Marie Claire UK Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Women in Sport 2026
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Spring Summer 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    • Digital Issues
    • Women Who Win
    1. Culture
    2. Celebrity News
    3. Royal News

    Lady Louise Windsor ‘had no concept’ that the Queen and her grandmother were the same person

    Lol.

    Kate McCusker's avatar
    By Kate McCusker
    Published 31 August 2021 In News

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    lady louise windsor the queen
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Lol.

    Her Majesty the Queen may be one of the most famous figures in the world, but when it comes to her family, she's still very much just "grandmama". (At least, she is to her two youngest grandchildren, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn.)

    Having grown up at Bagshot Park, just a short drive away from the Queen at Windsor Castle, Lady Louise is thought to have a very close bond with her grandmother – so much so that, as their mother Sophie, the Countess of Wessex recently revealed, she and her younger brother James affectionately refer to the monarch as "grandmama".

    When she isn't busy giving the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge a much-needed helping hand with their three children, Lady Louise, who will turn 18 in November, is thought to regularly visit her grandmother at both Windsor and Balmoral, and is rumoured to have a very down to earth bond with Her Majesty.

    So normal, in fact, is the Wessex children's relationship with the monarch, that Lady Louise spent years in the dark about who her grandmother really was.

    You may like
    • Meghan Markle in 'With Love, Meghan' Meghan Markle’s Sweet Glimpse Into Sussex Family Life Is Going Viral
    • The Prince and Princess of Wales visit the Isles of Mull and Iona Royal Experts Predict a Major Milestone From Princess Kate This Autumn
    • The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Colombia Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Had a Secret UK Home in the First Year of Their Marriage

    Speaking in an interview recorded ahead of Her Majesty's 90th birthday, the Countess of Wessex told Sky News, "I mean Louise had no concept really that the Queen and her grandmother were one and the same person."

    She added, “It wasn’t until she was at school that other children were mentioning it and saying, ‘Your gran is the Queen’. And she’d come home and say, ‘Mummy they say that Grandmama is the Queen.’ And I said, ‘Yes,’ and she said, ‘I don’t understand what they mean.’”

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    She's not alone, though.

    Her father, Prince Edward, also admitted that he didn't realise that his mother was the monarch until he was five or six.

    "I can’t necessarily remember when that realisation was there," he said. "When you grow up in that family and in that environment, that’s just what your parents do."

    He added, "It’s been much more interesting watching our children growing up, and watching our children trying to work out what that this, and how that works. It was probably not until five or six I think."

    How sweet is that?

    Kate McCusker
    Kate McCusker
    Social Links Navigation

    Kate McCusker is a freelance writer at Marie Claire UK, having joined the team in 2019. She studied fashion journalism at Central Saint Martins, and her byline has also appeared in Dezeen, British Vogue, The Times and woman&home. In no particular order, her big loves are: design, good fiction, bad reality shows and the risible interiors of celebrity houses.


    Read more
    Meghan Markle in 'With Love, Meghan'
    Celebrity News Meghan Markle’s Sweet Glimpse Into Sussex Family Life Is Going Viral
    The Prince and Princess of Wales visit the Isles of Mull and Iona
    Royal News Royal Experts Predict a Major Milestone From Princess Kate This Autumn
     
     
    The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Colombia
    Royal News Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Had a Secret UK Home in the First Year of Their Marriage
    Andy Burnham and Marie-France van Heel entering 10 Downing Street
    Fashion “Are We Just Jealous?” Victoria Moss Unpacks the Sexist, Ageist Commentary Around Marie-France van Heel’s Victoria Beckham Dress
     
     
    Latest in Royal News
    The Prince and Princess of Wales visit the Isles of Mull and Iona
    Royal News Royal Experts Predict a Major Milestone From Princess Kate This Autumn
    The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Colombia
    Royal News Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Had a Secret UK Home in the First Year of Their Marriage
     
     
    The Prince and Princess of Wales visit Southport
    Royal News Prince William Has Given an Emotional Update on Princess Kate
    The Prince and Princess of Wales attend a state visit by the President of the French Republic in 2025
    Royal News Why Prince William and Princess Kate ‘Won’t Change" Their Minds on the Buckingham Palace Situation
     
     
    Latest in News
    Kinda Chic Trend
    Shopping Is "Kinda Chic" Kinda Cringe? Everyone's Favourite Fashion Word Just Went Completely Out of Fashion
    Beauty Digest
    Beauty The Beauty Digest: The Foundation Using Exosome Technology, the Treatment That Transformed My Skin Texture—Plus, the Ever-Earlier Advent Calendar Race
     
     
    Kaia Gerber
    Shopping Everything Kaia Gerber Wears Is a Masterclass in Minimalism—These Are the Pieces and Brands She Always Goes Back to
    Copenhagen Fashion Week street style
    Shopping Kitten-Heel Sandals, Lace Dresses and the Season's New Favourite Shade of Blue— These are the Copenhagen Fashion Week Street Style Trends to Note
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.