UK’s most down-to-earth royal takes her second-hand car for a ride – after saving up to buy it with £7-an-hour job
HER uncle may be King but Lady Louise Windsor prefers to lead a down-to-earth life.
The teenage royal was seen this weekend driving her second-hand VW Polo, which she saved up to buy with her £7-an-hour job.
Lady Louise, who is the 19-year-old daughter of Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, was seen driving around the Windsor Royal Estate in the vehicle.
Looking confident behind the wheel, Lady Louise was seen wearing glasses with her hair tied back in a ponytail.
A source told The Sun she saved up for the bright blue car while working at a local garden centre, earning £6.83 an hour.
Her job responsibilities included working the tills, greeting customers and pruning the plants, with an onlooker claiming she was "polite and attentive" and "seemed to be loving the job".
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Our insider said: "The idea of taking a summer job came from Louise herself, who had been saving for her first car which she could use to practice on the private roads of the Windsor estate.
"The amount she saved from her first job was matched by her parents, and she bought a second-hand blue VW Polo and went on to pass her driving test first time."
The royal spent time at the weekend doing the hobby she shared with the late Prince Philip - carriage-driving.
The Duke of Edinburgh had been teaching Lady Louise how to drive, and even left his beloved ponies and carriage to her in his will when he passed away in 2021.
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The Duke was an expert carriage driver and represented Great Britain in three European Championships and six World Championships.
He turned to the sport after giving up polo at the age of 50 in 1971 due to what he called his "dodgy" arthritic wrist.
In a book the Duke wrote: "I am getting old, my reactions are getting slower, and my memory is unreliable, but I have never lost the sheer pleasure of driving a team through the British countryside."
A royal source told the that Lady Louise will regularly exercise Philip’s black ponies - Balmoral Nevis and Notlaw Storm – at Windsor.
Lady Louise was no doubt getting some carriage-riding practice before returning to her studies at St Andrews in Scotland in coming weeks.
Louise left school last year with four A-Levels in English, history, politics and drama, which secured her a spot studying an English degree.
Her cousin Prince William also studied there as a young adult, and met future wife Kate Middleton during the experience.
Lady Louise was said to have emerged as the Queen’s favourite grandchild following a lengthy stay at the monarch’s Scottish retreat, Balmoral, over the summer of 2019.
A royal insider said: “The Queen loves the fact that Louise and James relish their time at Balmoral, and she has become particularly close to Louise, who seems to have become her favourite grandchild, closely followed by James.”
Ingrid Seward previously told Fabulous that the Queen likes "ordinary people more than she does those that pander to her".
Taking up a part-time summer job was her idea - encouraged by her mother Sophie, who had a successful career in PR before her marriage to Prince Edward.
Sophie said she and Edward try to bring up Louise and her younger brother James, 15, with "the understanding that they are very likely to have to work for a living".
Louise appears to have taken this in her stride, and has even turned down the royal title she is entitled to use.
When she turned 18 in November 2021, Louise had to make the decision whether to use her HRH title.
Her cousins Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have both adopted them, as their dad Prince Andrew reportedly wanted them to have full HRH status.
Sophie - who has left the decision up to her children when they are old enough - previously said she thought it was “highly unlikely” her daughter would adopt it.
A close friend of the family told The Sun that shortly before her 18th birthday, Louise said she had no wish to use her full title in everyday life, after discussing it with her parents.
The friend adds: “Louise is a lovely, genuine, down-to-earth girl with no sense of entitlement.
"She does not see any need to use the ‘adornments’, as she calls them, which can often attract more attention than they are worth.
“This means that Louise will always be a member of the Royal Family, just not a ‘professional’ full-time working royal.”
Naturally Louise has enjoyed some trappings of being a royal - including growing up in the £30m Grade II listed Bagshot Park mansion set within 51 acres of land in Surrey.
But she was largely kept out of the spotlight and was only seen during special occasions - like the wedding of the now Prince and Princess of Wales, where she served as a flower girl.
In a previous interview Sophie spoke about how she and Edward were intent on giving their children a normal upbringing.
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"They go to a regular school," she said. "They go to friends for sleepovers and parties. At weekends we do lots of dog walking and stay with friends.
"I guess not everyone's grandparents live in a castle, but where you are going is not the important part, or who they are. When they are with the Queen, she is their grandmother."
