The day Sophie Wessex was 15 minutes from death after losing nine pints of blood: As Lady Louise Windsor turns 21, we look back at the terrifying story of her birth and how close it was to becoming a royal tragedy

Lady Louise Windsor has been tipped as the Royal Family’s ‘secret weapon’ due to her classic ‘English rose’ appearance, academic success and interest in the military.

The much-longed-for eldest child of Prince Edward, 60, and Duchess Sophie, 59, has just celebrated her 21st birthday as she continues to study English at St Andrews University.

But the rising star’s life was almost snuffed out, alongside her mother’s, on the day she was born due to Sophie losing nine pints of blood through internal bleeding.

The Duchess, then 38, had suffered an acute placental abruption and was reportedly just 15 minutes away from dying in the emergency room, with her husband Edward unable to attend because he was in Mauritius for an official visit.

However she managed to give birth to Louise, who weighed just 4lb 9oz, after an emergency C-section, but she had to be transferred away from Sophie almost immediately for specialist care.

Complications from her early birth left Lady Louise with esotropia – a condition which means that both eyes do not look in the same direction – and reportedly ‘completely reshaped’ her mother’s character.

Here MailOnline looks back on the day Lady Louise and Duchess Sophie narrowly avoided death in what could have been the biggest ever royal tragedy. 

In 2003, four years after her wedding to Edward, Duchess Sophie was thrilled to fall pregnant after a long wait.

She was then aged 38 and decided to give up horse riding and eat a healthy diet to minimise all risks. 

At the beginning of November 2003, with a month still to go before her due date, everything seemed fine. So fine, in fact, that Edward went to Mauritius — a 12-hour flight away — for an official visit. 

But, at about 6pm on Saturday, November 8, Sophie was struck down with crippling abdominal pains at Bagshot Park, the couple’s forbidding Victorian pile in Surrey.

By 8pm she was in agony, and staff called the Queen’s obstetrician, Sir Marcus Setchell, who instructed them to get Sophie to the nearest hospital immediately. They dialled 999 and awaited an ambulance.

Yet there was confusion over the call, and police officers, rather than medics, turned up, leading to a potentially calamitous 30-minute delay.

The lives of Sophie and her baby were hanging perilously in the balance. Edward had been contacted in Mauritius, but there was no way he could return until the next day.

At Frimley Park Hospital, four miles from Bagshot, where a medical team was placed on standby.

When Sophie arrived they realised she needed an emergency caesarean. She was showing signs of acute placental abruption, in which the placental lining separates from the uterus.

It can result in colossal blood loss for the mother, while babies may become distressed and can be stillborn. Sophie’s condition was so advanced that it was threatening to kill both her and her baby.

Sir Marcus had made it to the hospital from London at lightning speed, and oversaw the operation, which was carried out by surgeon Sukhpal Singh, gynaecologist Anne Deans and midwife Adrienne Price.

The moment the baby was born at 11.32pm, weighing just 4lb 9oz, she was taken from her mother and rushed to St George’s Hospital in Tooting, London, for neonatal unit specialist care.

Sophie, meanwhile, was just 15 minutes from death. She was losing significant amounts of blood and had slipped into a semi-conscious state. It took a massive blood transfusion — around nine pints — before she regained any kind of stability.

For the next 24 hours she stayed at Frimley, sedated, alone and distressed at being apart from her baby, of whom she’d had only a glimpse.

Edward didn’t make it back to Britain until the following evening. He had no idea how serious the situation was, and ‘went as white as a sheet’ when he found out his wife nearly died and his baby was in a specialist unit.

Sophie was too ill to be moved to be with her baby for another six days. 

By the time mother and child were reunited at the end of November, Sophie was utterly exhausted. It is believed she did not breastfeed Louise but was constantly at her side.

The situation was so grave that the late Queen, a close friend of Sophie’s, decided to break royal protocol and secretly visit her in hospital. 

When Sophie came out of hospital, she told a friend that all the plans she’d made had gone out the window — that it had been the most frightening time of her life.

When mother and daughter were reunited in the hospital, Prince Edward told the press outside: ‘The important thing is that this has been a fantastic day in our lives, a day of great relief and joy, and it’s difficult to explain what it is to be together as a family for the first time.’ 

But she braved the thought of having another baby, and is believed to have undergone several rounds of IVF before becoming pregnant with James, Viscount Severn, in 2007. 

Sophie chose to return to Frimley Park for the birth — a testament to the excellent treatment she had received there — and it went smoothly. 

As a result of her traumatic premature birth, Lady Louise had esotropia, a rare condition that causes her eyes to look in different directions. 

Following a number of operations, in 2013 one of them was more successful and Sophie later explained that Louise has perfect sight now.

She said: ‘Premature babies can often have squints because the eyes are the last thing in the baby package to really be finalised. 

‘Her squint was quite profound when she was tiny and it takes time to correct it. You’ve got to make sure one eye doesn’t become more dominant than the other but she’s fine now – her eyesight is perfect.’  

Although Lady Louise would have no memory of her birth, the harrowing experience stayed with her mother.   

In 2014 she broke down in tears when she returned to Frimley Park Hospital to open its new state-of-the-art neonatal unit and meet the staff there.

The Duchess wept as she met the Head of Midwifery Ms Price who was present for the birth of both her children.

She said: ‘I want to say well done to everyone for your fundraising and for all the work you do to help thousands of families – your service is the difference between life and death.

‘I know all the staff are really keen to get everything started. It is a great working environment, and the results you are having are a testament to this investment.

‘It has been something really important in my life, and so I thank you again for inviting me here today.’

But since her high-profile birth for the wrong reasons, Lady Louise has been keeping a low profile for the right reasons by focusing on her education.

The niece of King Charles is seldom seen at royal events with her family as she prioritises her studies.

But the Great British public could soon be seeing far more of the blossoming royal. 

In August it was reported she had ‘fallen in love’ with army cadets alongside her English degree at St Andrews – much like her father did a generation earlier.

A source told The Sun: ‘She talks about being very keen on a career in the military, serving the King and country. She is all about the Army Cadets and has fallen in love with it.’ 

If she goes down the military path, she will be the first female royal since her late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, to do so. 

She was also thought to be the late monarch’s favourite grandchild.

Eighth in line to the throne, she is currently in her third year at university, and has reportedly said on her LinkedIn page that she is interested in pursuing a career in ‘the military, diplomacy or law’. 

Louise is also treading in the footsteps of her cousin, William, who attended St Andrews where he met his wife, the Princess of Wales.

This year has been tumultuous for the royal family, with both the King and the Princess of Wales taking much needed time out from royal engagements as they have undergone cancer treatment.

As the younger generation of royals has rallied to represent The Firm at key events, it has revealed a ‘gap’ within the monarchy which could offer the opportunity for younger royals to rise.

But on the day Lady Louise turns 21, the Royal Family will all be remembering how it very nearly lost her before she could shine at all.