Thursday, 28 Nov 2024

Lady Louise Windsor: Is the Queen’s favourite grandchild also favoured by Prince Philip?

Louise, 15, is the daughter of the Queen’s youngest child Prince Edward.

Both her and her brother James, Viscount Severn, 11, are cherished by the Queen because they love their time at Balmoral with her.

What’s more, Louise helped look after Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis while they were up at the Scottish estate.

A royal insider told The Sun in September: “The Queen loves the fact that Louise and James relish their time at Balmoral, and she had become particularly close to Louise, who seems to have become her favourite grandchild, closely followed by James.

“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 picture of rabbits and deer.

“Because of her obvious artistic skill, the Queen allowed Louise to look through some of the collection of Queen Victoria’s Highlands sketches which are kept at Balmoral but are rarely dug out these days.”

Louise and the Queen also share a passion for horses, with the 93-year-old monarch still riding to this day.

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Louise was taught to ride at a young age and joined her father on horseback as part of the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations in 2016.

This summer, the monarch and the 13th-in-line to the throne spent quality time together on gentle horse rides in the hills about Balmoral Castle.

On one of these occasions, they were joined by Louise’s mother Sophie, Countess of Wessex.

It is also horses that has likely brought Louise together with her 98-year-old grandfather Prince Philip.

The young royal has taken up carriage-riding, a sport popularised in the UK by the Duke of Edinburgh himself.

This would give the pair something to connect on, despite their 83 year age gap.

In May 2017, Louise was responsible for leading the carriages of the Champagne Laurent-Perrier Meet of the British Driving Society at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.

Meanwhile, Philip has kept up his hobby even in old age – he was pictured carriage driving around the grounds of Windsor Castle in May this year, after he surrendered his driver’s license.

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The Duke first took up carriage driving after giving up polo in 1971 aged 50.

He said in a 2017 interview: “I was looking round to see what next, I didn’t know what there was available.

“And suddenly I thought, well, we’ve got horses and carriages, so why don’t I have a go.

“So I borrowed four horses from the stables in London, took them to Norfolk and practised and thought – why not?”

Philip gathered a committee of equestrian experts to come up with a set of international rules for the new sport.

It includes dressage, time trials and an obstacle course and involves either two or four-wheeled carriages pulled by a single horse, a tandem, or four-in-hand team.

The Duke competed on the British team at the World and European Championships, touring a variety of countries.

He described this time as “very entertaining” and said his best area was dressage and worst was the obstacles.

The prince showed his dedication to his beloved sport last year when he took up the reigns again just two months after undergoing hip surgery.

He was photographed carriage-driving in the grounds of Windsor Castle a week after his 97th birthday.

In 2004, he wrote in his book ‘30 Years On and Off The Box Seat’: “I am getting old. My reactions are getting slower and my memory is unreliable.

“But, I have not lost the sheer pleasure of driving a team through the British countryside.

“I have been fortunate to have had a longer innings than most, and I have no intention of giving up while i have a team of willing ponies and dedicated grooms.”

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