Lady Louise Windsor might have missed out on a new royal title, but the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh’s daughter hold a few milestones of her.
The 19-year-old, who is currently studying at the University of St Andrews, made history at her royal christening on 24 April 2004.
Prince Edward and Sophie’s eldest child was baptized in the private chapel of Windsor Castle, and she was the last royal baby to wear the original royal christening gown.
The Honiton and lace gown dates back to 1841 when it was created for Victoria, Princess Royal’s christening. It was used by the royal family until 2004, by which point it had been worn by 62 royal children, including the late Queen, Elizabeth II, King Charles and his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.
The Queen commissioned her personal wardrobe advisor, Angela Kelly, to create a replica of the 1841 royal christening gown, which had become too delicate.
Lady Louise’s youngest brother, the Earl of Wessex, was the first royal baby to wear the replica gown for his baptism in 2008. It was most recently used for the christening of Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi’s daughter, Sienna, in April 2022.
Lady Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten-Windsor, arrived into the world by emergency cesarean section at 11.32pm on Saturday 8th November 2003, weighing 4lbs 9oz.
The Duchess spoke about her daughter’s birth at a reception in India in 2019 while referring to a film highlighting the fight to tackle blindness in premature babies.
She said: “This is the third time I have seen this film A Life with Sight and each time I see it, it makes me cry. My daughter, Louise, was born prematurely and so every time I see anything to do with premature babies, it takes me back to those early days, the shock of her early arrival, and then the realization that she had a sight issue, which we would have to manage.”
Lady Louise was born with esotropia, she is believed to have undergone treatment to correct the condition in which one or both eyes turn inward.
Sophie once told The Sunday Express: “Premature babies can often have squints because the eyes are the last thing in the baby package to really be finalized.
“Her squint was quite profound when she was tiny and it takes time to correct it.
“You’ve got to make sure one eye doesn’t become more dominant than the other but she’s fine now – her eyesight is perfect.”
