Lady Louise Windsoris carrying on one her late grandfatherPrince Philip’s greatest passions.
Just days after attending the Service of Thanksgiving honoringPrince Philipnearly a year after his death at age 99, 18-year-old Louisecompeted in the British Indoor Carriage Driving Championships. The daughter of Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex took sixth place in the junior novice division.
Lady Louise is clearly devoted to the sport — she’s also competed in the Royal Windsor Horse Show —following in the footsteps of Prince Philip, who competed well into his 80s before opting for more leisurely rides until the final months of his life.
Prince Philiphelped construct the sporting carriage from something he called the “Balmoral dog cart.”
“It had to be rebuilt every year because it got smashed up regularly,” he said.
He also recalled “turning over here in the water” on one dangerous occasion and said that in contests at home and abroad, he found that he “always did rather well at dressage. I didn’t manage the obstacles very well.”
Prince Philip.Robin Jones/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Prince Philipwas well aware of Lady Louise inheriting his fondness of the sport and reportedly left her his dark green four-wheeled carriage and two of his Fell ponies, Balmoral Nevis and Notlaw Storm, after his death, according toHello!magazine.
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Sophie, who has also been seen carriage driving, has praised her daughter on her achievements in the sport.
“I trail in her wake, frankly,” Sophie said in a2020 interview. No, she is naturally so good at it, she really is. It’s something that she has taken to very well."
Many members of the royal family are horse lovers.Queen Elizabeth’s fondness for the animals is well documented, and both her daughter Princess Anne and granddaughter Zara Tindall (who won a silver medal for the team competition at the 2012 Olympics in London!) have competed in the Olympics on Team U.K.’s equestrian teams. Maybe Lady Louise will join their ranks one day…
source: people.com
