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Royal fans might be wondering, why isn’t Lady Louise Windsor a Princess?
Lady Louise Windsor might look like a Princess when she’s mixing with other female members of the royal family, but she technically isn’t one, and it’s due to her father, the Earl of Wessex.
The young royal, 17, is the daughter of Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex, however, despite being in the royal family she doesn’t have the title Princess and it’s due to a technicality.
Why isn’t Lady Louise a Princess?
Lady Louise Windsor isn’t Princess because when her parents married, the Queen announced her to be styled as the child of an Earl when Prince Edward was made The Earl of Wessex.
The Queen issued a Buckingham Palace press release to announce that their children would be styled as the children of an Earl, rather than as Prince or Princess.
As a result, court communications refer to her as Lady Louise Windsor and her full name is Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor.
Meanwhile, Princess Eugenie and Beatrice are the daughters of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson and as Andrew’s official title is a Prince, they are styled as a Princess.
Will Lady Louise Windsor become a Princess?
While Edward, the Earl of Wessex has the title Earl, Lady Louise Windsor will not have her Princess title but when she turns 18 she will be able to choose whether to use it as she has retained her royal title and style.
The letters patent, issued in 1917 which still remain in force today, in which a princely status and the style of Royal Highness, is assigned to all male-line grandchildren of a monarch.
But there are two opposing reasons as to whether or not Louise is “legally” a Princess and Her Royal Highness.
Some say the Queen does not have enough legal force to override the 1917 letters parent, whereas other experts state that the Queen’s will, however, expressed, is law when it comes to royal titles and styles.
In terms of the latter, the 1960 letters patent applies and Louise bears but is styled with the surname Mountbatten-Windsor.
With just five months until Lady Louise turns 18, there could be changes to her royal title is she so wishes. As in 2020, her mother, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, stated that Louise retained her Royal title and style and will make a choice on whether to use it when she turns 18.
Lady Louise Windsor recently faced the heartbreaking realisation that her grandfather Prince Philip is no longer around.
