'Steely' Lady Louise Windsor's hidden side revealed after life change

Lady Louise Windsor is making her parents proud as she embarks on a gap year after finishing university. 

King Charles's niece, who is the daughter of Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie, has continued her carriage driving hobby after wrapping up her studies in English at the University of St Andrews in June. 

There, the now 22-year-old participated in the Officer Training Corps, along with the university’s Mermaids performing arts group.

Speaking to HELLO!, royal photographer James Whatling, who has observed Lady Louise for many years, said: "Things like that give you extra confidence.

"One thing that strikes me about her is that she may be quiet and you don’t see a lot of her, but I think underneath all that there’s a steely determination.

"You see her with the horses, and she commands them. She’s fearless. It’s a tricky thing to do."

Lady Louise's 'normal' time at university away from the spotlight

Lady Louise has started a gap year after four years at university, and is not expected to become a working royal in the future.

Like her cousin Prince William, Louise appears to have found love in the quiet Scottish coastal town of St Andrews and is regularly seen alongside fellow student Felix da Silva-Clamp, who grew up in Melbourne.

Prince Edward and Sophie declined HRH styling for Lady Louise and her younger brother, James, Earl of Wessex, preferring to let them decide once they turned 18.

However, neither James, who has begun his first year at the Royal Agricultural University, nor his sister has chosen to be known by titles.

Aside from family gatherings at Christmas and Easter, Lady Louise and James have made only occasional public appearances over the years, notably attending the Commonwealth Games with their parents in 2022 and Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in the same year. 

The family of four also posed for photographs as they took part in the Great British Beach Clean on Southsea Beach, Portsmouth, in 2020.

"We try to bring them up with the understanding they are very likely to have to work for a living," Sophie said in 2020. "Hence we made the decision not to use HRH titles. They [Louise and James] have them and can decide to use them from 18, but I think it’s highly unlikely."

'Grounded' Lady Louise's work ethic 

Last year alone, Duchess Sophie racked up 235 engagements, making her the fourth hardest-working royal behind the King, Princess Anne and Prince Edward.

And Lady Louise has clearly inherited her parents' work ethic.

Before beginning her studies, she took on a part-time summer job working in a garden centre for around the minimum wage, and last December was spotted sitting on the floor of a packed train from London to Bristol, quietly working on her laptop.

Her down-to-earth nature is a result of her parents' efforts to give her and James as normal a life as possible, despite their royal status.

HELLO! revealed over the summer that Lady Louise had asked for a job at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.

"She is very grounded and down-to-earth; you wouldn't know she was a royal. It was her idea to ask for a part-time job. She's very hard-working," an insider said at the time.