King Charles' goddaughter has sent her 'thoughts and prayers' to her godfather following the announcement of his cancer diagnosis.

India Hicks, the daughter of Pamela Hicks who splits her time between the Bahamas and Britain, posted a childhood photo on Instagram to send a message to the monarch who started cancer treatment yesterday.

In the photo, which is not dated, designer India appears to be about eight to 10 years old and is beaming on what appears to be a patio outside a house. Meanwhile, her godfather Charles, a young man, is a father figure who has his hands on her shoulders.

The king, now 74, was diagnosed with cancer after a “worrying problem” was noticed during a routine procedure he had to undergo last month to treat an enlarged prostate.

Buckingham Palace released a statement on Monday evening confirming that the king has begun outpatient treatment for cancer – the exact nature of which has not been specified.

India, 56, is the daughter of Lady Pamela Hicks and the granddaughter of Louis and Edwina Mountbatten.

Both India and her mother have attended numerous royal events over the years, including Queen Elizabeth's funeral.

When she was 12 years old, India was also a bridesmaid at Charles and Diana's wedding in 1981.

She was not invited to King Charles' coronation in May 2023, but arrived in London for the celebrations anyway.

She shared a never-before-seen photo of her godfather on Instagram at the time, saying he was “thoughtful” by nature.

She wrote: 'Talking on TV today about @princestrust, the remarkable man behind it, and a very thoughtful, very patient godfather (to an annoying five year old India)'

Her visit to Britain came after she posted a photo of herself on Instagram with a caption praising King Charles' invitations to the coronation, which are based on “meritocracy”, as she failed to make the list.

During a TV appearance on an Australian channel where she commented on the coronation, she donned a chic cream dress and matching tweed jacket by Nina Morris as she chatted to the channel about preparations for the coronation weekend.

On her jacket she wore a gold brooch with a diamond, which she revealed belonged to her mother.

She also posted a video of horses and a carriage driving down a Westminster street and joked: “The traffic was interesting.”

Buckingham Palace announced in a statement on Monday evening that King Charles is undergoing cancer treatment.

It read: 'During the King's recent hospital procedure for a benign prostate enlargement, another area of ​​concern was noted. Subsequent diagnostic tests identified a form of cancer.

His Majesty today began a schedule of regular treatments, during which time he has been advised by doctors to postpone duties in public.

During this period, His Majesty will continue to conduct state affairs and official paperwork as usual.

The King is grateful to his medical team for their quick intervention, which was made possible thanks to his recent hospital procedure. He remains completely positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to his full public role as soon as possible.

His Majesty has chosen to share his diagnosis to avoid speculation and in the hope that it can increase public understanding for all those affected by cancer around the world.”

She’s grown up around royalty, even serving as a bridesmaid to the late Princess Diana.

But India Hicks, who is goddaughter and second cousin of King Charles, is far from the pomp and circumstance of the stereotypical British aristocrat.

The granddaughter of Earl Mountbatten, and former bridesmaid to Princess Diana, has spent most of her adult life in the Bahamas with her husband David Flint Wood and their five children.

Which means her average day is a far cry from society walks in the countryside, with her Instagram page showing pictures of her relaxing on the beach while dedicating most of her life to philanthropy.

Perhaps though, her free spirited nature has been obvious from a young age.

The daughter of Lady Pamela Mountbatten – who was a bridesmaid to the Queen – and interior designer David Hicks, was educated at £40,000-a-year Gordonstoun, near Elgin, Scotland, until she was expelled for inviting boys to her room.

Here, FEMAIL looks at how she’s become the archetype of a modern, progressive, royal. 

Loving mother-of-five 

India married her long-term partner David Flint Wood in 2021. The pair had moved to the Caribbean together in 1996. 

So far is she from the stiff rules of British society, India was with her partner for 26 years before she wed last year at the age of 54, after having five children together.

While in many ways her wedding was a typical society affair, it was certainly scaled down affair at the small Brightwell Baldwin Parish Church in Oxfordshire.

Few aristocrats and royalty was there, just her mother Lady Pamela, was among the 30-or-so guests at the ceremony. Charles was no invited in a bid to keep it small, with only her children’s godparents in attendance.

Despite her family and royal connections, the socialite has worked to earn her keep. 

Originally a model, she became a designer and businesswoman, launching a luxury lifestyle business before closing it down in 2022 to spend more time with her children: –  Wesley, 26, Felix, 24, Amory, 22, Conrad, 18, and Domino, 13.

Wesley was adopted after his waitress mother died of cancer. The rest are her biological children. 

In 2022 the aristocrat paid tribute to her adopted son’s birth mother, who passed away in 2010 away after losing her battle with cancer. 

India first met Lynne while she was a working as a waitress at a local restaurant and the pair became friends.

Lynne, a single mother, raised Wesley and her other children on a low waitressing wage, and lost both her younger and older sister to breast cancer, before she too passed away from the disease. 

India posted a photo of the family visiting Lynne’s grave on Christmas Day with a caption saying it ‘never gets easier’.

India first befriended Lynne during pregnancy, and when the children were born, India offered to help look after both of them.

‘Lynne had other children and many different jobs,’ she previously told MailOnline. ‘I was lucky enough to have the space for an extra child.

‘I had care in the home. It was easy for Wes to be dropped off at our home, which was better than him going to childcare.’

She remembered Wesley as a spirited child, climbing on roofs with her own son, Felix, becoming close friends from a young age.

In 2008, Wesley’s mother moved the family some 50 miles away from Harbour Island over the water to Nassau.

It meant India didn’t see much of him until 2010 when, by chance, she found herself sitting beside him on a tiny inter-island plane. His mother was ill and he was shuttled between family members – two days later, Lynne died.

India took Wesley in and often shares happy family pictures of the whole family enjoying time together.

Early life in royal circles

The newlywed was one of the five bridesmaids at the 1981 wedding of Diana and Charles, who is her godfather and second cousin.

As the daughter of famed interior decorator David Hicks and Lady Pamela Hicks, one of the late Queen’s former ladies-in-waiting and the daughter of the last Viceroy of India, India was exposed to the design world as well as royal circles

She had been on holiday in the Bahamas aged 13 when the prince phoned and personally asked her to take on the role.

‘I had to practise,’ she later recalled. ‘It was during these rehearsals I got to know Diana, whom I first met at a dress fitting. She always seemed more like a head girl than a princess-in-waiting, with never a shy moment in private.’

India has kept her bridesmaid’s wreath from the ceremony at St Paul’s in its original box.

In November she posted a photograph of her dress – still in perfect condition – on social media. 

Remarkably it was on a hanger on her stairs alongside another royal bridesmaid dress, that worn by Lady Pamela, 91. 

Charity work

India has dedicated a lot of her life to charity, recently visiting Ukraine to help refugees and even putting her house on the market for charity.  

She serves her godfather’s charity, the Prince’s Trust, as a patron for Women Supporting Women.

After attending the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II last year, India revealed that she would be undertaking a bicycle ride from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle in a bid to raise money for the monarch’s charity.

India wrote on Instagram that she would be joining thousands of others for the ride, during which she would be part of the Women Supporting Women team.

In the post, she said: ‘Tomorrow I am biking from Buckingham Place to Windsor Castle, along with several thousand other people, in the hopes of raising awareness and funds to help transform the lives of youngsters who are facing a frankly s***** future.

‘King Charles (still feels strange saying that) set up the charity in 1976 with a few thousand pounds of his severance pay from the Navy, to tackle high youth unemployment which he feared would leave young people marginalised.

‘The Prince’s Trust has now helped over a million people, believing that every young person should have the chance to succeed, no matter what their background or challenges they are facing.’

India’s work for her godfather’s charity exists alongside her support for Global Empowerment Mission, a nonprofit that provides assistance in the wake of international disasters.

In May last year, she visited Ukraine alongside her son in support of the organisation, transporting clothing and spending time in a therapy shelter helping Ukrainian children.

Bahamas lifestyle 

She has recently put her Bahamas holiday home up for rent over the summer, with a percentage of the proceeds going to the Prince’s Trust. 

The Harbour Island getaway comes with a hefty price tag of £18,000 a week but India told The Times that the island is a coveted destination 

Sharing details of the property on Instagram, she wrote: ‘Our guest house is set in a grove of palm trees, on the crest of the dunes.

‘Designed to look as though it has always been there. Following tropical traditions we built the house on four pylons, to remain as cool as possible throughout the year.

‘The sitting room and two large guest rooms are upstairs, leaving the dining room, kitchen, and remaining bedrooms downstairs.

‘Late morning you might want to wander down the private path to three miles of pink sand beach and lie under our thatched cabanas on the sunbeds, or else there is a hammock slung between two trees, in the garden, somewhere for a siesta after a long lunch.

‘Facing south you have the chance to sit idling with a rum cocktail in hand, on the upper verandah, as the sun sets and watch the light changing over both the bay and the Atlantic.

‘From up here you can hear the breeze in the casuarina trees and the rustling of palms below and spot a stray guest or an escaping child.’

Pictures of the property, designed by India and her husband, David Flint Wood, show comfortable furnishings and white walls and window panes.

Speaking to The Times , India said that the house and furniture was built by local carpenters and focused on making sure the property did not disrupt the ambience of the island.

She added: ‘It’s got a private part of the beach with beach cabanas, so it’s a very beautiful, lovely property and we thought [renting it more widely] would be another way of raising some funding for a cause that I’m very, very involved with.’

While she has rented the property previously on a small scale, the King’s goddaughter felt that she would carry out her new project before the hurricane season takes hold. 

Respectful royal

Despite being detached from the stuffiness that comes with royal life, India has frequently visited the UK and praised the royal family.

On the eve of the coronation she said her godfather was  ‘considerate’ and ‘patient’ –  despite not receiving an invitation.

India posted photos on her Instagram story showing herself outside Buckingham Palace and she also appeared on Australian TV to discuss all things royal ahead of the ceremony in Westminster Abbey during his Coronation.

The designer tagged The Prince’s Trust, the charity her godfather founded, in a video of herself speaking, with the words: ‘Inclusivity, equality, diversity’.

Her visit to the UK came after she posted a photo of herself on Instagram with a caption praising King Charles’s invitations to the coronation which are based on ‘meritocracy’ as she failed to make the list.

Her mother, who was the late Queen’s bridesmaid at her wedding to Prince Philip in 1947, was also snubbed for an invite.

Devoted daughter 

The devoted daughter even launched a podcast recording conversations with her mother, called The India Hicks Podcast.

India’s mother Lady Pamela is the daughter of Earl Mountbatten, the brother of Prince Philip’s mother.

Earl Mountbatten, was affectionately known as ‘Uncle Dickie’ by Prince Philip and the Queen, and was seen as hugely influential in the early life of both royals. 

Lady Pamela has previously shared insight into Prince Philip’s family life. 

Lady Pamela recalled in a podcast interview last year how the Queen was always ‘patient’ and ‘kind’ to her mother-in-law Princess Alice of Battenberg, who could be ‘very sharp and difficult

‘I remember, she was staying at Windsor and we were waiting to go into lunch,’ Lady Pamela recalled. ‘The equerry had come to collect her for lunch with the Queen.

‘He was a new equerry, a young man of about 20, and thought he must entertain Princess Alice and talk to her.

‘He unwisely asked, ‘and what have you been doing this morning, Ma’am,’ to which Princess Alice replied: ‘And what has that got to do with you?”

Lady Pamela also explained that, despite living under the same roof as her son, Princess Alice and Prince Philip led very separate lives.’She was in a dressing gown, by choice, in the attic,’ Lady Pamela said. ‘While Prince Philip was very busy down below.’  

Russian war fanatics are outraged by an ‘almost naked’ party staged in Moscow by wealthy showbiz celebrities including Vladimir Putin’s ‘goddaughter’.

The “debauched” gathering was likened to Sodom and Gomorrah by critics who claimed the wealthy stars’ antics insulted those on the front lines of the Kremlin’s illegal war against Ukraine.

One of the most visible guests was a pregnant and braless Ksenia Sobchak, 40, a TV presenter and “liberal” Russian presidential candidate in 2018, in a nude Sorelle outfit.

She is known as Putin’s goddaughter after he attended her baptism and considered her late father Anatoly Sobchak his political mentor.

The outpouring of anger had led to the high society party being reported to prosecutors, who will now probe the party for illegality, reports show.

The frothy TV propagandist Vladimir Soloviev stormed: “How morally deaf do you have to be?

‘Our boys are now fighting at the front. To what extent should you not understand anything at all about the country, about Putin?

“The Commander in Chief raises a glass to our victory, and you bastards – who are you supporting?

“You can’t even imagine how people hate and despise you.”

Rapper Vacio, 25, caused outrage by wearing nothing but a Balenciaga sock on his manhood.

The party – dress code ‘almost naked’ – was organized by fashionable blogger and socialite Nastya Ivleeva, 32, TV presenter and actress.

She bragged about wearing £200,000 worth of diamonds and emeralds on her ‘skinny’ backside.

‘Decided not to overdo the look with the accessories and that’s a diamond worth 23 million [roubles] on the butt would be enough.’

With 18 million Instagram followers, she complained: ‘Every time after my parties they write that this is demonic and depraved, while people just looked beautiful in half-naked outfits.

‘But we look at the West, at the appearances of beautiful, slim models and say: ‘Damn! They are so beautiful and cool!’

“Our beautiful, fit performers come out and everyone says, ‘How is this possible?’

Putin’s goddaughter later dismissed the criticism of the half-naked party, saying: ‘Maybe it was a bad party in your eyes.

‘We wanted glamor and that’s what we got.

‘You may not like watching it all, but sorry, where and when adults go bare-assed is their own business.

‘The world is not fair; it has always been that way, is and always will be that way.

‘Somewhere people are being murdered, somewhere children are starving, and somewhere else [people are] drinking champagne at the same time.

‘No grief can last forever.’

It comes after a censorship report said: ‘While some attendees attempted to cover their genitals, others were not particularly shy and limited themselves to a minimum of clothing.’

Pro-war Two majors Telegram channel told the rich and prominent participants: ‘You are just scum, you will burn in hell.’

Such outlets have long raged about the way Moscow’s socialites celebrate relentlessly while hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers – mostly from impoverished provinces – are killed or maimed in a war instigated by dictator Putin, but this event seemed to be the last straw . that broke the camel’s back.

Public figure Yuri Podolyaka said: “Our soldiers at the front are clearly not fighting for this. Not for this Russia.’

Poet Anna Revyakina denounced the reprehensible festival performed during the war.

“This is a fashionable celebration of Nastya Iveleeva… it’s Sodom or Gomorrah,” she said.

‘Or both cities at the same time.

“I just can’t believe this is all actually happening… It’s happening right now, right at this moment.”

Many complained that this happened because Putin had emphasized Russia fighting for traditional values, but there was degeneration.

Vladislav Pozdnyakov, the leader of the so-called Male State, a Russian patriarchal and nationalist group, wrote: “Nastya Ivleeva, who organized a naked satanic party at the capital’s Mutabor club, will be controlled by the prosecutor’s office.”

The conservative organization Zov Naroda – the ‘calling of the people’ – sent an appeal to the head of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, Prosecutor General Krasnov and Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev, demanding a check on extremism, drug propaganda and other ‘disgusting ‘ Affairs. moments of the depraved party’.

Police are investigating male kissing, projections of naked women on the ceiling and a man simulating oral sex with rapper Vacio, according to reports.

Ekaterina Mizulina, member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, said: “Our soldiers at the front are absolutely not fighting for this.

“And I’m absolutely sure of that because I recently spoke to wounded soldiers.

‘Such parties are a shot in the foot of the entire state policy.’

King Charles is fondly remembered for walking Meghan Markle down the aisle during her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry after her father was unable to attend.

But this was not the first time the former Prince of Wales had stepped up to take on that responsibility.

Two years before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding, he gave away Princess Diana’s goddaughter Alexandra Knatchbull at her 2016 marriage to IT entrepreneur Tom Hooper .

Lady Alexandra is the daughter of the 3rd Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma and great granddaughter of Lord Louis Mountbatten, who Charles later referred to as the ‘grandfather I never had’.

At the time there was much speculation as to why Alexandra’s father, Earl Norton Louis Knatchbull, who is cousins and close friends with Charles, could not walk her down the aisle at Romsey Abbey.

The answer given by Reverend Canon Tim Sledge was a straightforward one: ‘he was simply not well enough’, the vicar declared.

He added, referring to Prince Charles’ offer to take on the role: ‘What better than to have a family member give her away’.

Alexandra’s family and the royal family have been intertwined for decades. So it was not, perhaps, such a surprise that Charles, who was best man at her father’s wedding, would take on the role.

Others, however, speculated there was another reason why the bride may have chosen not have her father walk her down the aisle at what was said to be the society wedding of the year.

The father and daughter were believed to have a strained relationship in the years leading up to the big day.

In 2010, her father abandoned his 31-year marriage to Penelope Knatchbull (nee Eastwood), known as Penny, to run away to Nassau in the Bahamas with fashion designer Jeannie Nuttall.

As a result, Penny had to tell staff that she would be running the 6,000-acre estate on her own from that point onwards.

One local said on the Earl’s departure: ‘Not for one moment did Penny allow her husband’s departure to interrupt the smooth running of the estate. She was impressive.’

The relationship ended in 2014 which led him back to the historic estate, where Noel Coward had played piano at weekend house parties, and the late Queen and Prince Philip were guests.

But he the Earl not allowed to stay in the main home and was banished to live in a converted barn.

In the lead up to the wedding, a family friend said: ‘It’s very unusual to be given away by someone else at your wedding – even if it’s the Prince of Wales.

‘At the time Alexandra was absolutely furious with her father for leaving her mother, but of course she still wanted him at the wedding.’

Over the decades, the Knatchbulls were hit with a series of tragedies, which undoubtedly would have made their daughter’s wedding a bittersweet day.

In 1979, when the Earl was 32, his grandfather Lord Mountbatten was killed in an IRA bomb attack, alongside his younger brother Nicholas, 14, as well as a local boy Paul Maxwell, who was 15.

It was in the church that Alexandra was married that Lord Mountbatten is also buried.

During the wedding, the Queen and Prince Philip, who was Mountbatten’s nephew, paid their respects to ‘Uncle Dickie’, standing in silent contemplation.

Following the death, Norton’s wedding to Penny, the daughter of a butcher who went on to set up Angus Steakhouse, was postponed by three months.

In more recent times the family have endured equally painful tragedies.

In August 1990, while Penny and Norton were on holiday in Majorca with the then Prince and Princes of Wales, Charles and Diana, Leonora became ill.

Just 14 months later, the bright little girl died. There was a huge outpouring of public sympathy as millions had watched the young girl on the Buckingham Palace balcony that June to watch Trooping The Colour, months before she died.

Leonora, who was also a goddaughter of Princess Diana, was dressed all in red and wore a hat to cover the loss of hair from undergoing chemotherapy.

The little girl was buried at the family’s Broadland estate, where the Queen and Prince Philip as well as Charles and Diana spent their honeymoon in the years prior.

A tall stone monument that stands on a plinth 100 yards from the house which can be seen from the drawing room. 

Penny makes her ritual daily visit to Leonora’s grave and said she would never leave the estate.

Following Leonora’s death, her parents set up the Leonora Children’s Cancer Fund in her memory – it was later merged with the Edwina Mountbatten Trust in 2010.

Money poured into the Leonora Children’s Cancer Fund, which the Brabournes founded in their daughter’s memory. It was merged with the Edwina Mountbatten Trust in 2010, the year Norton took off.

After her daughter’s death, Penny became close friends with Prince Philip, who taught her how to drive a horse carriage. (He had taken up carriage racing after retiring from polo.)

She became a confidantes of Prince Philip despite being 32 years his junior and was pictured on walks with the Duke over the years. 

Penny was close to both the Queen and Prince Philip towards the end of their lives, becoming a regular visitor at Wood Farm, the cottage on the edge of the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk where the Duke spent much of his time after retiring from public life in August 2017. 

They also had to help their son Nicholas Knatchbull, 41, who struggled with years of drug addiction and rehabilitation.

Nicholas was once a mentor to Prince William at Eton before he became addicted to crack cocaine and heroin.

He appeared at Alexandra’s wedding, helping his 90-year-old grandmother, Countess Mountbatten, who died the following year, into the church.

The vicar told the wedding congregation: ‘They’ve put a huge amount of effort, thought and care into it. It’s got that personal touch.

‘The most important thing is that Alexandra and Thomas have the most memorable day that they possibly can.’

Seven years later, Alexandra and Thomas remain happily married. They have two sons: Alden Peter Theodore Mountbatten, who was born on March 27 in 2020 and Inigo Norton Sebastian Mountbatten, born on December 21 in 2017.