From Queen Elizabeth to Princess Anne, the Royal Family has been known for their love of horses, and Prince Philip was no exception. The late royal, who died at the age of 99 in 2021, was an avid carriage driver, and he passed his love of the sport to one of his grandchildren, Lady Louise Windsor.
And the 20-year-old daughter of Prince Edward and the Duchess of Edinburgh is no casual fan of carriage driving; she competed in the sport's British National Championships in Essex, England over the weekend.
Lady Louise—who entered the competition using the Royal Family's surname of Mountbatten-Windsor—placed an impressive second out of six competitors in her class.
She also earned a silver medal at the Sandringham Horse Driving Trials in June and is a regular competitor at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, a favorite event of her late grandparents.
While carriage driving might not seem like the obvious choice of equestrian hobby for a young person, the university student is said to have bonded with her grandfather over their love of the sport.
In fact, Prince Philip was a carriage driving trailblazer and helped to popularize it as a competitive sport in the 1970s, continuing to drive well into his senior years.
After his death, Louise is said to have inherited his four-wheeled dark green carriage and two Fell ponies, Balmoral Nevis and Notlaw Storm, according to Hello!
Lady Louise has also followed in some other royal footsteps with her choice of university. In 2022, she began her freshman year at the University of St. Andrews—the school where Prince William and Kate Middleton famously met and fell in love.
When it comes to her career, it seems like Louise is looking to her grandmother for inspiration. "She talks about being very keen on a career in the military, serving the King and country," a source told The Sun in August.
"She is all about the Army Cadets and has fallen in love with it," the insider added.
If Lady Louise carries out her military dreams, she'll become the first woman in her family to serve in the military since Queen Elizabeth served as a mechanic and truck driver in WWII.
