Daughter of Empire Lessons and Key Takeaways:

Daughter of Empire taught me that my word is my bond.

1. Your word is your bond
2. Keep your promises
3. Family is everything that you create
4. Love is patient, kind, understanding, tenderhearted, faithful to your ideals and values. 5. Never stop learning and growing.
6. Be open-minded and without prejudice towards anyone or anything.
7. Remember to be patient and have a sense of humor about life and love
8. Be independent as much as possible and work hard in life and at life
9. Don’t be afraid to try new experiences and travel to different places

Biggest Takeaway

Family is everything. Treat them well.

Quote I’m Summary:

“Life is for living and living is for learning. Experience is your teacher and life and relationships are your classroom.” ( )

Certainly an interesting description of how the other half lives -- related to most of the nobility of Europe, and close to Elizabeth II, Hicks has led a very interesting life. Different privileges, different responsibilities. Fortunately, her dry, matter-of-fact retelling saves this book from the overwhelming ostentation of wealth. I was particularly intrigued by her frank discussion of unusual family dynamics, and fascinated by the description of her family's part in easing the way to India's Independence from Britain. ( )

Pamela Hicks is the daughter of Lord Louis Montbatten and his extremely unconventional wife, Edwina. A cousin to both Princess (now Queen) Elizabeth and prince Phillip, she grew up in a rarified world of royal relatives (all rather down on their luck) and in the care of nannies. Her parents seemed to be largely absent. Her father who was Lord of the Admiralty was gone at sea for long periods of time and her mother traveled. Her parents largely had a marriage of convenience and both took lovers with whom they lived openly among the family.

Her home was filled with politicians, artists and other celebrities as well as containing a menagerie of strange animals. When World War II broke out, her father was appointed chief of combined operations on Asia, her mother took up war work, and Pamela and her sister were sent to America to live in safety with Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt. After the war Lord Mountbatten was appointed last Viceroy of India with the charge of overseeing that country’s transition to independence from Britain. Pamela accompanied her parents and had a ringside seat of the tumultuous birth of that country. Soon afterwards Pamela was a bridesmaid to Princess Elizabeth and then became one of the princess’ ladies in waiting, and was with her in Kenya when she learned of the death of her father and her accession to the Monarchy.

Ms. Hicks tells her story with charm and humility and not a little wonder that she lived to witness many of the momentous events of the Twentieth Century. I’m glad she told her story & gave us such an intimate picture of a time that has now ceased to exist. ( )

Lady Pamela Hicks had a very positive outlook on life, even living thru the bombing of London in WWII. She made the best of many situations, living in India and being a lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth. She was on the trip to Kenya, where Elizabeth found out that her father, the king died and she was now the queen. (Prince Phillip was her 1st cousin.) The back stories of many of the events of Pamela's life added to my knowledge of the history of that era. Learning about the Mountbatten side of the royal family was a missing piece for me. ( )

An attractively written and easy to read account of Pamela Mountbatten's life during her first thirty years. Nannies, governesses, privilege, and global travel were very much part of her life, born as she was to ambitious and hard-working parents, her father a naval officer in the British Navy without great wealth, and her mother, an heiress of great wealth. Their place in British aristocracy, and family connections to Royal families, adds to the fascinating story which enfolds.
The fact that as a seventeen year old she accompanied her parents, who became the last Viceroy and Vicereine of India prior to partition, and that Pamela later became a Lady-in-Waiting to Princess, later Queen Elizabeth, and accompanied she and Prince Phillip on a world tour in 1953/1954 as far as Fiji, New Zealand and Australia and return, only added to the wonderful experiences which no doubt shaped her future life. ( )