New princess incoming. (Well, maybe.)
She stole the show in a recent BBC documentary paying tribute to her late grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh. Now, the Queen's youngest granddaughter, Lady Louise Windsor, has a very important decision to make regarding her future royal role.
The 17-year-old A Level student may be 16th in line to the throne (and the Queen's "favourite grandchild", according to frequent reports), but she doesn't currently hold the title of Princess.
This is thought to be because Lady Louise's parents, Prince Edward and Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, wanted to give their daughter as normal a childhood as possible – much in the same way that Princess Anne chose to forego giving her two children, Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, a royal moniker.
But according to The Telegraph, the final decision on whether Lady Louise will eventually be known as Her Royal Highness Princess Louise is entirely hers to make, with the Earl and Countess of Wessex said to be leaving the matter up to their daughter when she turns 18. (Just your average birthday gift, then.)
If Lady Louise does choose to go down the Princess route, she'll join older cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who also style themselves with a HRH title.
However, though recent reports have suggested that Lady Louise may be priming to take on a more prominent role in the Royal Family when she comes of age, if comments made by her mother are anything to go by, it looks as though the young royal may actually avoid taking up a HRH title.
Speaking to The Sunday Times last year, Sophie remarked that she and Edward have always raised Louise and her brother, James Viscount Severn, to adopt a strong work ethic beyond the royal realm.
"We try to bring them up with the understanding they are very likely to have to work for a living," the Countess of Wessex said. "Hence we made the decision not to use HRH titles. They have them and can decide to use them from 18, but I think it's highly unlikely."
But some royal experts think recent events may have made the young royal change her tune, with commentator Phil Dampier telling OK!, "Because she’s the granddaughter of the Queen, Lady Louise can call herself a Princess when she becomes 18, and there’s a strong argument for her doing it. [She's] very mature for her age and [is] shaping up to be precisely the kind of person the Queen can rely on in the future."
Either way, we hope Lady Louise's birthday soirée is one that's fit for a Princess.
