Meet Lady Louise Windsor, the Young Royal Who’s Already Following in Prince William and Kate Middleton’s Footsteps

The Gist

• Lady Louise Windsor is the daughter of Prince Edward and his wife Duchess Sophie.

• The 22-year-old is the youngest granddaughter of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

• Louise is currently a student at the University of St. Andrews, a.k.a. Prince William and Kate Middleton’s alma matter.

Queen Elizabeth had four kids, eight grandkids, and 14 grandchildren, but only one member of the British royal family has the distinct privilege of being her youngest granddaughter: Lady Louise Windsor. Born to Prince Edward and his wife Duchess Sophie back in 2003, the young royal has since garnered attention for her equestrian skills and her enrollment at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s alma matter, the University of St. Andrews.

Along with her brother James, Louise was raised away from the royal spotlight at Bagshot Park, a 120-room Grade II mansion near Windsor. The sibling duo were not given the titles of prince and princess and choose not to adopt them when they turned 18.

“We try to bring them up with the understanding they are very likely to have to work for a living,” Sophie, who married into the royal family in 1999, told The Times in June 2020. “Hence we made the decision not to use HRH titles.”

Ahead, here’s everything you should know about Lady Louise Windsor, including the pivotal role she played at the 2011 wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Her mom almost died giving birth.

Louise was born premature on November 8, 2003, at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey, England to Edward and Sophie, who tied the knot four years prior in 1999. It was a chaotic delivery, to say the least: Sophie was rushed there in an ambulance, and later on, it was revealed that she had almost died during childbirth. Luckily, Louise was delivered via emergency C-section and Sophie made a full recovery.

She was born with an eye condition.

As a result of her premature birth, Louise was born with esotropia, a rare eye condition that causes the eyes to look in different directions. She underwent a correctional surgery when she was 18 months old, however it was unsuccessful. In 2013 she had a second surgery that fixed the condition.

Though she now has “perfect vision,” according to her mother, Louise’s former condition continues to inspire the family’s charity work; Sophie is a patron of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, as well as a global ambassador for Vision 2020, an initiative launched by the IAPB to eliminate blindness worldwide.

She’s a carriage driver.

In typical royal fashion, Louise has a rather old-fashioned hobby: carriage driving. According to the Tatler, she inherited her love of driving from her grandfather, the late Prince Philip.

“She is naturally so good at it, she really is,” Sophie once said, per Hello!. “It’s something that she has taken to very well.” Louise competed in the National Carriage Driving Championships in September 2025, where she was cheered on by her boyfriend Felix da Silva-Clamp (more on that later).

She was a flower girl for Prince William and Kate Middleton.

In addition to appearing at a number of important royal engagements, Louise played a key role in perhaps the most important engagement of them all: Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding. As one of four flower girls, she joined maid-of-honor Pippa Middleton to support the glowing bride at the historic nuptials, which took place at Westminster Abbey under the watchful eye of 1,900 guests back in 2011.

She’s a student at the University of St. Andrews.

Louise enrolled at the University of St. Andrews in 2022. But she isn’t just studying English literature—she’s also fallen in love with a fellow student, Felix da Silva-Clamp. And, despite her proximity to the British throne, she apparently maintains a rather normal college existence.

“She works a student job during the week, in the canteen, and she takes part in a lot of student theatre productions,” a fellow student told The Telegraph. “She’s really grounded. Whenever I see her, she’s wearing understated clothes—you literally wouldn’t know at all that she’s a member of the royal family.”

St. Andrews, of course, is also where Prince William and Kate Middleton met, fell in love, and began their world-famous relationship. Louise is thus following in the footsteps of her first cousin and his wife, who graduated from university back in 2005.

Her brother James is the Earl of Wessex.

Louise’s dad Prince Edward was granted the Duke of Edinburgh title in March 2023 after his brother King Charles ascended the throne the year prior. At that point, his son James—a.k.a. Louise’s younger brother—inherited the title of Earl of Wessex from his father. James was previously styled as Viscount Severn.

Neither Louise nor James use HRH titles.

Much like Princess Anne, Edward and Sophie opted not to raise their kids with HRH (His/Her Royal Highness) titles, meaning Louis is not a princess and James is not a prince. The duo were given the option to assume those titles when they turned 18, but both choose not to.

Read the original article on InStyle