Why Lady Louise Windsor isn't a princess - and her special moment with Queen

08 November 2023 , 12:45

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Lady Louise Windsor is the youngest granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II (Image: Getty Images)

Despite being one of the leading young members of the Royal Family, Lady Louise Windsor isn't a princess.

Born in 2003, she is the eldest child and only daughter of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex. The royal couple do not have HRH titles, and chose not to request them for her or her 15-year-old brother, James, Viscount Severn.

Lady Louise is also the youngest granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, and shared a poignant moment with the late monarch not long before her death in 2022.

She is celebrating her 20th birthday today, November 8, and is currently studying at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.

Earl of Wessex, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex do not have (Getty Images)

Lady Louise Windsor is not officially styled as 'Princess' because her father, Prince Edward, became an Earl when he married Sophie in 1999. The couple came to an agreement with Queen Elizabeth II at the time that their family would be accorded with courtesy titles appropriate of an Earl's children, rather than as Princes and Princesses.

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Lady Louise is not permitted to take on another title due to her position in the line of succession, and it is thought that her parents - who were fiercely protective of their kids' privacy when they were growing up - have not pushed for this to be changed. Sophie, Countess of Wessex has however said in interviews that the children's decision is their own once they are adults, potentially making them HRH Princess Louise and HRH Prince James if they asked to be.

Lady Louise Windsor attended a service at Balmoral following the death of Queen Elizabeth II (PA)

The 20-year-old royal has taken up Prince Philip's old hobby of carriage driving (Getty Images)

Dr Craig Prescott, an expert in UK constitutional law and politics at Bangor University, told Express.co.uk: “The way the rules work by default, it’s not possible for her to have another title. In principle, the King could have given Lady Louise a title of some sort, but this does not seem to be the direction that Edward and Sophie want to go down, at least for now.”

Lady Louise took a short break from her studies at St Andrews last year to north to be with Queen Elizabeth II shortly before she died last September. She was also seen at her funeral, and the King's coronation the following year. Outside of her studies, Louise has followed in the footsteps of Prince Philip by taking up his beloved sport of carriage driving. She made her public speaking debut in a documentary about Philip's life in 2021, where shared how they bonded over the sport. She said: "The Duke of Edinburgh has been so involved in my driving, but it's slightly scary as he invented the sport pretty much. But it's incredible to have learned first-hand from him and it definitely made us closer I think."

Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas