Late Queen's favourite Lady Louise's special relationship with other top royal
Lady Louise Windsor is a quiet figure within the Royal Family - however the 19-year-old is known for enjoying a pastime inherited from her beloved grandfather.
Lady Louise, daughter of Edward and Sophie, the new Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, was the seventh grandchild of Prince Philip and the Queen.
For Philip, the youngster help a special place in his heart as the pair developed a joint passion for carriage riding.
Prince Philip took up carriage driving in the 1970s, after switching from polo, and he taught the sport to his granddaughter and her mother, who was then the Countess of Wessex.
Lady Louise would regularly exercise the two black ponies – Balmoral Nevis and Notlaw Storm – at Windsor with both ponies seen pulling the custom-made four-wheeled carriage at Prince Philip's funeral in April 2021.
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Prince Philip shared a close bond with his seventh grandchild, Lady Louise (Getty Images)
Lady Louise arrived in a long summery lilac and white dress with matching lilac hat as she turned up at Westminster Abbey with her parents ahead of the crowning ceremony (WireImage)The polished dark green carriage, which he started using in his 90s for riding around Windsor, was parked by the funeral procession and his cap, whip and brown gloves laid on a folded blanket on the seat.
Before his death, Prince Philip continued to drive competitively with teams of ponies until 2003, when he retired from the sport in his early 80s.
However, he continued to drive a team of fell ponies around the royal estates and judging carriage driving competitions.
Fell ponies, Balmoral Nevis and Notlaw Storm, seen pulling the Duke of Edinburgh's carriage as it arrives at Windsor Castle on the day of the funeral of Britain's Prince Philip"I am getting old, my reactions are getting slower, and my memory is unreliable, but I have never lost the sheer pleasure of driving a team through the British countryside," he wrote in a book about the sport.
But it wasn't just Lady Louise's love of carriage driving that meant a great deal to Prince Philip.
Away from carriage driving, the naming of Lady Louise also brought closeness between her and her grandfather as she was the first royal to bear the surname Mountbatten-Windsor.
The decision by her parents not to make Louise a HRH and instead name her Mountbatten-Windsor means Prince Philip's surname, Mountbatten, will survive into the future of the Royal Family.
Lady Louise was most recently pictured at the King's Coronation.
Lady Louise with her parents during a rare television interview following the announcement of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh (PA)Lady Louise arrived in a long summery lilac and white dress with matching lilac hat as she turned up at Westminster Abbey with her parents ahead of the crowning ceremony.
Lady Louise and James were on the same row as Princess Anne, while their parents sat in the row in front.
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None had formal roles in the Coronation ceremony - although Edward, Sophie, Louise and James joined the procession out of the Abbey and enjoy a carriage ride back to Buckingham Palace.
Sophie and Edward's appearance at the Coronation came just under two months after the couple were handed new titles by the King - upholding a promise made to them by the late Queen.
Lady Louise seen on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on the King's coronation day (Getty Images)The announcement from Buckingham Palace came on Edward's 59th birthday with his new title of Duke of Edinburgh, previously held by his father the late Prince Philip.
It had long been known that Edward would one day become the Duke of Edinburgh after a pledge made by the late Queen on his wedding day in June 1999.
At the time, eyebrows were raised when he was given an Earldom rather than a Dukedom. However, it was announced at the time of the nuptials that Edward would succeed his father as the Duke of Edinburgh with the blessing of his parents after his death.
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