the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and the Duke of Kent

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Lady Pamela Hicks has been laid to rest following her death aged 97

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Among the attendants were Penny Brabourne, the Countess Mountbatten of Burma and close confidant of Prince Philip.

King Charles and other senior members of the royal family did not attend due to Trooping The Colour taking place today.

He was instead represented by James Hamilton, the Duke of Abercorn, who is related to the late Diana, Princess Of Wales.

Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and the Duke of Kent were represented by the Duke of Kent’s daughter, Lady Helen Taylor, Town and Country reported.

Barcelona-born Lady Pamela was part of the Royal Family’s inner circle for her entire life – and the great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

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She was one of eight bridesmaids for the then-Princess Elizabeth when she married in 1947.

Lady Pamela married interior designer David Hicks in 1960, who died in 1998. She is survived by her three children India, Ashley Hicks and Edwina Brudenell.

She was present with Elizabeth in Kenya when she became Queen aged 25 in February 1952 after learning her father King George VI had died at Sandringham.

Elizabeth and Philip had been at the remote Treetops Hotel and Lady Pamela later recalled the couple were ‘the last people in the world to hear’ that George had died.

The hotel was accessible only by ladder, and Lady Pamela said: ‘She goes up as a princess. The King dies that night. She comes down the ladder as a Queen.’

Speaking to her daughter on The India Hicks Podcast in 2019, Lady Pamela recalled the moment Philip was told the news, recounting: ‘Philip just takes the newspaper and covers his face with it, hides behind it and says “This will be such a shock”.’

She added: ‘As she (Elizabeth) comes into the room. I think “Oh, poor girl, her father’s died”. So I go over to her, give her a hug and think “Oh my god, it’s the Queen” so I go into a deep curtsy.

‘And she says “I’m so sorry. It means we’ve all got to go back”… She was only thinking of all of us.’

In an interview for an ITV documentary in 2021, she spoke about Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, saying: ‘[The Queen] looked so frail, just this one young woman.

‘Seeing her, this young woman of 27, utterly alone, I wondered how she’d have the strength to undertake this duty all her life. I think one knew she would, because there’s such inner strength there.’

Among the guests at her wedding to David Hicks in 1960 were Prince Philip, Princess Margaret, the Queen Mother, Prince Charles and Princess Anne as bridesmaid.

David was known for his colourful style as an interior designer and had a series of elite clients, going on to design Prince Charles’s apartment at Buckingham Palace.

In November 1983, Lady Pamela accompanied the Queen to the unveiling of a statue of the late Lord Mountbatten in Westminster, at which the monarch gave a speech.

Lady Pamela was portrayed on-screen as a minor character in Netflix’s The Crown, featuring in the show’s retelling of Elizabeth’s wedding to Philip.

Writing in Town and Country in 2016, India revealed her mother judged the show to be ‘rather good’.

When Elizabeth II died in September 2022, Lady Pamela became Queen Victoria’s oldest living descendant and attended the state funeral in a wheelchair with India.

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India Hicks is comforted as the funeral service came to an end at St Bartholomew Church in Brightwell Baldwin, near Wallingford

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Penny Brabourne (right), the Countess Mountbatten of Burma and close confidant of Prince Philip, attended the funeral with her daughter, Alexandra (left)

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Lady Pamela Hicks’ grand-daughters were among the attendees at the funeral on Saturday

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Wesley Flint Wood (right), who was adopted by India Hicks and David Flint Wood at the age of 12 after his mother died

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Lady Pamela Hicks (second left) at Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s wedding in 1947

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The death of Lady Pamela Hicks was announced by her daughter India Hicks on Instagram

But Buckingham Palace phoned Lady Pamela to say she would not be invited to King Charles III’s coronation because of their decision to slim down the guest list.

Lady Pamela had three memoirs published – ‘India Remembered’ in 2007, ‘Daughter of Empire: Life as a Mountbatten’ in 2012 and ‘My Years with the Queen’ in 2022.

Her father Lord Mountbatten, the King’s great-uncle, was the last viceroy of India and was murdered by the IRA in 1979 when a bomb exploded aboard his fishing boat.

On her passing earlier this month, her daughter India wrote: ‘My mother died peacefully today. Whilst there is no tragedy in the death of a 97-year-old who has lived a full life, I know grief will be unavoidable, lurking around waiting for me, but today I am simply grateful that she was my mother.

‘And through the prism of a crowded and remarkable past, she made incomparable company, carrying her memories lightly, and always with humour.

‘My mother maintained right up to the end, the impeccable style, sharp mind and effortless charm that made her not only a cherished institution, but truly the last of her kind.’