Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor | |
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Born | Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten-Windsor 8 November 2003 Frimley Park Hospital, Frimley, Surrey, United Kingdom |
Education | St George's School, Windsor Castle St Mary's School Ascot |
Alma mater | University of St Andrews (currently attending) |
Parents |
|
Family | House of Windsor |
Lady Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten-Windsor (born 8 November 2003) is the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh. She is a granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, and the youngest niece of King Charles III. Born 8th in line to the British throne, she is now 16th.
Louise was born prematurely on 8 November 2003 at 23:32 GMT at Frimley Park Hospital in Frimley, Surrey, after her mother, Sophie, who was then Countess of Wessex, was rushed there by ambulance from their home at Bagshot Park, Surrey. Louise's father, Prince Edward, then Earl of Wessex, was not present for the birth because it occurred suddenly and while he was on an official visit to Mauritius. [1] Louise was delivered by emergency Caesarean section due to placental abruption, which caused severe blood loss to both child and mother. Louise was transferred to a neo-natal unit in St George's Hospital, Tooting, London, as a precaution. Meanwhile, her mother remained at Frimley Park until she was well enough to be discharged, on 23 November 2003. Her name, Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary, was announced on 27 November. [2]
Lady Louise was baptised in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle on 24 April 2004 by David Conner, the Dean of Windsor; her godparents were Lady Sarah Chatto, Lord Ivar Mountbatten, Lady Alexandra Etherington, Francesca Schwarzenbach and Rupert Elliott. [3] Louise was the last child to wear the original royal christening gown. [4]
Born with esotropia, Louise underwent an operation in 2006 in an unsuccessful attempt to correct the condition. [5] She had further treatment in late 2013 that corrected her eyes. [6]
Louise attended St George's School, Windsor Castle before moving to St Mary's School Ascot in 2017 from Year 9. She chose English, history, politics and drama as her A-Level subjects. [7] While attending school, she took part in The Duke of Edinburgh's Award. [8] Lady Louise started studying English at the University of St Andrews in September 2022. [8] In August 2022, it was reported that she had been working at a garden centre over the summer. [9] [10]
In 2011, aged 7, Louise was a bridesmaid at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. [11]
In April 2015, Louise and her younger brother, James, participated in their first overseas engagement. They accompanied their parents on a trip to South Africa. [12]
In August 2018, Louise accompanied her mother, patron of UK Sail Training, to Haslar Marina in Portsmouth Harbour to meet a group of young girls working towards earning their qualification on an entry-level course of the Royal Yachting Association. [13] In the same month, mother and daughter attended the final of the Hockey Women's World Cup in London. The Duchess is the patron of England Hockey. [14] At the age of 14, Louise was a special attendant at the wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank. [15] To celebrate Louise's 15th birthday in November 2018, mother and daughter made a cameo appearance on Strictly Come Dancing as they watched the popular BBC television show from the audience. [16] Louise accompanied her mother in attending the International Horse Show at Olympia, London, in December 2018. [17]
In September 2020, Louise participated in the Great British Beach Clean with her family at Southsea Beach, in support of the Marine Conservation Society. [18] [19]
Following the death of her grandfather, Prince Philip, Louise accompanied her parents and uncle Prince Andrew to a church service at the Royal Chapel of All Saints on 11 April 2021. [20] She also attended his funeral on 17 April 2021. [21]
In March 2022 Louise attended the memorial service for Prince Philip. [22] She attended Trooping the Colour in June, where she also joined her family on the balcony; the Platinum Jubilee National Service of Thanksgiving; [23] [24] and the Platinum Party at the Palace. [25]
Following the death of her grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, on 8 September 2022, Louise stood vigil for 15 minutes at the Elizabeth's coffin at Westminster Hall together with her brother and six cousins on 17 September. [26] On 19 September, she joined other family members at the state funeral. [27]
On 6 May 2023, Louise attended the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. During the procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace, she travelled in one of the horse-drawn coaches with her parents and brother. On 7 May she attended the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle. [28]
Louise is a member of Girlguiding, of which her grandmother was patron and her mother is president. [29] Her mother was a Brownie and a Guide when she was a child. [30]
Louise was taught to ride at an early age, and joined her father on horseback as part of the Queen's 90th birthday celebrations in Windsor in 2016. [31] She has taken up carriage driving, a sport popularised in Britain by her grandfather, Prince Philip. [32] In May 2017, she was responsible for leading the carriages of the Champagne Laurent-Perrier Meet of the British Driving Society at the Royal Windsor Horse Show. [33] In May 2019, Louise took part in the Private Driving Singles carriage drive at the Royal Windsor Horse Show and achieved third place. [34] She inherited her grandfather's driving ponies and carriage in April 2021. [35] In 2022, she drove one of his carriages in front of the Queen at the Royal Windsor Horse Show. [36]
Louise is styled as "Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor", [37] [38] [39] [40] although at the time of her birth the palace also used the style "Lady Louise Windsor" in some of its announcements. [41] [42] At birth, Louise automatically became a Princess of the United Kingdom due to Letters patent issued in 1917 which assigned princely status and the style of Royal Highness to all children of a monarch's sons. [43] However, when her parents married, Elizabeth II, via a Buckingham Palace press release, announced that their children would be styled as the children of an earl, rather than as prince or princess. [44] In 2020, her mother stated that Louise retained her royal title and style and could make a choice on whether to use it from the age of 18. [45] [ needs update ]
In June 2008, to recognise a visit by Louise's father to the Canadian province of Manitoba, a lake in the north of the province was named after her. Her younger brother, James, was also honoured with a different lake in the province. [46]
The British royal family comprises King Charles III and his close relations. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is a part of the royal family. Members often support the monarch in undertaking public engagements, and pursue charitable work and interests. Members of the royal family are regarded as British and world cultural icons.
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh is a member of the British royal family. She is married to Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, the youngest sibling of King Charles III.
Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh is a member of the British royal family. He is the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the youngest sibling of King Charles III. He was born 3rd in the line of succession to the British throne and is now 14th.
Mountbatten-Windsor is the personal surname used by some of the male-line descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Under a declaration made in Privy Council in 1960, the name Mountbatten-Windsor applies to male-line descendants of Queen Elizabeth II without royal styles and titles. Individuals with royal styles do not usually use a surname, but some descendants of the Queen with royal styles have used Mountbatten-Windsor when a surname was required.
Lady Victoria Patricia Helena Elizabeth Ramsay was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Upon her marriage to Alexander Ramsay, she relinquished her title of a British princess and the style of Royal Highness.
Lady Sarah Frances Elizabeth Chatto is a member of the British royal family. She is the only daughter of Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, and Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon. She and her brother, David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon, are the only maternal first cousins of King Charles III. She is the youngest grandchild of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. At her birth, she was 7th in line to the British throne; as of May 2023, she is 28th. Though she does not undertake public duties, she frequently attends events and ceremonies with the wider royal family.
The Mountbatten family is a British dynasty that originated as a British branch of the German princely Battenberg family. The name was adopted on 14 July 1917, three days before the British royal family changed its name from "Saxe-Coburg and Gotha" to "Windsor", by members of the Battenberg family residing in the United Kingdom, due to rising anti-German sentiment among the British public during World War I. The name is a direct Anglicisation of the German Battenberg, the name of a small town in Hesse. The titles of count and later prince of Battenberg had been granted in the mid-19th century to a morganatic branch of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt, itself a cadet branch of the House of Hesse.
Patricia Edwina Victoria Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma, Baroness Brabourne,, was a British peeress and a third cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. She was the elder daughter of Admiral of the Fleet the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma and of heiress Edwina Ashley. She was the elder sister of Lady Pamela Hicks, a first cousin of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the last surviving baptismal sponsor to King Charles III. She was a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
The Battenberg family is a non-dynastic cadet branch of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt, which ruled the Grand Duchy of Hesse until 1918. The first member was Julia Hauke, whose brother-in-law Grand Duke Louis III of Hesse created her Countess of Battenberg in 1851, with the style of Illustrious Highness (H.Ill.H.), at the time of her morganatic marriage to Grand Duke Louis's brother Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine. The name of the title refers to the town of Battenberg in Hesse. In 1858, the countess' title was elevated to Princess of Battenberg, with the style of Serene Highness (H.S.H.).
The use of the title of Princess of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is entirely at the will of the sovereign, and is now expressed in letters patent. Individuals holding the title of princess are styled "Her Royal Highness" (HRH). The current letters patent were issued in 1917 during the First World War, with one extension in 2012.
Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, then Princess Louis of Battenberg, later Victoria Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven, was the eldest daughter of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Lord Ivar Alexander Michael Mountbatten, DL is a British aristocrat, farmer, geologist and businessman. He is a former director of SCL Group, the parent company of Cambridge Analytica.
The Vigil of the Princes refers to occasions when members of the British royal family have "stood guard" during the lying in state of one of their relatives during or as part of a British state or ceremonial funeral. This occurred for King George V in 1936, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 2002, and for Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. During the first two of these occasions, only male members of the British royal family joined the vigil. In 2022 however, Anne, Princess Royal, took part alongside her three brothers in vigils for their mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Lady Pamela Carmen Louise Hicks is a British aristocrat and relative of the British royal family. She is the younger daughter of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma and Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma. Through her father, Lady Pamela is a first cousin of the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a grandniece of the last Empress of Russia, Alexandra Feodorovna. She served as a bridesmaid and later as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II. She is also a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria through her father.
James Alexander Philip Theo Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex is the younger child and son of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh. He is the youngest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the youngest nephew of King Charles III. At the time of his birth, he was 8th in line to the British throne. He is now 15th in line.
The wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Sir Philip Mountbatten took place on Thursday 20 November 1947 at Westminster Abbey in London, United Kingdom. The bride was the elder daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth as well as the heir presumptive to the British throne. The groom was born a Greek and Danish prince; he stopped using these foreign titles on his adoption of British nationality four months before the announcement of their marriage and was made Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich on the morning of the wedding.
The wedding of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones took place on 19 June 1999 in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Queen Elizabeth II's youngest child, Prince Edward, was created Earl of Wessex hours before the ceremony.
Penelope Meredith Mary Knatchbull, Countess Mountbatten of Burma is a British aristocrat and the wife of Norton Knatchbull, 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma. Since 2010, she has served as High Steward of Romsey.
A royal christening gown is an item of baptismal clothing used by a royal family at family christenings. Among those presently using such a gown are the royal families of the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden. In most of these families, the tradition goes back over a century: as of 2019, the Swedish gown has been in service for 113 years, the Dutch gown for 139 years, and the Danish gown for 149 years; the current British gown has been in use since 2008. The Spanish gown has been in use for 81 years.
Platinum Jubilee Celebration: A Gallop Through History was an equestrian event held in the grounds of Windsor Castle on four evenings from 12 to 15 May 2022, as part of Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
The Queen's grandchildren, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Sussex, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Viscount Severn, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, Mr. Peter Phillips, and Mrs. Zara Tindall held a Vigil beside Her Majesty The Queen's coffin at Westminster Hall.
Members of the Royal Family... Annex D - Royal Family