Lady Louise Windsor is to attend St Andrews University to study English, after receiving her A-level results today, Buckingham Palace has said.
The Queen’s youngest granddaughter, the oldest child of Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex, will start her degree course in September. The 18-year-old follows in the footsteps of the 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. Buckingham Palace has not revealed Louise’s results, but St Andrews is one of the country’s top universities, with standard entry grades set at AAA and minimum entry grades of ABB for the English.
A Palace spokesman said: “Having received her A-level results today, Lady Louise will start at St Andrews University in September to study English.”
The news will no doubt please her mum Sophie, who previously talked about her daughter's education saying that she hoped Louise would go to university - but add she wasn't putting any pressure on her to go.
She said: "I wouldn’t force her, but if she wants to. She’s quite clever."
Louise, who has been dubbed the Queen's favourite grandchild, has largely grown up outside the media spotlight and had been attending a private school in Ascot.
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However, she played a public role in her grandmother's Platinum Jubilee celebrations and was also spotted at the Commonwealth Games with her parents and younger brother James several weeks ago.
Last year, Sophie also gave an interview to the BBC, where she talked about how she and her husband 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 also been following 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 last year where she spoke 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."
