Lady Louise Windsor is slimmed down monarchy’s ‘secret weapon’

Lady Louise Windsor has been tipped to be the slimmed down monarchy’s ‘secret weapon’ who could ‘continue the royal family’s legacy’.  

The 17-year-old daughter of Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex, who recently stepped into the spotlight for a BBC documentary about her late grandfather, could become a valued member of the Firm now that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Prince Andrew have stepped back from royal duties. 

Phil Dampier, who has written about the Firm for 35 years, told the Telegraph’s royal editor Camilla Tominey that Lady Louise is ‘mature’ for her age, and is progressing to become ‘precisely the kind of person the Queen can rely on’. 

He suspects that the young royal could eventually take over some of the Queen and late Duke of Edinburgh’s Patronages, should she choose to accept her HRH title on her 18th birthday in November. 

The 17-year-old daughter of Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex, who recently stepped into the spotlight for a BBC documentary about her late grandfather, could become a valued member of the Firm

‘You have to ask yourself who is going to continue their legacy with Harry and Meghan and Prince Andrew off the scene? There’s a huge workload there’, he said.   

Speaking to FEMAIL in April, royal author Ingrid Seward explained Lady Louise, the Queen’s youngest granddaughter, has ‘always been an asset’ to the royal family and is ‘very polite’ which Her Majesty ‘loves’. 

Lady Louise is the daughter of Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex and is 14th in line to the throne. The teen lives with her parents and younger brother James, Viscount Severn at Bagshot Park, just a few miles from Windsor Castle. 

Close to their grandparents, The Wessex family are regularly pictured at Windsor Castle with Louise following in her grandfather’s footsteps to become an accomplished equestrian. 

Phil Dampier said Lady Louise is ‘mature’ for her age, and is progressing to become ‘precisely the kind of person the Queen can rely on’. Her Majesty is pictured with Lady Louise on her way to Sunday service ay Cathie Kirk in 2019

Lady Louise is pictured with her mother Sophie Wessex leaving Windsor Castle ahead of Prince Philip’s funeral in April 

The young royal served as a bridesmaid at Prince William’s wedding when she was just seven and served as ‘special attendant’ in the bridal party for Princess Eugenie’s wedding to Jack Brooksbank in 2018.  

‘Remember how she helped the bridesmaids on the steps of St. George’s Chapel as they went inside at Princess Eugenie’s wedding and her skirt blew up in the wind in front of the TV cameras? She handled it very deftly’, said Ingrid.    

Lady Louise is an accomplished carriage driver, having followed the Duke of Edinburgh into the sport and her mother says she gained a ‘great passion’ and a ‘natural curiosity’ from her grandfather. 

Following his retirement, Philip had more time to enjoy carriage-driving, which was one of his favourite past-times since the 1970s. He raced carriages near Norfolk before going on to represent Britain at several world and European championships. 

Lady Louise is an accomplished carriage driver, having followed the Duke of Edinburgh into the sport and her mother says she gained a ‘great passion’ and a ‘natural curiosity’ from her grandfather

In a wide-ranging BBC interview, Louise’s mother the Countess of Wessex, 56, spoke about her daughter’s passion for the sport and relationship with her grandfather.  

‘He was so pleased when she took the sport up because I took it up… I was okay. Well, I was really at the beginning of my carriage driving career and then I fell pregnant with Louise, so I had to sort of hang up the reins, so I was really delighted when I found out she wanted to have a go. 

‘My father-in-law was always so good at encouraging, he was really encouraging of Louise. So when she not only said “please can I have a go”, but then when she showed a flair for it, he was just brilliant with her. 

‘They used to chat away about it and he would always turn up if she was competing in the Great Park, he would always turn up to watch her and watch her training days.’  

Ingrid added on Lady Louise’s bond with the Duke of Edinburgh: ‘Prince Philip took pleasure in watching Louise compete at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.

‘He would have made sure she had some top-class tuition from one of his grooms and of course the availability of ponies and carriages to drive.’ 

Sophie and her children were among the 30 guests at Prince Philip’s funeral in Apriland Lady Louise took centre stage in a television documentary about her grandfather earlier this week. 

Prince Philip: The Royal Family Remembers aired on Wednesday and featured interviews from all of the Queen, 95, and Philip’s children – the Prince of Wales, 72, the Princess Royal, 71, the Duke of York, 61, and the Earl of Wessex , 57. 

It marked the first time Lady Louise had taken part in such a film and during the film, she recalled her close bond with the Duke and their shared-love of carriage driving, as well as her decision to do the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.

‘There was certainly an element of making my grandfather proud and honouring him by taking part in the award that has been so much of his life’s work. I definitely hope I have made him proud’, she said. 

Interviews were filmed before and after Prince Philip’s death in April, and were conducted separately, with Prince Harry’s tribute filmed in the US., where he lives with wife Meghan and their children Archie and Lilibet. 

The appearance from the young royal comes mere weeks ahead of Lady Louise’s 18th birthday, when she can decide whether to legally entitled to style herself Her Royal Highness Princess Louise, in the same way as her cousins are known as HRH Princess Beatrice and HRH Princess Eugenie.

While it is not known whether Lady Louise will accept her title in November, her mother Sophie said in her BBC interview that she hopes her child will be able to lead a ‘private life’ for the ‘next few years’. 

Sophie said her daughter ‘doesn’t really get involved with social media’ and ‘isn’t interested in putting anything out about herself’. 

The mother added that while Lady Louise has her eyes ‘fairly wide open’, there will inevitably be moments in her future ‘that may not go so well’ – and she hopes her daughter will have friends to ‘protect her’.