A special moment for Lady Louise Windsor was made all the more special by the involvement of her parents. The 22-year-old royal graduated last week from the University of St Andrews, after completing an undergraduate degree in English and International Relations, and was joined by her mum, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, and her dad, Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, for the ceremony up in Scotland.
But along with her degree, Lady Louise also received a gold certificate for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards – presented to her by none other than her father, Edward. The Duke of Edinburgh joined his daughter at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh to celebrate more than 600 young people’s achievements. It’s the 70th year of the award, which was founded in 1956 by Edward’s father Prince Philip – whose passing meant Edward was given the title of the Duke of Edinburgh.
The informal ceremony saw Edward handing his daughter her certificate as Sophie smiled with pride. The father and daughter exchanged some funny words in the process, with the Duke of Edinburgh saying: ‘It’s all a bit staged, but it’s just to prove that you actually did get it.’
The ceremony will have been a pleasant change for Lady Louise, as she confessed her previous bronze and silver certificates came in the post: ‘I did mine mainly during Covid so they didn’t really award anything, so, nice to get it now.’
Once the certificate part of proceedings was done and dusted, guests headed outside to the gardens, where the Duke of Edinburgh gave a speech urging recipients of the award to ‘feel proud’ and ‘walk a few inches taller’.
For the ceremony, Lady Louise wore a dress that was very reminiscent of Catherine, Princess of Wales – the ‘Kristen’ satin fit and flare dress from Hobbs in a light blue shade. That’s a hue Catherine is clearly a big fan of, having worn it to this year’s Trooping the Colour (a look that was in turn a reference to Princess Diana) over the course of King Charles’ coronation weekend.
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But it was another royal who we thought of when seeing photos of Lady Louise at her graduation and when receiving the Duke of Edinburgh award: her grandmother, the late Queen. Take a look at the below photos – doesn’t the 22-year-old look remarkably like Queen Elizabeth II when she was in her 20s?
Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor was thought by many to be the late Queen’s favourite grandchild, having shared a strong relationship with Prince Philip as well as a love of carriage driving. Back in 2019, a royal insider said: ‘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 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.’
Following her graduation, no plans have been announced for Lady Louise to take on full-time royal duties. Sophie’s daughter has revealed she plans to take a gap year, taking on volunteering and travel, before figuring out her career long-term.
