How Lady Louise Windsor spent her summer working for her uncle, King Charles

Lady Louise Windsor has won a great deal of fans for her diligent work ethic and no-nonsense attitude to royal life. Whether she’s writing university essays while sitting down on the train or taking on a paid job at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, the 22-year-old daughter of Prince Edward and the Duchess of Edinburgh has certainly inherited her grandmother’s sense of duty.

Case in point? The revelation that she secretly took on a job working for her uncle, King Charles, this summer. According to the Daily Mail, the St Andrews graduate lent a hand as a cook for people renting out lodges at Balmoral before kicking off her gap year. Lady Louise is ‘a really good cook’, the outlet reported – just like her mother, the Duchess of Edinburgh. The young royal is said to be ‘incredibly low-key and discreet.’

It is not the first time that Lady Louise Windsor has taken on a paid job. Before heading off to St Andrews, where she studied English Literature for four years, she worked at a garden centre near her family home, Bagshot Park. This year, she took a paid job at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, personally requesting a job in the offices while she was on summer holiday. Her role included administrative tasks, HELLO! reported, including the sealing of envelopes.

‘Duchess Sophie and Prince Edward provided Lady Louise and her brother James with as normal an upbringing as possible, and this is clearly reflected in her work ethic,’ an insider told the publication of the late Queen’s ‘favourite granddaughter’.

‘She is very grounded and down-to-earth; you wouldn't know she was a royal. It was her idea to ask for a part-time job. She's very hard-working,’ they added.

Neither Lady Louise nor her brother, the Earl of Wessex, are working members of the royal family. The Duchess of Edinburgh has explained that she and Prince Edward have raised their two children with the assumption that they will work for a living, telling The Sunday Times: ‘We try to bring them up with the understanding that they are very likely to have to work for a living.’

The Duchess added: ‘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.’

When Lady Louise isn’t working, she can often be found competing in carriage driving competitions, having inherited a love of the sport from her grandfather, Prince Philip, who bequeathed her his carriage and horses, including ‘Balmoral Bertie’. When competing, Lady Louise is supported by her mother and by her boyfriend, Felix da Silva-Clamp, whom she met while studying.

Sara Howe, a carriage driving trainer who often sees Lady Louise on the circuit, explained to Hello! That ‘you would never know who she is,’ should you come across her at competition time, telling the publication how she is ‘just Louise’ to her friends.

In November 2025, Felix was by Lady Louise’s side as the pair took part in the St Andrews Regiment's Day Parade with the St Andrews University Officers' Training Corps. Lady Louise Windsor is said to be passionate about military service, and is rumoured to be considering joining the Armed Forces following her training in the Army Cadets at St Andrews. Should she do so, Lady Louise would be the first female royal to join the Forces since her grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II – another way in which the young royal is following in the footsteps of her grandparents.