There’s a sign that Lady Louise Windsor probably didn’t feel left out after King Charles's major title decision earlier this year.
Since ascending to the throne last autumn King Charles has bestowed several important roles and titles upon his fellow royals, but his niece Lady Louise Windsor was not one of them. Out of her entire immediate family she actually remains the only one not to have received a title change so far this year. Back in March, Prince Edward succeeded the late Prince Philip as Duke of Edinburgh, making his wife Sophie the Duchess of Edinburgh. At the same time as her parents received these prestigious titles, Lady Louise’s brother James, formerly known as Viscount Severn, became Earl of Wessex.
In contrast, Lady Louise has remained officially Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor. However, there’s a sign Lady Louise won’t have been disappointed by missing out on a title change of her own.
This is because she actively seems to have chosen not to embrace another title change that she could have had back in 2021. Lady Louise Windsor turned 18 on 8th November 2021 and many might’ve speculated about how this milestone might have influenced her title, in light of her mother Duchess Sophie’s comments in an interview with The Sunday Times in 2020. The Duchess of Edinburgh had explained that both of her children technically had HRH titles and would get to decide whether to use them when they reached the age of 18.
“We try to bring them up with the understanding they are very likely to have to work for a living,” she explained at the time. “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.”
At least as far as Lady Louise is concerned, Duchess Sophie’s prediction seems to have come true. In the years since she turned 18 there’s been nothing to suggest a change in Lady Louise's title or styling. As one of the late Queen Elizabeth’s grandchildren via a son, Lady Louise was always entitled to be called Princess Louise.
Letters patent, issued in 1917 which still remain in force today, state that a princely status and the style of Royal Highness, is assigned to all male-line grandchildren of a monarch. However, when Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie (formerly known as the Earl and Countess of Wessex) married, it was announced by Buckingham Palace that their future children would be styled as the children of an Earl instead.
Given that she had the choice to embrace a special title change and she doesn’t appear to have done so, this could be seen as a sign Lady Louise Windsor wouldn’t have felt left out not to have gained another one in 2023.
She seems content with the title she already has and largely stays out of the royal spotlight as she studies for her degree at the University of St Andrews, only appearing at certain major royal occasions like the coronation. It’s recently been suggested that Lady Louise has both feet “firmly planted on the ground", with the BBC’s former royal correspondent Jennie Bond claiming to OK! that this is down to both her and Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie’s parenting approach.
"She seems to have nailed the art of being royal and extremely relatable at the same time. That is a credit both to her and to her parents,” Jennie declared.
