Lady Louise 1: November 2003 - May 2004

[paulette]

from hellomagazine.com

NEW PICTURES OF LITTLE BABY LOUISE

12 JANUARY 2004
The delight is clearly visible on the faces of Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex, as they hold their baby in new photographs released by Buckingham Palace. The pictures, which were taken by the Duke of York, are the first official photos of little Louise since her birth two months ago.

Lady Louise gave the royal family quite a scare when she was born four weeks premature in November. At first there were fears for her health, but she has been putting on weight ever since and appears to be very healthy. And the Countess, who stayed in hospital for 10 days after the delivery, also looks well in the snaps.

"She is spending as much quality time as possible with her daughter, and she is just thrilled at her progress," said a source at the palace. "She really is an absolutely adored baby – and a real cutie-pie. She looks like a perfect jolly little baby."

Prince Andrew took the photographs over the Christmas break when the entire Windsor clan was gathered at Sandringham. A keen amateur photographer, he took 200 pictures in all, though only a handful are being released to the media. Most of the pics have been redistributed to members of the Royal Family, each signed "Edward, Sophie and baby Louise".

[Binny]

Thanks corazon!

[Martine]

Edward with Louise

[Martine]

Sophie with Louise

[Martine]

with Queen Elizabeth

[Martine]

Louise with her parents

[Elizajane]

Originally posted by Martine@Jan 14th, 2004 - 8:23 am
Edward with Louise

I thought that I never would see "this photo" of Edward holding his own child. They married "late in life" ~ probably because of the examples of Edward's sibling's marriages, (plus it's not uncommon that women are having babies in their 30s and up to 42.) ~ her ectopic pregnancy, cutting the odds in half when they removed one of her fallopian tubes, plus the scare of Louise coming a little early. It just looks like Prince Edward is in love with his baby girl.

Gosh, I wish I subscribed to "HELLO" to see all the photos. I'm sure the Queen is over-the-moon (as the British say) about her new little granddaughter. :flower:

[Elizajane]

Originally posted by Martine@Jan 14th, 2004 - 8:33 am
Louise with her parents

Supreme happiness!

[Alexandria]

Terrific pictures, Martine! Thanks so much for sharing them here.

The last one of Edward, Sophie and Louise facing the cameras is terrifc. I am, however, not so crazy about the one with the Queen. She seems to be sitting quite apart/seperate from the young family, and it doesn't have the same cozy feeling that the recent pictures of the Dutch Queen with her son, daughter-in-law and grandddaughter evoked.

[Beate]

I absolutely love those pics! Lady Louise is a very cute baby and it's wonderful to see all those happy faces..

Yes, Alexandria, I feel the same way you do..It's a pity that the Queen comes across so reserved..it would have been nice to have her hold the baby as well..Perhaps there would have been more warmth there..

[A.C.C.]

I guess that's not The Queen's style?!! The pictures are great though!!!

[Fireweaver]

It is a pity there isn't more projected warmth, but I think the fact that the queen had visited them, and allowed the photo to be taken, shows that she does in fact adore this new granddaughter :)

[angela]

I am so happy for the Wessexs' but I fear that the choice of title for Louise signals the death knell for the Royal Family for two reasons. Firstly, it won't stop press interest in her (just look at the coverage Zara Philips gets). Secondly, the whole point in having a Royal Family is that they are just that ...Royal! It seems that nowadays in the family everyone wants " a quiet life " but at the same time they fully expect Prince William to take on the mantle of full Royal duties. What would have happened if the parents of the present Kents and Gloucesters had taken the same view and stripped their children of their royal titles? Their support to the Queen over the past 50 years has been invaluable and I'm sure that she would be the first to admit that their tireless work has vastly contributed to the success of her reign. If William does not get the same help from his own cousins then I think the burden of Monarchy will be too much for him and one would not blame him if he decided to opt for "the quiet life" himself.

[sky]

I agree with the wessex did. The press coverage will still be like her cousins, they might not follow her so much, because by the time she is in her teens, almost of her cousins will be married and the press will be too busy making up stories about them. Lousie is still a princess, when she turns of age she can decided to use the title or stay a lady. I guess her parents didnt give it to her so she wouldnt have the pressure of being a tennage princess. I think Soiphe spoke out a couple of years about the pressure of being young and royal, a lot of people said she was refuring to the york princesses. I dont think Louise's non HRH is the death of the RF, giving her the title would have been a death signal of the RF. The citizans have to pay for all these members of the RF with their money, I would guess a Brit would get mad sometimes. I know some do,I've been on some websits that are aganist the monarchy. And all they did was talk about taxes and prince Philp. I agree with you about the queens cousins helping plus her was her sister and mother. In the future there is only going to be William(and his wife), harry(with his wife) the york princesses and maybe Lousie, that is pretty small.

[A.C.C.]

Well, the future royal family consisting of William, Harry and their spouses, Beatrice, Eugenie and their spouses, and maybe Louise may seem small now compared to the current huge size of the royal family, or rather the royals who undertake official engagements, but compared to the other royal houses of Europe, they will be average size. Yet don't forget that when William comes to the throne (and definitely when Charle succeeds), Princess Anne and Princes Andrew and Edward, the Countess of Wessex and maybe even the Gloucesters and Kents will probably still be there. Whether they will be working royals is another story.

The last poster said that when Louise is 18, she could choose to recieve her style and title, or rather be addressed as, HRH Princess Louise. Can she do this???
Technically, she was not stripped of her style and title because their was no act saying this. It is rather a common knowledge thing.

Lastly, the British people pay for The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to undertake their official engagements. They pay for them to due their duty, for example entertaing or travel. Yet they don't pay other working members of the royal family. The Queen gives allowences to Her children, excpet for Charles, and I believe she pays for Her cousins as well, so I don't think that the British people would have had that much of a problem with Louise being a princess.

[sky]

I read on other MB's that Louise' s title will always be there and she can choose when she is of age. And in a interview(an old one) she said something about titles and their child having a choise about their role when they are older.To me it makes sence, but I figured that the court would say something about this. They kind of just left it. I dont think the spouces of princesses have any duties, only the wives of princes.

[A.C.C.]

The main role of spouses of royal princesses is to accompany and support them on official engagements.

[corazon]

Baby Edward, Baby Louise

[A.C.C.]

That is beautiful!!!

[angela]

Louise cannot change her title back to "Princess" as The Queen signed a "Letters Patent", a legal document which removed Louise's Royal title. It can only be restored by the Monarch of the day, either Louise's grandmother The Queen or her Uncle Charles if he becomes King. This however is highly unlikley as the Royal Family rarely go back on a decision once it has been made.