An Entertaining Story, shares India’s stylish soirees, held both in the English countryside and Harbour Island, Bahamas, where she lives and co-runs the Briland Island Food Bank. The former model, writer, interior designer and business owner, who was a bridesmaid at Charles’s wedding to Diana, is the daughter of the renowned interior decorator David Hicks and his wife, Pamela Hicks. Her maternal grandparents were the Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma. Her grandfather was the last Viceroy of India, (hence where her name came from) makes Hicks 678th in line to the throne. Needless to say, this makes for a few interesting stories to share. Part cookbook, where she opens with a recipe for banana daiquiri and part story, Luxe catches up with India about her book and entertaining.
The Book is beautiful and we love how you chose to organize it. Starting with cocktails then moving onto dinner, tea and breakfast. It's a bit untraditional, why did you choose this layout?
If I have a quick look back at my own life I think it is rather untraditional in many respects, whoever thought that I would be living on a small island in the middle of the Caribbean with five children, so beginning an entertaining book with what I consider to be the best meal of the day, DRINKS, is not as untraditional as it could have been!
An Entertaining Story is a photographic ode to your stylish soirees. Have you always enjoyed entertaining? And have you always been so creative, since you were young?
Actually the book is more about gathering together friends and family, and making memorable moments. The constant message is that of FAMILY. On nearly every page and in nearly every story there is a reference to my children, husband David or mother, the infamous Lady Pamela. But given any opportunity to create a tablescape with pretty napkins, and imaginative center pieces and unusual guests I will take it. Of course growing up with David Hicks as a father certainly meant I inherited a creative gene or two.
You always look so beautiful and relaxed; can you share any of your beauty secrets that have helped you maintain your beautiful glow?
I think so much of how we look is predetermined and inherited from our mothers. I am lucky to have a mother who looks fantastic at 91 with clear bright eyes and untouched skin
There is a chapter on the importance of seating plans, as our culture becomes more and more informal, why are you such a fan?
When it comes to my own dinners I like to have a seating plan, to ensure no one ever feels like he or she is standing on the edge of a sports field waiting to be picked. Traditionally you will place the most important woman on the right of the host and vice versa but I like to take keep
things as informal as possible and will often swap seats with another guest after the main course, so that the formal hierarchy nonsense gets a bit more smoothed over and unless I see neighbors deep in a riveting conversation or old friends reconnecting then I leave the whole damn thing alone because it’s working
Your parents must have had a huge influence on your taste and appreciation of beauty, do you feel your taste is similar or different then your fathers?
My mother sat quietly by as my father, who was a whirling dervish, made all of the design decisions; from the way the candles were tapered, to the size of the ice cube, to the color of the front door, to the shape of my mothers hair. He was brilliant and his designs were so much ahead of the time and utterly unique. Today we see so much plagiarism but my father was truly one of a kind. I have inherited much of his aesthetic but I am not as bold or courageous in the way I decorate as he was. He always made a statement, he was always full of drama!
When hosting guests for the first time who may not be familiar with one another, what suggestions do you have?
I know from my own experience of entering a room where there is a guest list of people you have never met one feels a little tentative and nervous, but with soft lighting, great music, sensational cocktails, a warm hostess and riveting conversation between guests one can’t help but relax quickly.
Growing up as a child are there any holiday traditions you had, and have you incorporated any of these or created new ones with your own family?
Our Christmas in the tropics is a blend of two strong cultures but it’s consistent in its traditions. Holiday traditions that I grew up with as a child are now being relived for my own children. Our tree is a real pine tree, that travels by boat and is very thirsty by the time it settles in our Bahamian sitting room. We decorate it together as a family, there are few arguments about the balance of the lights, and the placement of the ornaments and who will put the fairy on the top. We have collected over the years ornaments of for it that reappear year after year, Mr.& Mrs. Clause from Haiti and a red double dekker bus from London and a little rainbow fish and sugar cookies in the shape of a star made by one of the teenage boys when he was tiny. Every year it reappears on the branch of the tree even though its fantastically stale now!
On Christmas Eve we gather around the fireplace which we light even if it’s boiling hot just so we feel English. We hang the stockings, we had them made for the children by my mother's Dress Maker, with the name stitched in festive lettering on them. Both David and I go to midnight mass just as I did as a child.
As I look at our Christmas table I realize how many bizarre Christmas customs we British have. Christmas crackers for example. or not something you eat with cheese, they are made from paper and have a loud bang when pulled and are filled with paper crowns, silly jokes and small toys.
Year after year we set our plum pudding’s alight with a lot of brandy, matches and burnt fingers. That is another tradition carried on from my childhood and my mother’s childhood and her mother’s childhood.
I must ask, with so many wonderful parties and events that you have hosted is there one in particular that stands out?
Last new year we hosted a fundraising dinner in our garden under a starry night sky. We were together in the hope of raising money to rebuild parts of the Bahamas that had just suffered from a national crisis. Hurricane Dorian had brought ruin in to the islands of Graham Bahama and ABACO. So on New Year’s Eve with the help of generous friends and our small community, we hosted a party for a few hundred people to raise desperately needed funds for the Global Empowerment Mission, a responsible, smart, hands-on foundation who are dedicated to restoring hope and opportunity in the lives of those most affected by natural disasters.
You have always given of yourself, your time and energy to help others. But this past year has been especially difficult for the Bahamas and the world. Can you share a little of what it has personally been like for you and your home in the Bahamas?
This year has been particularly difficult because on top of the devastating hurricane the coronavirus pandemic devastated Harbour Island‘s tourist based economy, virtually all of the islands main sources of employment; hotels, restaurants, marinas and many other businesses’s closed to prevent the spread of disease. Almost overnight hundreds of people were thrown out of work, without the paychecks that they and their families depended on for basic needs, including food. No one knew when they would be able to get their jobs back. I became involved with a group of responsibly minded community members to start a food bank. This has now been running for over six months and due to the kindness of so many we are able to continue feeding thousands of people between North Eleuthera and Harbor Island, who receive essential food parcels week after week.
How can others help, even in the smallest capacity? Sometimes it is the smallest of changes that can have the greatest effects.
I am so glad that you asked the question of how to help. It is so important that at this time we are able to help one another in whatever way, however small. There is a Go-Fund-Me set up for the Briland Food Bank campaign and we ask anybody who has ever been to North Eleuthera or Harbor Island to think about making a donation as this really will help the people in need. I also point out that any donation to the Global Empowerment Mission is deeply appreciated, any donation today will have an immediate impact on someones life tomorrow.
https://www.globalempowermentmission.org/mission/hurricane-dorian/
https://www.gofundme.com/f/briland-food-bank-campaign
