In recent months, it absolutely felt like the Earl and Countess of Wessex were pushing their oldest child into the spotlight. Lady Louise Windsor will be 18 years old in a few months, and there have been a surprising number of stories about how “it’s Louise’s time to shine” and “Louise was so close to her late grandfather” and “Louise is the Queen’s favorite grandchild.” Then came the mess with Prince Charles refusing to give Edward the Duke of Edinburgh title. As retaliation, the Wessexes let it be known that when Louise turns 18, they will encourage her to take the “princess” title she is due as a grandchild of the monarch.
Throughout this entire Wessex drama – and I didn’t even bring up the fact that the Wessexes went on a Grief Tour – it’s been clear that Prince Charles has a grudge against the Wessexes, but the Cambridges do not. Sophie and Edward have been sucking up to Will and Kate for years and it seems to have worked. The Wessexes and Cambridges have a tenuous alliance for now. And perhaps Lady Louise was offered up to the Cambridges as some kind of babysitter/helper?
The Queen’s youngest granddaughter is helping to look after Prince William and Kate Middleton’s children during the summer break. Lady Louise Windsor, 17, the daughter of the Earl and Countess of Wessex, is said to be supporting the Cambridges as they try to keep their three kids entertained.
Louise has spent most of her summers with the Queen and other family members at Balmoral, the monarch’s Scottish summer retreat, since she was young. A source claimed to French magazine Gala: “Louise also endeared herself to everyone by looking after William and Kate’s children when they were up here.”
Louise is said to have a close relationship with Princess Charlotte, six, despite the 11-year age gap between them.
The source added: “Louise loves drawing and sketching and was very patiently trying to get Charlotte to do pictures 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 shares her passion for drawing with her uncle Prince Charles, who is an avid painter of watercolours. Louise, who turns 18 in November, received her AS-level results last week and is expected to complete her A-level qualification next year.
To fact-check a little bit – the Cambridges did not already come and go from Balmoral. The origin of the “baby-sitting” story might be from 2019, when everyone was in Balmoral and apparently Louise spent some time with the Cambridge children. But I don’t doubt that the Wessexes have encouraged Louise to spend time with the Cambridges and the Cambridge kids. The Wessexes are making a political calculation that William and Kate will vouch for them with Charles, and that Will and Kate want Sophie and Edward around for the long-term, to do the work the Cambridges are too lazy to do. It’s not a bad play, honestly. Royal court drama.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.
Or perhaps Lady Louise hasn’t got anyone near her own age to hang out with at Balmoral so she hangs out with any of the children who are there. Who would want to be around the adults and all their drama?
I agree. This story has me remembering turning 16 and FINALLY getting to join the adult table at holiday dinners and being bored and annoyed. Lololol I would have rather drawn pictures with little kids, too. Still would.
+1 LOL.
Are the Cambridges & Wessexes even at Balmoral yet? I’d rather think that Louise is away someplace at a horse camp or something than being anywhere near Andrew. Unless, they’ve smuggled Andrew out of the country already.
I doubt she wishes to hang out with certain adult relatives considering the allegations and nature of the charges..
Shouldn’t the Wessexes be encouraging James, who’s closer in age to the Cambridge children, instead of 18 year and legal adult Louise? I’d be pissed off if my parents were forcing me to spend time with a 6 and 7 year old.
I always enjoyed spending time with my younger cousins. They were so cute and funny.
@mac: if she’s doing it of her own free will that’s fine. But if she’s being made to do it so that the Wessexes can remain in the good graces of the Cambridges, it’s not cute.
That family is bizarre and pulls rank and the Cambridge kids use their HRH so it just doesn’t come off as normal family interactions. I just hope Louise can forge a life outside of that mess.
I would too, but maybe she is one of those teenage girls that genuinely loves interacting with young children. My niece was like that at that age, loved babysitting and playing games with littles and she wasnt into academics, her dream is to be a mom with kids of her own.
Wha….?? You mean the *MOSTEST* HANDS-ON EVER PARENTS EVAH needed MORE help, then the 3 nannies and sundry household help they already have, to watch their three kids???
Yeah… more embiggening of Louise.
Louise looking after her younger cousins during the summer is one of the MOST relatable thing I’ve ever heard ANY of them doing!
Right?! I used to entertain all my younger cousins like it was my full time job!
I may go a bit on a limb here, but Louise strikes me as a socially immature 18 year old (not judging – I absolutely was one, too) and therfore she may prefer to spend time with those much younger (or older) than herself as they seem less judgmental and easier to relate to. I hate that she’s being set up in the press, though.
I wish they would mention the nannies. The constant presence of nannies. They make it sound like the Cambridges are heavily involved in childcare–and in desperate need of a helping hand from a poor little cousin.
More likely, they see their kids at assigned times, like meals and an occasional outing. At least that was the Charles’ method.
With the adults in the family, I would choose to spend my time with the children also…
I’ll add that I’ve seen pap pics of her in Windsor….. with Peter’s kids.
At this rate we will need to surgically remove the Wessex from the Cambridge behind, they are lodged so far up.
Why do the keenbridges need their children entertained?
A , they have full time help so it’s not like they are going at it alone. Unless Willy is in the wind S usual and it’s just Katie mchatey and the kids but that still doesn’t change the fact that she has full time help for them and a mother who knows no boundaries, unless Carole visitation has been limited by Baldimort.
It’s pretty normal for family members to spend together, even if they have a nanny.
It is, however to me this article makes it sound like she is the summer nanny for her cousin
I’m sure Louise is just being a decent kid, but it is worded in such a disturbing way that she’s “supporting the Cambridges”. They have nannies to be with the kids so pretending that Louise has to act as a babysitter is just weird.
Yeah, I thought that too, that they have at least one nanny for those kids so what exactly would Louise be doing? I mean its nice that she plays with her cousins, although for a young woman getting ready to go off to college it seems odd. But maybe she too wants to be an “early childhood expert” like her cousin Kate but maybe Louise will actually put in the time and work to study and get credentials.
If she’s looking after the kids, what is Nanny Maria et al doing? 👀
SOMEONE has to sweat for Prince Andrew.
First – yes, Sophie and Edward are definitely playing the long game when it comes to the Cambridges. It’s gross if they are using Louise as a part of that, but it is a time honored Windsor tradition to use your children to help your position (whether that means elevating the child or tearing them down) so Edward and Sophie are really just following the tradition.
Second – if Louise was playing with the Cambridge children, I hope it was more of a “I’m stuck in this big remote house that doesn’t get cell service and there’s no WiFi* so I guess I might as well play with the cousins” rather than “you must play with them so William and Kate like us.” (or that she genuinely enjoys playing with them.)
*I am sure Balmoral has WiFi at this point, but its more amusing to think that it doesnt lol.
You know, having to suck up to my sibling and his kids for my future cushion is something I am GRATEFUL I do not have to worry about or deal with.
And people wonder why Harry looked around and got out while the getting was good. And he was smart enough to marry a woman with some business acumen.
What about the good Viscount?
All I can think of when I read this is the of Whoopi Goldberg from Ghost. In another year or two when Louise has gotten her footing as an adult royal and those Cambridges are going to throw her under the bus over and over again.
Well hopefully this is just natural affection rather than politicking. I had much younger cousins myself and my brothers and I loved getting to play with them. It was a treat for them too because they’d get excited to get attention from their “big cousins”.
58-year-old Brit here who identified with Diana back in the day, as she was my height, age and build in the 80s, loved the drop-waste dresses and flat pumps. I remember a lot. Sophie and Kate (don’t be fooled) were extremely well-trained PR professionals who worked at high-end corporate level, launched themselves at eligible “Royal” men, no matter how weak-chinned, and played the long game. Still do. These extremely clever women spotted an opening. Sophie was all over the place years ago with paid-for criticism of the Royals (fake Sheikh incident) like “Uncle Gary” is allowed to speak to the Press as the official Middleton mouthpiece. Why? They know too much.
Yes I see that for Sophie but was Kate really a highly trained and high level PR professional???
Kate never had a PR job, or any official job really, outside of a few months part time at Jigsaw, but she and Carole used PR and their media contacts no differently than any other celebrity or socialite. Kate did not coincidentally do anything when it came to media coverage, especially when the break up happened.
Fergie was in PR, maybe that’s the one?
Sophie had full time work. Kate barely worked, her employer Belle Robinson of Jigsaw said she had flexible hours (part time) since she was dating William. Kate had no work at all. It was all smoke and mirrors.
Louise is old enough to be interning at the palace. What is this rubbish about her babysitting her relatives’ kids?! No one cares! We know she’s not really babysitting, there is a nanny for that.
This feels unlikely. I hope Lady Louise gets away from this lot and goes away to college. I don’t know too much about her education: are she and James enrolled at a boarding school?
I would not want to babysit the Cambridge kids, for a garden variety of reasons, but especially if I were Louise’s age.
I wonder if Louise can say no to the Cambridges at this point? She might know how hard her mom/parents are working to get into the C’s good books.
I think this means Louise does well at school? I don’t understand the Brit system well enough to know. That would be unusual for a royal, yes?
“Louise, who turns 18 in November, received her AS-level results last week and is expected to complete her A-level qualification next year.”
@isabella, I don’t quite understand the system either and after looking it up still not quite certain. The best explanation I’m coming up with is that AS/A levels might be similar to the US’s junior/senior years in high school. The AS/A levels focus on certain classes & grades to earn entrance to university? Maybe similar to US high school students that take AP classes that can be applied to college credits? Interesting that the site states that ‘In most countries of the world, students move up to university once they graduate from high school’, since that really isn’t true, in the US and other countries at least. Going to college/university isn’t an automatic after graduating from high school if that’s what one wants to do.
Here your GPA, ACT and/or SAT results, previously mentioned AP classes, STEM classes, extracurriculars/volunteer work, college entrance essay and more determine a lot to where/if you’re accepted for college.
It could all be very similar but worded/named differently.
https://www.studying-in-uk.org/a-levels-in-uk/
I hope Louise does well and goes to university, if she wants to and hopefully, far away from what seems to be the insular world of the BRF.
The idea of an uncle or aunt groveling to a do-nothing nephew and his wife, trying to get into their good graces and jostle for position is just….pathetic. I have so much respect for Anne and her DGAF attitude in this regard. Why does Edward need to suck up this much? I guess he and Sophie are probably less frugal than Anne and therefore have more to lose.
If I was William, I would hate it (but being the power-hungry child that he is, I bet he loves it). Having your uncle or someone older try to butter you up or defer to you just seems wrong. I was raised to respect my elders and happen to have some very competent, humble and successful family members in my parent’s generation; this type of behavior would just make me lose all respect.
Right? Their simpering, suck up behavior towards Edward’s 20-years younger nephew and wife is so embarrassing.
This story is utter rubbish. Maybe a couple of years ago Sophie was mentioned after a Balmoral holiday as having kept the Cambridge kids amused. It was only a young girl entertaining younger relatives. The silly press makes it sound like a new story and as if she was their official nanny.
She looks just like the Duke of Edinburgh.
The one that was or the one that will be?
Maybe it’s just me, but Sofie always looks like she’s a jester, performing for Kate, trying to amuse her, and hoping to get something from her. In the top picture w/ the red dress Sofie is really working Kate. She’s more animated with her hand gestures; whereas, Kate looks like she’s not trying as hard, or even that interested in what Sofie has to say. It was even more obvious in the last Commonwealth Day picture they all took together. As I recall, Sofie was leaning forward in a desperate manner again trying to get Kate’s attn, most of the others were looking forward grimly. Meghan was looking straight ahead with an almost serene look on her face.
Kate and William have Nanny Maria who watches the children it makes no sense Louise would “babysit” the children. It seems rather strange also. The parents should be getting Louise ready for University instead of pushing PR for her.