Prince Charles’s goddaughter had a terrifying ordeal with a knife-wielding man when she was about to give birth- which she thinks prevented her coming to any harm.
India Hicks has spoken about about the incident which occurred when her partner David Flint Wood was rushing her to hospital for the birth of first child Felix, and stopped off to buy cigarettes en route.
Speaking to the Sebastian Shakespeare column in the Daily Mail, the 53-year-old, who is now a mother of five, described her lucky escape in Miami, America which occurred 24 years ago.
She said: “Unbeknown to me a homeless dude with a knife had wandered into the forecourt. I got out so I could double over on the bonnet to ease a contraction. The store attendant banged on the window to try to warn me to get back inside the car. The knife-wielding dude took one look at this pregnant woman lying on the front of the car, clearly about to give birth, and turned and left as quick as he could.”
And after they making it to the hospital just in time for Felix’s arrival, the couple also received an added bonus after David gave up the dirty habit that had caused them to stop in the first place.
She added: “We made it to the hospital just in time. Felix arrived, changing our lives forever — and for the better. And David gave up smoking.”
India’s royal connection comes from her being the third child of Lady Pamela Mountbatten and David Nightingale Hicks. Pamela was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, while her father was a famous interior designer. Her grandparents were the Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma. As well as being Charles’s goddaughter, she is also his second cousin. India met partner David when he was running the Ocean View Club in the Bahamas where her family owned a holiday home.