India Hicks

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 descendant of the Mountbatten family and a relative of the British royal family. Early life Hicks was born in 1967 in London. 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. She is the granddaughter of the Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma and the second cousin and goddaughter of Charles III. Hicks grew up in Oxfordshire, England. She spent holidays at the family estate in Ireland and at her father's self-designed and built Bahamian-holiday home. As a child, she was a tomboy who kept her distance from royal affairs. Hicks was exposed to design at an early age through her father and brother, who were both architects. The 11-year-old Hicks was on holiday in Ireland in 1979 when her grandfather was killed by a bomb planted on his boat. In 1981, she served as bridesmaid to Lady Diana Spencer at her wedding to Prince Charles. Hicks went to boarding school in Scotland at Gordonstoun, from which she was expelled for having boys in her room. She then backpacked across India. Hicks moved to Boston, Massachusetts at age 18 to study photography at the New England School of Photography, where she graduated in 1990.