Lady Louise Windsor and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh embrace at Royal Windsor Horse Show as royals muck in and take electric bike for a spin

The royals were once seen as decidedly aloof, but these days they love to cuddle.

Yesterday, a beaming Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, and her daughter Lady Louise Windsor wrapped their arms around each other as they met at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.

Just a day earlier, the king and another niece, Zara Tindall, were also seen cuddling at the show.

Sophie and Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, were delighted to bump into 20-year-old Louise in a trilby hat as she worked as an official at the show’s carriage event.

She also met her 16-year-old brother James, Earl of Wessex, on the show as he accompanied mum Sophie, 59, just days after her historic visit to war-torn Ukraine.

The 20-year-old royal, who is 16th in line to the throne, was pictured wearing a high-vis jacket, a branded vest and a badge marking her as a ‘civil servant’ as she carried a pen and paper. walked around the grounds.

She managed to break free from her mother’s embrace and zip around the show on a fat-tire e-bike to monitor the carriage’s handling, an enthusiasm she was introduced to by the late Prince Philip .

The Royal, who is not often seen in public, wore a trilby hat and glasses, and wore her hair in a low ponytail, away from her face, so she could concentrate.

At the bottom she wore comfortable sweatpants and practical waterproof boots.

Her appearance comes after she did not attend the Easter Sunday service with her family last month, held at St George’s Chapel in Windsor – the second year in a row she has missed the event.

The 20-year-old is currently studying English Literature at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where Kate and William’s relationship blossomed.

According to the university’s website, both the week before and the week after Easter still count as semester time.

This period is followed by two weeks of revision, with exams starting on Saturday 20 April.

It appears the young royal has spent some time overhauling to fit in some services at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, which her family attends every year in Berkshire.

And this year, emotions are particularly high as King Charles attended the event following news that his doctors are ‘positive’ about the progress of his cancer treatment.

While Lady Louise Windsor works quietly behind the scenes, it is claimed there will be a special place for her in the royal family when the Prince of Wales eventually takes the throne.

Richard Eden, the Daily Mail’s diary editor, has previously said: ‘In my view the couple could do another great service to the country by encouraging their children, Lady Louise and James, the Earl of Wessex, to become working royals to become. the time is now.

‘Louise, 20, is in her second year at St Andrews University, while James, 16, will sit his GCSE exams this year.

“If Prince William becomes king, I hope he will follow the example of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, and ask his cousins, including Lady Louise and James, to share royal duties with him.”

Lady Louise has been largely shielded from the public eye by her parents, but she could be in the public eye in the coming years.

She is dear to the royal family and had a particularly close relationship with her late grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Lady Louise was their seventh grandchild. And for Philip she brought not only joy, but also a sense of personal pride.

This was because she became the first royal to officially bear the surname Mountbatten-Windsor, allowing Philip’s surname, Mountbatten, to continue into the future of the royal family.

A former aide said Philip would be “thrilled” that 55 years after the birth of his first child, a member of the royal family would finally continue the Mountbatten line.

Lady Louise was baptized in the private chapel in Windsor with godparents including Lady Sarah Chatto, Lady Alexandra Etherington, Mrs Francesca Schwarzenbach and Mr Rupert Elliott, as well as Lord Ivar Mountbatten.

The young royal shared a love of carriage riding with the late Duke of Edinburgh, who was instrumental in helping establish the activity as a sport in Britain.

After retirement, Philip had more time to enjoy carriage driving, which had been one of his favorite pastimes since the 1970s. He drove carriages near Norfolk before representing Great Britain at several world and European championships.

Sophie previously revealed that Prince Philip was ‘so happy’ when his granddaughter wanted to take up the sport.