During the Jubblyshambles, I didn’t devote any time or space to the Wessexes. Mostly because… the Wessexes are pretty boring, and there were so many other notable and gossip-worthy things happening during the fakakta Jubbly in June. What was interesting is that the Earl and Countess of Wessex (Edward and Sophie) were at every event, and they were “allowed” on the balcony for Trooping the Colour. As in, they are working royals who were “allowed” to be on the balcony. For some reason, their teenage children, Lady Louise and Viscount Severn, were also allowed on the balcony, despite not being working royals. Louise and James were everywhere during the Jubbly with their parents.
So, that was interesting, especially for Lady Louise. Last year, around Louise’s 18th birthday, there was a lot of drama about whether she would choose to use a princess title, which she would have a right to on her 18th birthday. There were so many stories about how Louise is the “monarchy’s secret weapon” and she could be a perfect addition to the working-royal lineup. It was a bit much, and I was happy when all of that talk dissipated over the course of Louise’s final year of high school. Now she’s heading off to college, and what a choice she made!
Lady Louise Windsor is to read English at the University of St Andrews, following in the footsteps of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Buckingham Palace has announced. The 18-year-old daughter of the Earl and Countess of Wessex will relocate to Fife in September to begin the four-year course. The palace did not reveal her A-level grades but the standard entry requirements are AAA.
A spokesperson said: “Having received her A-level results today, Lady Louise will start at St Andrews University in September to study English.”
It was there, within the relatively secluded confines of the Scottish university campus, that romance blossomed for the teenage Prince William and Kate Middleton, who met as undergraduates on its history of art course. The Duke would later switch to geography, but the couple’s bond had already been forged. Both lived in the first year at St Salvator’s Hall and later shared houses with friends.
Lady Louise has largely kept out of the public eye, having appeared more than happy to let her elder cousins command the attention on family occasions.
I remember reading various stuff about how St. Andrews actually feels kind of isolated and a lot of kids prefer going to University of Edinburgh because it has a much better social scene and more energy. Louise will probably like the isolation of this particular college life though, but I can guarantee that she’s going to have a hard time leaving home. She seems very attached to her parents. I’m not judging – I was homesick and sad for several months my freshman year, but I made friends and Louise will too. I also kind of wonder if her parents pushed her to go to Scotland for college because of the ever-present fear of a Scexit. Remember when there was a palace plot afoot to send some royals to live in Scotland full time for several years? That plot died a swift death, but I could see how senior courtiers would be excited to throw a princess into a Scottish university.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Lady Louise Windsor on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the fly past after Trooping The Colour – The Queen’s Birthday Parade, London, UK – 02 Jun 2022,Image: 696383982, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Tim Rooke/Shutterstock / Avalon
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- Lady Louise Windsor, Viscount Severn James Alexander Philip Theo Mountbatten Windsor during Trooping the Colour part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations at Buckingham Palace in London.,Image: 696435493, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Alpha Press / Avalon
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- Prince Edward, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn, at the National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral on June 03, 2022 in London, England. The Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II is being celebrated from June 2 to June 5, 2022, in the UK and Commonwealth to mark the 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952.,Image: 696678408, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: ARTHUR EDWARDS / Avalon
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- Sophie, Countess of Wessex, James, Viscount Severn, Lady Louise Windsor at the Platinum Party at Buckingham Palace on June 4, 2022 as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee celebrations.,Image: 697027984, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: James Veysey / Avalon
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- BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 02: Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, Lady Louise Windsor, Sophie, Countess of Wessex and James, Viscount Severn pose for photographs at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre during the 2022 Commonwealth Games on August 02, 2022 in Birmingham, England.,Image: 711466372, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE UK – London, UK -20220603- The Royal Family attend a Jubilee Reception at The Guildhall, hosted by The Lord Mayor of London -PICTURED: Lady Louise Windsor -PHOTO by: John Rainford/Cover Images/INSTARimages.com -51631184.jpg This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Instar Images LLC for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Instar Images LLC reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded Featuring: Lady Louise Windsor Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 03 Jun 2022 Credit: John Rainford/Cover Images/INSTA **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE UK**
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- NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE UK – London, UK -20220603- The Royal Family attend a Jubilee Reception at The Guildhall, hosted by The Lord Mayor of London -PICTURED: Sophie Countess of Wessex, Lady Louise Windsor -PHOTO by: John Rainford/Cover Images/INSTARimages.com -51631190.jpg This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Instar Images LLC for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Instar Images LLC reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded Featuring: Sophie Countess of Wessex, Lady Louise Windsor Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 03 Jun 2022 Credit: John Rainford/Cover Images/INSTA **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE UK**
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- USA Rights Only, London, UK – 20220603- British royals leaving the National Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen as part of her platinum jubilee celebrations at Saint Paul Cathedral in London. -PICTURED: Lady Louise Windsor -PHOTO by: Nieboer/DDP/INSTARimages.com -ddp_17352415 This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Instar Images LLC for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Instar Images LLC reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded Featuring: Lady Louise Windsor Where: London, UK, United Kingdom When: 03 Jun 2022 Credit: Nieboer/DDP/INSTARimages.com **USA Rights Only**
Hopefully she finds some friends who will show her how to dress her age.
@Snuffles: Oh, let’s hope so. I thought I was the only one who felt that way.
Being away from her frumpy mother, and having unsupervised access to high street shops will also help with that, I bet.
Please let those friends exact a promise from her to never ever wear cornucopia hats again…ever
@snuffles: i am happy you said it. She’s growing into a beautiful young woman but her fashion sense needs help.
I came in to make a similar comment! I think it’s great that she’s getting away from Sophie. It’s about time this young woman comes into her own.
I have a daughter near that age and she dresses ‘frumpy’ too. Sometimes people don’t care about being stylish. I won’t criticize her clothing choice.
when I was that age I was trying to put together what was currently fashionable with my 5′ frame and the end results were DISASTROUS. I wore a uniform to school so didnt get as much practice and most of my clothes needed to be very informal or very formal. it took me a few years to figure it out. I know we are used to kids looking like models on tick tock nowadays but IME everyone doesnt spring from the womb photo ready.
also it’s ok not to care much about clothes too
Ugh—I hate that “she’s a frumpy teen” crap. I could never find trendy clothes to fit me back in the day because they weren’t making them—and I got a lot of shit for it from my peers. Maybe Louise has other things on her mind. Maybe she will never care. And I’d be more concerned about how well she’ll do in college. After all, Kate was stylish back in her Sloane Ranger days—and look where that got her.
Someone has an interest in making this young woman look as frumpy as possible. I remember when my mum would dress me like a middle aged woman when I was a teen. Hopefully she gets privacy to be a young person on campus.
A lot of this is spot on for the trends for her generation though. Go on tik tok… it might not be your aesthetic but it is a current one for people her age
100% cottage core vibes
It’s always wild to me how strong those Windsor genes are. I don’t pay much attention to the minors in the family except when they publish official pics or they’re at events. But the only women who married in who really managed to get a “genetic say” are Diana (Harry) and Kate (the boys), right? Absolutely wild.
I’m not sure why they’re trying to make the girl into a thing. It doesn’t seem like she’s ready for it or particularly excited about it.
Meghan did too. Archie stole her whole face. And lili has quite some similar features to her mother too. Most notably her lips, cheeks and eye shape. (And nose imo)
I think Charlotte favors the middleton side I see a resemblance to Kate and pippa
I’ll have to respectfully disagree: Louis is a Middleton all over (luscious hair, dark complexion, mother-slapping hands), while Charlotte, oh my God, Charlotte looks like she frankensteined her way out of a 1953 CIA cloning program to save the Queen.
SugarHere, I looked at pictures of TQ when she was young. Here is a picture in 1932 of TQ and her sister.
https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/g28724710/queen-elizabeth-young-photos/?slide=10
I don’t think Charlotte looks that much like the TQ when you actually look closely at the faces. It’s just that for the first 6 years of her life Kate deliberately styled Charlotte so that people would make that comparison – the dresses are all similar to what the Queen wore, the hair pulled back on the one side, etc. Now that Kate is starting to dress Charlotte in more modern, casual clothes in public, the comparison is fading.
The Windsor genes kick in later, at about 30 for most of them. Then they rapidly lose their looks. This mostly happens with the men.
@Saucy&Sassy: Thanks for the link. Those black and white photographs kind of confirm who little Charlotte takes after, right?
I hadn’t thought about it but Kaiser might be right about Louise’s choice of St. Andrew’s. Another reason could be that this is her parents sucking up to the future king and queen who are alumni of St. Andrew’s. It’s going to a tough few years for Edward and Sophie when the Queen dies and they have to make sure that they have William and Kate on their side.
I think this could be a way to suck up to William, but didn’t he hate that place? I could also see this move from the Wessexes backfiring if he always associates St Andrews with meeting Kate and cringes!
Or maybe she’s going to St Andrews because it’s more than a halfway decent university.
I hope this girl is left alone, she seems so far not to command any real attention and she seems to be a ‘young’ 18, the Rota Rats are brutal i hope Sophie has enough sense to just let her be.
this right here – I hope they leave her alone. She seems to have been sheltered.
Nothing wrong with being a late bloomer. She’s a young 18 and that’s fine. There is plenty of time in your twenties to mature. Being away from home works miracles. She’ll blossom. People just need to leave her alone.
I’ll take the speculation about her A level grades at face value, no reason to doubt she’s held her own educationally and intellectually, but spare me thinking that St. Andrews or any other university holds Royal offspring to any admission standards. I hate to bring the Lamebridges into a post about Louise, but the Telegraph did — we see, now, how thoroughly UNintellectual, UNintelligent, INcurious they are so I don’t see St. A as a pillar of higher education. Anyway, I hope she adjusts and enjoys her university experience.
St. Andrew’s is ranked the top university in the UK and is one of the most prestigious schools in the world. It is on par with any Ivy League school in the US.
So, yes, it is a pillar of higher education despite what you may think of it’s alumni.
In a country where Oxford, Cambridge and the university of Edinburgh exist that simply is not a true statement.
St. Andrews was known for a golf course until William attended and while it’s not a bad school, it was never a bastion of academia.
I would place the University of Durham ahead of At. Andrews on any list.
” It is on par with any Ivy League school in the US.” — yeah sure LOL
St Andrews Uni was founded in the 14th century, 100 years before golf was founded there in the 15th century. Also to say William made the town know for more than its golf course is unfair as the Uni has a well known international reputation, esp as a research centre. Like Oxford and Cambridge it has become a tourist attraction in itself due to the beautiful buildings/campus and the fact that the town is also a beautiful/scenic place to visit. The town at one point was the ecclesiastical capital of Scotland and was at the centre of the Scottish wars of Independence so it has a bit more going for it than golf and education. It has an important place in Scottish history.
Saying that in recent years, while it has still retained its elite status, it does kinda live off the rep of the University of Edinburgh which is far better in terms of learning, academic research and innovation.
Is the comparison to the Ivy Leagues meant to suggest fair and equitable admissions practices. Because LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!
St Andrews is perfectly fine. It’s joint 96th in the QS world university rankings, which focus on research. It’s ahead of Dartmouth, which is 205th, but behind all the other Ivy League universities. By comparison, Cambridge is 2nd, Oxford 4th and Edinburgh 15th. But honestly, Louise is almost certainly not going to St Andrews to work with top academics, but because that’s where the posh kids go nowadays. She’ll have a lovely time.
@bettyrose dont the ivy league schools in the US have a legacy policy? I wouldn’t legacy entrance to be fair and equitable
People here want to put it down because William and Kate went there.
@dizza – Yep exactly. The Ivies absolutely have legacy admissions. And admissions based on donations. And name recognition. One can get a fabulous education at an Ivy, as I’m sure they can at St Andrews, but let’s not pretend meritocracy is sacred in higher ed.
MeganC – what planet are you on? St Andrews the top university in the UK. Lol.
@C-Shell: It might sound Jane-Austenish, but I don’t think Sophie wants her daughter to strive for academic excellence. She solely sends her to Saint-Andrews hoping Louise will come back with a moderately wealthy husband, the son of a Lord who would overlook her physical awkwardness and give her a purpose in life (kids). Sophie strikes me as the next Carol Middleton. Time will tell.
Disagree. Sophie is on record as saying she has prepared the children for life outside the Royal bubble, education and jobs and be self supporting. Louise will not always be awkward, she’s a late bloomer. As for Sophie being the next Carole?? No way. Carole is in a class all by herself. Sophie still has her young son at home so she won’t be an empty nester.
St Andrews is a solid and reputable undergraduate university. My own child was accepted to Edin, Durham and St Andrews, along with a couple of others and chose St Andrews (did not apply for Oxbridge and most likely could not have gotten in). Personally, I thought Edin might be a bit more fun, but they were quite happy with their choice and had a very strong 4-year degree experience intellectually, and a perfectly fine, fun experience socially (despite covid). Prince William having been a graduate was a total non-issue in the selection process, as I’m sure is true for the large majority of students attending- don’t know about the Wessexes.
Edin will have higher research rankings (a large part of the QS ranking is based on for example) because it is so much larger and has a much larger focus on research at the graduate level. St Andrews is a charming little university town. It is fairly small. Also, we’re not posh.
@Suzy – that’s wonderful. It’s an absolute luxury to attend an intimate, intellectually engaging university. In the US it’s a luxury that that’s harder and harder to achieve for the middle class. But if you can have that experience, grasp it. I was very lucky to attend an intimate private college for one of my degrees and I cherish that experience. But I think we can agree that some of the posh kids who get that opportunity are there to be sequestered among their own kind and not to expand their intellectual horizons. It’s a shame that others are denied spots for them, but that’s the world. Hardly a new thing.
In the UK the cost of an undergraduate degree is pretty uniform no matter where you go. For English students is around £9000 per year and that is normally paid as a student loan which is then repaid once your salary has reached the treshold and it’s means tested. You also get a stipend per year for your maintainance costs which you repay as well. So going to a small or large university isn’t as much an affordability issue as it is in the States.
Good for her. I hope she has a good college experience. At least she has the advantage over the York princesses in that she knows she will have to have a job and won’t be a working royal, and when at least Bea started university, she was still expecting to be a working royal, right? (if I’m remembering my timeline correctly.)
I wish her well – some people do better in less boisterous environments (introverts like me, I guess). I hope that this time away studying will help her find her feet and become her own person.
The knock on St Andrews is that if you don’t drink to excess there is nothing to do.
@Esmerelda
Same. I am a huge introvert, it REALLLLLLLLLY pains me to have to leave my house and mingle with the outside (my motto is ewwww, people! Thankfully I am retired now so I can choose when to stay in or go out)
Obviously I don’t know Lady Louise but I wish her well and hope she has a great college experience
I genuinely wish her well and hope that she finds some true friends, some “kindred spirits” with whom she can be herself and have some fun as a normal teenager/young adult.
I share your sentiment for her. Congratulations
and
Best wishes!!
This @Ginny. I hope she does well and experiences some normalcy outside of the royal fold.
Scexit? Is what we’re calling forcing some to move to Scotland?
Do the Royals have to pay for their degrees? I’m asking bc I’m pretty sure St. Andrew’s is really expensive and it seems a waste of money to spend on an English degree.
I have to be careful with my siding here bc I don’t want to offend any Celebitches: do any of the Royals have a more specialized degree? I feel like art history, geography, English are pretty broad and don’t really seem to setup a career path (though Louise could genuinely go into writing). I don’t expect the heirs to do more specialized education but Louise and her brother are never going to be working Royals.
@steph – I was thinking that too. They’re degrees that often can be “stepping stones” to further study (PhD stream, teaching, law etc) but I suspect with the Royals, they’re degrees you get to say you went to university.
Also – those ridiculous headbands need to go away.
There’s a fee cap for UK students at UK universities. It’s currently £9250 per year so she won’t have to pay more than that. She’ll have to pay housing etc. on top and if she goes for a private house over university housing, that will be expensive but the actual cost of the education would be the same wherever she went.
Scexit is what the press like to call Scotland exiting the U.K. in the event of Scotland voting for independence through a referendum. It’s got nothing to do with Harry and Meghan or any other member of the royal family. It’s like adding -gate to a scandal.
And U.K. degrees, especially Arts and Humanities ones, do tend to have rather general titles. Louise will get to choose what types of literature she studies in the courses that she takes and the dissertation she writes, and if St Andrews offers it and she wants to she can change her course to something more specialised such as Old English, Medieval English, etc.
No, they don’t. Before Charles, the RF didn’t have much of a formal education. In general it seems like the generation before the Queen’s grandchildren didn’t put a focus on it. Again, except for Charles. I think you can say about Chuck what you will but the man is educated and intelligent. The degrees that everyone who has one pursued seem to me like society degrees, so to speak. It’s a university degree that helps you in conversations at parties I guess.
That is NOT to say that everyone with an English or history degree only did it to make small talk, far from it. But the RF never pursues “real” jobs (or goes into academia) so why become an engineer? The only one who had his sights set on a career was Harry during his military years. But that wasn’t a longterm option.
He might be educated but I would query his intelligence – both intellectual and emotional.
If I had been a millionaire’s daughter with a trustfund and inheritance, this is what I would have studied at uni. Louise will always have a secure path no matter what.
I wasn’t a millionaire’s child and I majored in English. I agree it made for a decadent, intellectually engaging college experience, but it also fostered critical thinking and strong problem solving skills, and prepared me well for earning multiple graduate degrees. But yeah I don’t really know where the degree itself sans a decade of graduate study would have landed me. I’m just saying I loved the experience and it suited the life I wanted to pursue.
I majored in English at a well ranked institution in the U.S. Some of my peers went into academia or got further graduate degrees (I got a law degree), but many others went into publishing, marketing, advertising, PR, paralegals etc. It provided me with great analytical skills and I can write well, quickly. I will, however, say that most degrees from U.S. institutions provide a broader education than U.K. degrees. There it seems common that all or predominantly all coursework is in the intended major, which can be very niche, whereas only 1/3 – 1/2 of my credits were even English credits (I took a tonne of mathematics, logic, history and foreign language courses, which could make one more marketable).
@Emmi: “Before Charles, the RF didn’t have much of a formal education.”
For the most part, yes. But you are understandably overlooking Prince William of Gloucester, the older brother of the current Duke (Prince Richard) — the royal family guiltily acts as if Wm of G never existed. There’s an excellent documentary on YouTube, produced circa 2012, about “The Other Prince William.” In fact, Prince Charles always looked up to this older relative, and named his firstborn son after him (a cousin to QE-II, Prince William of G served as a pageboy at the royal wedding of Elizabeth & Philip, along with another young cousin at the time, Prince Michael of Kent).
Charles maybe was academically influenced by Prince William of Gloucester. After graduating from Eton, Prince Wm of G earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in history at Cambridge. Then he spent a year at Stanford University in California studying political science, American history, and business. Wm of G later began a career as an international diplomat posted to Japan. In Japan, Wm of G met the love of his life (an older, divorced woman from Hungary, Zsuzsi Starkloff) whom he was forced by the firm to give up, which is probably what led to his premature death in a light aircraft crash, in 1972.
Scexit? Ever hear of an organization called the Scottish National Party or SNP for short?
Scexit = Scotland leaving the UK like the Republic of Ireland did.
For what it’s worth, I believe the Duke of Kent (Queen’s cousin) has a degree in engineering.
QEII’s cousin, Richard, Duchess of Gloucester, is a licensed certified Architect and Urban Planner.
Sorry for typo!!!
I meant “Richard “Duke” of Gloucester not “Duchess”.
Thanks everyone for the responses! @talia that’s so fascinating. Does the cap extend to degrees higher than a bachelor’s?
@cee that’s interesting that that is your mindset. Nothing wrong with it just different from me. If I has to spend 4 years studying and knew it wouldn’t matter bc I was set for life regardless, I’d study what I’m interested in. After posting my comment I looked into B and E degrees as well. Between that whole generation there just doesn’t seem be any real academic curiosity. Or real personal interests at all.
Post-grad fees aren’t capped and can get very expensive very quickly – it depends a lot on your subject. If you’re an international student then you can usually treble the cost. There is funding available but again, that depends on lots of variables and in my experience, there’s a lot more money in STEM postgrad courses than in English Lit ones!
I hope the Wessexes did the college tours and that St. Andrew’s is her choice. From articles that I’ve read the place is elitist and not minority friendly. Not the kind of place you go to meet people from different walks of life. Just once I would to hear that they’re studying something practical, architecture, veterinary medicine, engineering, actuary. Where you can see the job path.
Did Louise not have a gap year?
She’ll definitely meet people from similar backgrounds (aristo, privately educated) but there are 9000 students and a lot are the sort of middle class kids you meet at any uni. I worked as a waitress in a local restaurant for a year after I graduated (from a different school) and most of the people I worked with there were students or recent grads. It has a strong community spirit with academic “families” where senior students join up with freshmen; lots of those relationships last years. There are also a huge number of international students, too.
Ooh, a literature degree! The British literary tradition is definitely something worth celebrating and highlighting in the middle of a horrible historical period for the UK.
Ha! My English major at an American University was very traditional British lit. I got one course in American lit. To me, Britain is just a series of moors shrouded in fog and lined with drafty medieval pubs. If that doesn’t prepare one to address the financial complexities of post Brexit life, I don’t know what would.
Lol. Virtual fist-bump! I am a devoted viewer of a British real estate show, Escape of the Country, which is this great outlet for my need for classic Englishness, fog, moors, pubs, etc. But when I watched it last night after seeing tweets about England’s horror show situation right now (news outlets saying you can eat moldy food and you don’t really need that much water for hydration)… I was like, “hmm, maybe this show is going to be a bit bitter from now on.”
@Shawna – I’ve caught a few episodes of that, although I prefer the murder in a quaint English village genre. Either way, it’s about the darling cottages.
English major here too which led to a career in librarianship after a stint in publishing. I’m also a devotee of Escape to the Country which has gotten stale for me now. But l do like my Grantchester and Midsomar Murder mysteries.
She’s also been working several days a week for minimum wage in a garden shop this summer. Good for her. Of course she doesn’t need the ones, but working at any job can be helpful in creating character and learning about people. She may be a young 18, but why is that a problem? She’s had friends all these years at school and will find her own “tribe”. Maybe she likes her clothes?
She may have been premature. She did have an eye problem that caused her eyes to be crossed for many years. She eventually had surgery when she got older—if my memory serves me right. That was the only health issue she had. Nothing about mental deficiencies.
Louise had crossed eyes, due I believe to problems with her birth, they’ve since been corrected but no other issues.
I also thought this true for some reason. I vaguely recall reading something like this too, at the time.
A few others above beat me to it, but yes, I believe it was she had an eye condition which has been corrected as she has gotten older.
How did Burger King ever end up at St. Andrews in the first place? It seems so remote and quiet. And the PR was that he had the brains and Harry didn’t; so why wasn’t he shuffled off to someplace more vibrant?
I think this is definitely a power move by the E&S to ingrain themselves in with the Cambridges and have a little extra layer of something in common. They will probably work on teaching Charlotte carriage driving next so that they stay on the Burger King’s good side for the future.
The joke is that St. Andrews is where the posh set who aren’t smart enough to get into Oxbridge go (not that it’s not a good school – I have friends who lecture there – but, yeah). Also, the remoteness was probably a selling point.
St Andrews is one of the poshest unis in the U.K. It’s one of the handful of places where people who don’t manage to get into Oxbridge tend to go. Plus it’s in a rather isolated part of the country. So the reason William probably went there is that there isn’t riffraff, ie common kids and paparazzi. He could study (or not, if the stories are true) in peace, quiet, and privacy without fear of having his worldview shaken by encountering ordinary people. So Louise is probably going there for similar reasons.
I had to google Oxbridge bc I thought, “well i’ve never heard of that school, I’ve heard of Oxford and Cambridge but not Oxbridge” LOLOL. Learn something new every day.
I was at Edinburgh (in the Pippa era, although never once ran into her or anyone Pippa-adjacent) with a good friend at St. Andrews. Edinburgh had a number of Old Harrovians, etc., but you could get away from that quite easily. I ended up with friends interested in conservation and folk music, and the city itself had so much to offer. My friend really struggled with the cliques at St. Andrews, and it seemed as if people entertained themselves much more by creating drama. However, if you’re part of the in-crowd maybe it feels more protective, like you’re still part of a tight-knit community
Princeton and Stanford are favorites in the US for smart, wealthy kids who have security details. My dad was on the staff at Princeton and on the downlow, there were tons of foreign royals/aristocrats studying there. Being a bit isolated can be a plus, security-wise.
OK, don’t kick me for this but…
I like the outfit with the beige hat. Looks kind of Downton Abbey-ish to me.
Yes, the style is a bit old fashioned for an 18 year old but, I prefer it to the ugly headband look.
I hope she enjoys her time at school. And that the press leave her mostly alone.
Well, literally *anything* is better than that headband !🤣 I had similar thoughts, I like the severe cut of the jacket and the hat is sort of interesting (what if it was the same color as the jacket?) I’m curious about the rest of the dress as usually she looks like she is in Sophie’s blousy hand me downs. I am actually looking forward to her finding her own style! Could be what we have seen is what we get, but I am predicting a change!
I never thought that but I thought her eye trouble stemmed from her premature birth
I hope she gets a stylist and her mother does not pack her hand me down outfits for Louise to take to university
Agreed. I had a high school classmate who always went shopping with her mom, so my friend always would dress like she was 40 years old. I think Louisa will find her own style in school, as she should.
I hope to see her with a fabulous haircut, a pair of jeans, and outfits with color!
I’m not sure if this is UK/US semantics but there’s a reference to her ‘gap year’ in the coverage above. If she got her A level results yesterday and is starting uni in September she didn’t/isn’t having a gap year. She’s going straight from school to uni. Sorry to nitpick!
I don’t know how prestigious St. Andrews is but it is pretty well known outside the US. I had heard of it before William decided to go there (I’m 6 years younger than he is). I have been to the campus as my friend studied abroad there for a semester and I visited her for a few days. The town is very cute and while it is very small, it is the definition of a college town. And the campus is beautiful, I was so jealous of my friend (this was after Kate and William had graduated so they weren’t around). I don’t know if it was because she was an international student but she had her own room and private bathroom in her dorm and it felt so luxurious. Good for Louise! She’ll have the privacy to do what she wants and I think she is going to love it.
I spent a year at St Andrews after college graduation. I went back to the town for a visit the year that William showed up–lots more people there, and apparently they had many, many more applications from American girls during those years. The dorm where I lived is right across the street from the royal and ancient golf club, overlooking the 18th hole–I think that dorm was turned into luxury condos though
It was! They are *astronomically* expensive (as you’d imagine).
It used to be that an undergraduate degree in the Humanities or Liberal Arts was considered a part of a good general eduation and a good grounding for professional degrees later on. It was thought to give people a general education and awareness of the world. Granted, a lot of liberal arts degrees, especially in English and History have been eurocentric, but then that is slowly changing. But for those who can afford it, a degree in one of the Humanities is good background for law or journalism. I just read a story recently about a Harvard student with a background in English doing PH.D in the physics department. Hope Louise going to University will widen her horizons and her thinking, as well as her social circle.
I attended St. Andrew’s for a semester as a study abroad student. As someone who had attended both a well regarded public state school and top 15 private university in the US, it felt very similar to the top 15 private US university. The advanced Literature class I took at St. Andrews was structured differently than US classes but was very rigorous. She’ll get a great education in English lit.
As far as atmosphere, it’s a smaller town with a smaller student body. Again, it was very similar to the “elite” school I attended in the US in terms of student body wealth/pedigree and social scene. It’s not great to be an outsider looking in, but she’s connected and will fit right in. There was also plenty to do there socially…just like any other school in a small college town.
I find all this criticism of the school to be odd. It’s academically a strong school and has a normal school atmosphere for a smaller school in a college town. It’s nothing like the state school I attended…but that’s kind of the point for some people? Not everyone wants to go to school in a big city or be overwhelmed by the student body.
St. Andrews tops Oxford and Cambridge in rankings at the moment, and apparently for the first time in history (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-58596714). I haven’t researched the reason for this, but St. Andrews is very popular for American students who want a study experience abroad. Didn’t William and Kate attend a fundraiser for St. Andrews when they were in New York? There are a fair number of American St. Andrews alumni it seems.
Pretty much all UK universities took a big drop in terms of student experience during the pandemic. St Andrews took a much lower drop than others, because (I would argue) they have a lot of wealthy students and haven’t made the efforts that Oxford and Cambridge have to diversify their cohort. It’s a good (but not great) university, in a small town, with rich kids. That said, if you’re an Ivy League student looking for a study experience abroad, it’s not a bad place (if you’re ok with winter darkness descending at 3pm – personally, I’d go to Australia).
That article emphasizes the “student satisfaction” aspect of St. Andrews and the fact that it tops Oxbridge in the REF. Most academics realize what a ridiculous and sh•t scheme the REF is and it’s not indicative of the quality of the scholarship or the students being produced by an institution. If you actually look at the research produced by these universities– which is the primary focus, and not teaching, of what we call R1 schools in the US– the scholarship produced by Oxford and Cambridge is generally considerably better than St. Andrews.
Well @tamsin, the reason could be that it’s a Times/Sunday Times survey/study. It’s hard to find any other global/UK ranking system that put St. Andrew’s above Oxford. Last year included.
The below linked blog post from Oct. 2021, that ranks SA at #5 in the UK, includes the methodology. St. Andrew’s is listed #5 for UK universities. Not sure how the Times/Sunday Times came up with that positioning for St. Andrew’s last September. The QS world rankings had SA at 96th I believe and both Oxford & Cambridge were in the top ten. The university has been ranked #1 in Scotland on different lists though.
https://blog.prepscholar.com/best-universities-in-uk
I wish her the best of luck. I hope she finds herself and meets many interesting, motivated, smart people. And please, God, let her stop wearing her mother’s clothes. No self-respecting teen does that and she shouldn’t be forced to wear her mother’s hand-me-downs.
It is terrific that Lady Louise chose a summer job before entering university. A summer job for teens is more about enhancing social skills. I hope she’s allowed to accept the salary, that’s important also. Perhaps her interactions with others in her age group, providing they’re not all snobbish elites, will expose her to the outside world. If she studies English, she will learn much through literature. I wish her well.
@becks 1: I’ve always been suspicious of the amount of effort and dedication it actually takes a member of the RF to be employed outside the firm.
It seems to me that these jobs are just a cover up for their idleness, and that what we mistakenly regard as Beatrice’s and Eugenie’s “work” or day jobs is but permitting their royal image and prestige to be used for a company’s advertizing while enjoying the fraudulent credit with being modern and financially self-sufficient princesses.
There has never been a proper work culture within the royal family, hence Meghan’s pro activism and hard-working ways having been perceived as a direct aggression to their ingrained sloth and annuitant mindset. This article by the Daily Beast says it all: https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-mystery-of-princess-beatrices-mystery-job
She should have packed her bags and had fun at UCLA. Any way, this story reminds me of this scene from Kingsman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crblgs35Reg