Princess Diana’s Bridesmaid India Hicks Opens Up About Adopting An Orphan

India Hicks made headlines when she was chosen by Princess Diana to be one of her bridesmaids.

But the mom of five also became the center of news articles when she decided to adopt a 12-year-old boy named Wesley Cleare, who became an orphan after his mom, Lynne, died from breast cancer.

During a recent interview, Hicks explained her decision to adopt a child despite already having four of her own with David FlintWood.

“Lynne had other children and many different jobs. I was lucky enough to have the space for an extra child. I had care in the home. It was very for Wes to be dropped off at our home, which was better than him going to childcare,” she said.

According to Hicks, Wesley immediately bonded with her son, Felix. The two boys could not stop playing with each other, and they also grew up together. “They grew up in a very tropical way. I suppose if you looked from the outside in, it did look quite wild but, for us, it felt normal,” she said.

Hicks decided to adopt Wesley after she saw how broken he was at the sight of his mom’s coffin being lowered into the ground. “That moment triggered the reality. Having had such a close relationship with him, it was really heart breaking,” she said.

Princess Diana’s friend struggled with how to tend to Wesley the minute he moved into her home because he was still mourning his mom’s demise.

“The school would sometimes call me and say I had to come and pick him up because he wasn’t responding. He went through a period of talking about himself in the third person. ‘Wesley wants breakfast’ for example. He was so lost. You can’t step into being a mother. I didn’t have the right words. We were in a lifeboat together just clinging on, just trying to survive,” she said.

With the help of Hicks’ husband and children, Wesley managed to adjust to his new life with his new family. The proud mom said that Wesley never had a fight with her four biological kids, and she’s grateful that this is the case.