King Charles apologizes to late Queen's bridesmaid following coronation snub

Lady Pamela Hicks, one of the late Queen's bridesmaids has received an apology from King Charles III after she failed to be invited to his upcoming coronation. 

• King Charles has apologized to Lady Pamela Hicks, one of the late Queen's bridesmaids, for failing to invite her to his slimmed-down coronation ceremony which will take place on May 6.
• Had Lady Pamela been invited to the historic event, her daughter said 'she might be the only living person to attend three coronations' as she was in attendance when both Queen Elizabeth II and George VI were crowned.  
• In other royal news, King Charles's extravagant way of preparing for his coronation might surprise you.

Lady Pamela Hicks, whose father, the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, was Prince Philip's uncle, received an apology from King Charles III after the news broke that she would not be invited to his upcoming coronation. 

Lady Pamela is one of only two surviving bridesmaids who attended Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's wedding in 1947, and was in attendance when both Queen Elizabeth and George VI, were crowned in Westminster Abbey. 

She is just one member of the royal's extended family and friends who King Charles is said to have apologized to after they failed to receive invitations to his coronation. Lady Pamela received a call from a secretary at Buckingham Palace on April 19, which also happened to be her 94th birthday, telling her that she would not be attending the historic event next month. 

Following the news, Lady Pamela's daughter, India Hicks, who is a goddaughter of King Charles and was a bridesmaid when he married Princess Diana, told Daily Mail that her mother had hoped to be one of the few people in the world to have attended three coronations.

Taking to Instagram to share the heartbreaking news, India Hicks shared that her mother originally thought the call was a prank, telling her daughter that a spam caller had been bothering her and calling to say it was Buckingham Palace.

"One of the King's personal secretaries was passing on a message from the King. The King was sending his great love and apologies, he was offending many family and friends with the reduced [guest] list." India shared.

She went on to explain how the palace official "explained that this Coronation was to be very different to the Queen's" which took place in 1953 and featured a guest list of thousands more than Charles'. She said that the official told her, "Eight thousand guests would be whittled down to 1,000, alleviating the burden on the state."

While the snub is sure to have upset one of the Queen's closest confidants, her daughter reassured royal fans that Lady Pamela was not offended by the lack of invitation. "My mother was not offended at all," she explained, before going on to share that her mother even thought it was a 'very, very sensible,' idea to give out 'invitations based on meritocracy, not aristocracy.'"

As many royal fans will agree, Lady Pamela said that she is "going to follow with great interest the events of this new reign."

King Charles has ruffled a few feathers with his slimmed-down guest list, with many of the uninvited aristocracy not taking the snub as gracefully as Lady Pamela. Last week, the Duke of Rutland shared his surprise at his and most of his fellow dukes' lack of invitations.

"I have not been asked," he told Daily Mail before sharing that he did 'not really understand' why. "It has been families like mine that have supported the Royal Family over 1,000 years or thereabouts," he said in argument of his attendance.

However, another of the Queen's surviving bridesmaids, 86-year-old Princess Alexandra of Kent, Queen Elizabeth II's first cousin and the daughter of Prince George, Duke of Kent, will be attending the event.

Princess Alexandra is still a working member of the Royal Family so has not only been invited to King Charles III's coronation but will be seen on the coveted Buckingham Palace balcony after the coronation ceremony.