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Daily Record
Daily Record
Entertainment
Bev Lyons

Queens 'favourite granddaughter' didn't realise her beloved grandma was the monarch

The Queen is on our banknotes and coins and it's hard not to realise that she is our monarch and one of the most famous women in the world.

However, if the Queen were your grandma and you visited her with your mum and dad, would you realise how influential she was?

The Queen's eight grandchildren have always called her granny and growing up one of them has admitted they thought she was just like everyone else's grandmother.

For Lady Louise Windsor whose mum is Sophie, Countess of Wessex, there is “no concept” that her grandma, or “grandmama” as she calls her, was famous when she was younger.

During a chat to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday, Sophie, 57, told Sky News: "I mean Louise had no concept really that the Queen and her grandmother were one and the same person.

Sophie and Edward with Lady Louise during her first Christmas at Sandringham in 2003 (PA)

“It wasn’t until she was at school that other children were mentioning it and saying, ‘Your gran is the Queen’.

“And she’d come home and say, ‘Mummy they say that Grandmama is the Queen.’ And I said, ‘Yes,’ and she said, ‘I don’t understand what they mean.’”

During the same interview Sophie's dad, Prince Edward , admitted he didn't know his mum was the monarch until he was five or six.

He said: “I can’t necessarily remember when that realisation was there.

“When you grow up in that family and in that environment, that’s just what your parents do.

“It’s been much more interesting watching our children growing up, and watching our children trying to work out what that this, and how that works. It was probably not until five or six I think.”

Lady Louise, who is a student at the moment, studying A-Levels, was very close to the Queen and her late husband Prince Philip.

Lady Louise is currently studying for A-Levels (Getty Images)

She and her brother James kept out of the spotlight and would spend a lot of time with her grandparents at nearby Windsor.

They had quality time with both because Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh weren't travelling as much internationally.

A source told the Sun in the past: "The Queen loves the fact that Louise and James relish their time at Balmoral, and she has become particularly close to Louise, who seems to have become her favourite grandchild, closely followed by James."

Louise at 18 now has to decide if she wants to use her title of HRH.

When she and James were born, their parents opted against them using the formal titles.

Mum Sophie revealed to The Sunday Times: "We try to bring them up with the understanding they are very likely to have to work for a living.

“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.”

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