Does Queen Elizabeth have a favorite grandchild? Reportedly, the answer is yes:
and it's Lady Louise Windsor. Here's why she's being called the future of the royal family.
While Lady Louise Windsor has mostly lived her life out of the spotlight,
she entered the world in a bit of a frenzy. She was born on November 8, 2003 after her mother,
Sophie, Countess of Wessex, was rushed to the hospital about four weeks before her due date.
Louise's early birth was so unexpected that her father Prince Edward wasn't even in the country,
and her birth did not come without complications. The BBC reported at the time that Sophie ended
up having to have a Caesarean section, and Louise weighed in at just under five pounds.
While Edward rushed home from an official trip to Mauritius to be with his wife and new daughter,
Louise was taken to the neonatal wing of St. George's Hospital out of an abundance of caution.
A spokesperson at the time told the press that while both the baby and mom were stable,
Sophie would be staying in the hospital "for the foreseeable future."
While Louise's birth had not gone according to plan, the news was a welcomed joy for the couple,
who had previously suffered from a terrifying ectopic pregnancy
during which Sophie had to be airlifted to the hospital for treatment in 2001.
Premature babies can be completely healthy at birth, despite arriving earlier than expected,
but that's not always the case. Sometimes there can be complications. For Lady Louise Windsor,
her traumatic birth resulted in an eye condition called esotropia,
which caused her eyes to squint and turn outwards. She had a surgical procedure
at just 18 months old to help correct her vision, but it was not successful.
Sophie, Countess of Wessex, later shared that Louise's squint when she was younger
was "profound," and it took another procedure later in her life to resolve the problem.
A silver lining of the experience was that her
daughter's condition encouraged Sophie to advocate for children
who also suffer from vision difficulties. Of her daughter's condition, Sophie shared,
"Premature babies can often have squints because the eyes are the last thing in the
baby package to really be finalized. [...] 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."
Unlike her cousins Prince William and Prince Harry, who knew from a very early age that
they were royals on the world stage, Lady Louise Windsor was largely unaware of her
standing within the famed family -- and her relationship with the Queen of England.
Her parents, Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, were determined to
give her as normal of a childhood as possible -- and for a while, at least, they succeeded.
During an interview with the BBC, Sophie shared that when Louise started school,
she didn't realize that her grandmother was Queen Elizabeth
until that fact was pointed out to her by her classmates.
As her mother Sophie put it, the news took Louise by surprise. She recalled,
"For Louise, actually, it was much more of a shock to the system. It was only when she was
coming home from school and saying, 'Mummy, people keep on telling me that grandma is the queen.'"
Explaining that Louise "didn't understand" why schoolmates were
telling her that her grandmother was the monarch, Sophie said of her young daughter,
"I don't think she had grasped that perhaps there was only one queen."
If Lady Louise Windsor didn't realize as a child that she was a member of the royal family,
she certainly understood that fact at Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding.
Louise served as a little bridesmaid to Kate on the royal couple's big day on April 29,
2011, and walked with the bride in front of 1,900 guests at Westminster Abbey.
At the time of the wedding, Louise was just 7 years old, and in many ways making
her public debut to the world. She looked absolutely darling in her off-white dress,
accompanied with a delicate flower crown and small bouquet.
Louise was one of four little bridesmaids and two page boys that joined Kate and William
during their nuptials. Talk about a big day on the world stage for the little royal.
So many of us remember Lady Louise Windsor as the cute little bridesmaid at Kate Middleton
and Prince William's wedding. But when she stepped out in 2018 for another royal wedding,
everyone was shocked by her transformation.
Louise joined her royal family members at St. George's Chapel for Princess Eugenie's
wedding to Jack Brooksbank. She was 14 at the time, and instead of being a little bridesmaid,
this time she assisted Prince George and Princess Charlotte as the two little ones
made their way up the stairs on what can only be described as an incredibly blustery day.
Despite George losing his footing and taking a bit of a tumble amid the high winds,
Louise handled herself with grace.
It's been a difficult couple of years for the British royal family with high-profile
crises including the departure of Meghan and Harry from royal duties,
accusations of sexual misconduct against Prince Andrew, and the death of Prince
Philip. It's fair to assume that things haven't been easy for the family matriarch,
Queen Elizabeth. However, if one person has made it all easier for her, it's Lady Louise Windsor.
As noted by The Sun, it was revealed in 2019 that Louise is reportedly the queen's
favorite grandchild. After spending a summer with the monarch at Balmoral,
the young royal's status as the favorite was seemingly solidified.
A royal insider shared,
"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 favorite grandchild, closely followed by James."
The insider also described some of the ways in which Louise got
into the Queen's good graces. Reportedly,
"Louise also endeared herself to everyone by looking after William
and Kate's children when they were up here. Louise loves drawing and sketching and was
very patiently trying to get Charlotte to do pictures of rabbits and deer."
The royal insider also shared that Louise in particular took the queen's mind off
of the royal family's recent crises, which is quite an accomplishment for a teenager.
In one of her most public appearances to date, Louise spoke about the relationship that she
shared with Philip, most notably how their shared love of carriage driving solidified their bond.
In the BBC One documentary, "Prince Philip: The Royal Family Remembers," the 17-year-old shared
her memories of Philip, and how he influenced her when it came to the late Prince's favorite sport.
"The Duke has been so involved in my driving which has been lovely,
but slightly scary because he invented the sport pretty much."
Despite that fear, Louise said it was incredible to learn the ways of carriage driving first-hand
from him, and that the experience brought them closer together as family.
After competitions, she revealed, Philip would make a point of asking her how it went,
with his eyes lighting up with excitement.
She summarized their relationship by saying,
"He's honestly one of the most interesting people I've ever met."
Lady Louise Windsor turned 18 on November 8, 2021,
and the landmark birthday presented an opportunity for her biggest transformation to date.
When Louise was born, her parents, Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex,
decided not to give her the title of princess. While she could've been given the title,
her parents opted instead for the title of "lady," in the hopes that it would
allow their daughter to have a more down-to-earth childhood.
While her parents' wish of a life outside of the public eye has definitely been granted, it's up to
Louise herself now that she's 18 whether she would like to inherit the title of princess or not.
As a grown adult, Louise is expected to work just like anyone else — she can't rely on the
royal family to sustain her lifestyle, nor can her work solely consist of royal duties.
As such, only time will tell if Louise chooses to take on the title of "princess,"
which would absolutely set her apart from regular society.
While Sophie has previously said that it's "unlikely" that Louise would take
the "Her Royal Highness" title, speculation has emerged that she might one day change her mind.
As times change for the royal family, everyone is looking to the next generation of royals that will
take prominence on the global stage. While there's much focus on Kate Middleton and Prince William,
who is widely expected to be the future King of England after Prince Charles,
other royal watchers say that Louise is not to be underestimated.
As noted by The Telegraph, Louise could very easily be a key player in the family's long-term
stability, and royal expert Phil Dampier said that she is the firm's "secret weapon."
He told The Telegraph that Louise is "precisely the kind of person the Queen can rely on,"
and even divulged that Queen Elizabeth might look to Louise to take on some of her
own responsibilities as she continues to slowly step back from public life. Though Dampier did
describe the workload of the Queen as being huge, especially with Harry and Meghan having
withdrawn from royal duties, he wouldn't be surprised if Louise proves up to the challenge.
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