Lady Louise Windsor has “both feet firmly planted on the ground” as a “relatable” royal as she turns 20, according to a former royal correspondent.
Out of all of the late Queen Elizabeth’s grandchildren Lady Louise Windsor isn’t seen quite as often in public, but as she celebrates her 20th birthday on 8th November it seems she’s already mastered an impressive achievement. The BBC’s former royal correspondent of 14 years, Jennie Bond, has expressed her belief that Lady Louise has expertly balanced being a member of the Royal Family with being “relatable”.
Getting candid with OK!, the royal expert praised the King’s niece for embracing a more down-to-earth approach to life that includes reportedly working at a garden centre during her university holidays.
"What’s not to like about Lady Louise?” Jennie stated, before describing the royal as “blossoming into a beautiful 20 year old, enjoying life at St Andrew’s like any other undergraduate.”
Lady Louise Windsor is currently studying English at the University of St Andrews, following in Prince William and Kate’s footsteps with her choice of university. Her 20th birthday has fallen during term-time this year and so it’s possible she’s spent at least part of her big day studying. But according to Jennie, it’s her hard work and a humble attitude that help make Lady Louise Windsor so “relatable” as a royal.
She declared, "Louise seems to have both feet firmly planted on the ground. She decided to refuse the HRH style she could have used after her 18th birthday and last year she was seen driving a second-hand Volkswagen Polo she reportedly saved up for, and she also took a temporary job at a local garden centre, earning around £7 an hour.”
Lady Louise technically could have used her HRH title after turning 18, as revealed by her mother Duchess Sophie to The Sunday Times in 2020. During this enlightening interview she also shared that she and Prince Edward are bringing up Lady Louise and her younger brother James, Earl of Wessex to be prepared to have a career outside the Royal Family.
“We try to bring them up with the understanding they are very likely to have to work for a living,” she said. “Hence we made the decision not to use HRH titles. They have them and can decide to use them from 18, but I think it’s highly unlikely.”
Two years on from her 18th birthday and it’s believed that Lady Louise Windsor still doesn’t use her HRH title, whilst reports of her working in a garden centre during her summer holidays circulated earlier this year. If this is correct then it indicates Lady Louise has already started earning her own money to buy things that are important to her.
Jennie believes Lady Louise appears to have “nailed the art of being royal and extremely relatable at the same time”. She added that not only does this reflect amazingly on Lady Louise Windsor herself, but is also a “credit” to Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie’s parenting approach.
Their choice to bring Lady Louise and James up with the “understanding” that they’ll likely have to work makes sense given reports of King Charles’s supposed desire to streamline the monarchy’s working members.
It’s perhaps unlikely Lady Louise will go on to be a working royal like Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie, but that doesn’t mean she won’t ever attend royal events. She was at the coronation in May and though she didn’t attend the royals’ Easter Sunday service, she walked to church on Christmas Day 2023 with her whole family.
It’s possible that going forwards the “relatable” Lady Louise will make public appearances at big family moments, even if she’s not at every official occasion that the working royals attend.
