Lady Louise doubtful to become working royal due to 'common complaint' - expert

23 February 2024 , 13:31

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Lady Louise doubtful to become working royal due to 'common complaint' - expert

Only a handful of royals carry out day-to-day duties as part of King Charles' slimmed-down monarchy.

And in recent weeks, members of the Firm have been spread even thinner than ever due to the monarch's cancer treatment, which has seen him cancel public duties, and the Princess of Wales taking time to recover from abdominal surgery last month. It has prompted the question of whether several younger family members, who aren't full-time working royals, could step in to balance the load alongside the likes of Queen Camilla and Princess Anne. One candidate many royal fans have put forward is the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Lady Louise Windsor.

Lady Louise Windsor, who is currently at university (UK Press via Getty Images)

The 19-year-old is currently at St Andrews University in Scotland and has largely grown up away from the public eye. But according to royal expert Jennie Bond, it seems an unlikely proposition - and it mainly boils down to two reasons. Speaking to OK! magazine the former BBC royal correspondent said: "It's clear that for the next 15 years or so (depending on when Prince George decides to take up, full-time royal duties), the working Royals are going to become extremely thin on the ground.

Louise with her mum Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, and younger brother James, the Earl of Wessex (UK Press via Getty Images)

"But I’m doubtful that Lady Louise would ever become a full-time working royal, partly because I’m not sure she would want to, and also because The King and William know only too well that the monarchy has to be increasingly accountable to the taxpayer. The most common complaint about the Royal Family is that they cost too much. Extra working royals would mean extra staff, extra administration, extra security – extra cost. And that is not the direction that either the King or William want to take.

"Also, Louise is only 20, she is enjoying university life and she undoubtedly casts an eye at her cousin, Zara Tindall, and sees the independence and freedom and fun she has in her life as a much-loved member of the Royal Family, but not a working royal. I would bet that Louise will follow a similar course."

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Louise with her mum Sophie and her late grandmother the Queen at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2015 (Rupert Hartley/REX/Shutterstock)

Louise is in her second year at St Andrews University, one of the country's top institutions, after receiving her A-level results. She follows in the footsteps of her older cousin Prince William and his wife Kate, who both went to the university in Fife where they first met, with Kate studying history of art, and William geography.

Louise, who was once dubbed the late Queen's favourite grandchild, largely grew up outside the media spotlight and attended a private school in Ascot. However, she played a public role in her late grandmother's Platinum Jubilee celebrations, attended her grandmother's state funeral and was one of the few royals on the Buckingham Palace balcony after King Charles' Coronation.

In 2021, her mum Sophie also gave an interview to the BBC, where she talked about how she and Edward are "protective" of Louise but realise she has to be allowed to "live her life".

She revealed that her daughter is not on social media and has the usual worries a parent has for their children. Sophie told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I would hope that she can go on with her studies, which I think she probably will want to do, and I hope that she and her friends will protect her from anything that somebody might want to do. But I have to let her live her life. It's not mine to live. I can only equip her the best that I can, and then she has to make her own choices. But I hope for the next few years, at least, she will still be able to be as private as she wants to be."

Outside of her studies, Louise has followed in the footsteps of her late grandfather 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 she discussed about 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."

Jennifer Newton