Joy for Duchess Sophie as Lady Louise could be set to join family celebration

Duchess Sophie’s daughter Lady Louise Windsor could possibly be set to join her family celebration in honour of a special milestone.

After a relaxing festive break at Sandringham House in Norfolk, Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie are set for another big year of engagements, with a joint trip to Nepal coming up in February. However, alongside their work commitments the start of 2025 will also be a very big one for the Edinburgh family personally too. On Monday 20th January Duchess Sophie will mark her 60th birthday and we can expect the Royal Family to honour her big milestone publicly too.

Last year when Prince Edward turned 60, Sophie delivered a personal speech about her husband at the Community Sport and Recreation Awards that brought a tear to his eye. It’s possible that he could pay a similarly emotional tribute to her this month and we would also predict that as well as an official photo, the family will celebrate in some way privately too.

Duchess Sophie and Prince Edward live at Bagshot Park in Surrey, whilst their son James, Earl of Wessex attends boarding school in Oxfordshire. Although their daughter Lady Louise Windsor is a student at St Andrew’s University in Scotland, she looks set to be able to join any 60th birthday events her family might have planned this year. Unlike 2024 when the university’s Candlemas Semester began on 15th January, the term dates for 2024/25 show that Lady Louise isn’t set to resume her studies until 27th January.

Teaching begins for the new term then, following what looks to be three inter-semester break weeks, including one the week of her mum’s birthday. This is wonderful news for both Duchess Sophie and Lady Louise as it might mean she’s still at home for any potential family celebrations, no matter how low-key, whether they hold them the weekend before or on the 20th itself.

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Having her daughter there close to her milestone birthday will likely mean a lot to the Duchess of Edinburgh, however she chooses to mark the occasion. The last time the Edinburghs were all seen together was on Christmas Day when Lady Louise was back from University and they all walked to church in Norfolk alongside their fellow royals.

This was a heart-warming and rare sight, as Lady Louise Windsor’s studies mean she doesn't attend Trooping the Colour or the Easter Sunday service as regularly anymore. Whilst the Duchess of Edinburgh no doubt misses her daughter when she’s at university, she previously expressed her pride in Lady Louise’s work ethic and her hope she would choose this path.

"She’s working hard and will do A-levels," Duchess Sophie told The Sunday Times in 2020. "I hope she goes to university. I wouldn’t force her, but if she wants to. She’s quite clever, so I think probably [she will]".

Now Lady Louise Windsor is in her third year at university and since then life has become even busier for her parents too as they've stepped up even more to support the King and Queen. On Prince Edward’s 59th birthday he was granted the title Duke of Edinburgh and when he turned 60 last year he was appointed to the Order of the Thistle, the highest honour in Scotland.

He and Duchess Sophie continue to undertake so many important royal duties and it’s possible she will once again be at engagement on her actual birthday. Either way, it’ll be lovely to see how Prince Edward and the rest of the Royal Family might publicly honour her special milestone, even if any celebrations are understandably kept private.