Before I could even try the Spider Lily Body Cream from Crabtree & Evelyn’s India Hicks Island Living collection, I had to figure out why the name “India Hicks” sounded so familiar to me. Ah, yes: if you’re old enough to recall the Royal Wedding of 1981, as I am, you may also remember her as one of Princess Diana’s bridesmaids at that “fairytale” event.

At the time, I was mesmerized by the entire spectacle of the Charles-and-Diana wedding, including the sight of a girl only a few years older than myself who held such a romantic and important duty. How had she been granted that honor? Apparently, it’s an advantage to be a goddaughter of Prince Charles and the granddaughter of Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy to India (hence her name), as well as a descendant of Queen Victoria. Now, thanks to some research, I also know that India Hicks has been busy with other stylish occupations over the past two decades: she has been a model (for Ralph Lauren and others), an interior designer (following in the celebrated footsteps of her father, David Hicks), a hotelier, and the author of two books that share her lifestyle in the Caribbean, Island Life and Island Beauty…

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