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Daughter Of The Empire My Life As A Mountbatten (2012)

by Pamela Hicks(Favorite Author)

3.42 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Simon & Schuster

review 1: The charming autobiographical story of the childhood of Pamela Mountbatten Hicks. Ms. Hicks tells the engrossing tale of living in India while her father Lord Mountbatten brokers the new freedom of India and Pakistan from Great Britain. Friends with Nehru and Ghandi, lady-in-waiting to her cousin Queen Elizabeth, Pamela Hicks had a front-row seat at the history-making moments of the 20th century. A lovely book, we'll-written with humor and gratitude.Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in British history and the royals.
review 2: I enjoyed this autobiography very much. I liked the author's directness, and that she resisted making a longer saga of the Mountbatten story (including the death of her father, which I'd been bracing myself for). What she... more packed into just 260 pages was fascinating enough - I actually found myself re-reading bits afterwards. As first cousin and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, Pamela Mountbatten had a privileged insider view, and relates matter-of-factly the friendships with Ghandi and especially Nehru, as well as her love of India. We move between many baronial Mountbatten homes and glimpse the scenes behind regal pomp and ceremony. Prince Philip's tomfoolery on board ship was not really a surprise, but the circumstances around the Queen's sudden accession after her father's death was moving. The fact that both Pamela's parents conducted affairs with the tacit knowledge of each other and their daughters, and thought so little of the implications of bringing home exotic pets from their travels, confirms that the very rich and powerful everywhere live by their own rules.There's also a bit of stiff upper lip here: perhaps her aristocratic upbringing (parents busy elsewhere for months on end) developed a certain emotional detachment. Events are related rather than analysed. If the author is still alive, she is 85 now; I wonder if she is still close to the Queen, and if so, whether any of Pamela's sense of fun and forthrightness comes into their friendship. less

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