Lady Louise Windsor celebrates good news ahead of return to St Andrews University

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh’s daughter, Lady Louise Windsor, has plenty of reason to celebrate as she prepares to return to the University of St Andrews this autumn. 

Lady Louise’s university – the same prestigious institution in Scotland that the Prince and Princess of Wales attended – has topped the 2024 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide ranking. 

It is the first time in 12 years that St Andrews has been placed in first spot, beating the likes of Oxford and Cambridge who came second and third respectively. 

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The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide is considered the most trusted quality indicator of undergraduate study at UK universities. 

St Andrews also topped the recently released 2024 Guardian University Guide, meaning it is the first time that any UK university, other than those of Oxbridge, has led both major UK higher education league tables in the same year. 

Louise, 19, is preparing to return for her second year at university. She is reading English, while her cousin Prince William graduated with a Master of Arts degree in geography in 2005 and her cousin-in-law Princess Kate with a Master of Arts degree in history of art in the same year. 

Like most undergraduates, Louise spent the first year at university living in halls of residence. She will have to find her own accommodation for the remaining two years of her course. 

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When William and Kate first enrolled at the university in Fife, they lived at St Salvator’s Halls of Residence, known as Sallies. But after the first year, William and Kate joined two of their friends in a rented two-storey Victorian terraced house – reportedly 13A Hope Street – close to the university. 

And in their final year, the couple, who began dating in 2003, reportedly shared a four-bedroom cottage called Balgove House on the Strathtyrum Estate with friends. 

William and Kate have returned to their university several times since graduating, including a visit just a couple of months before their royal wedding in 2011. The pair also took a trip down memory lane at St Andrews in 2021, during their tour of Scotland. 

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It’s not known whether Lady Louise, and her younger brother James, Earl of Wessex, will take on royal duties after university, although it’s likely they will not become full-time working royals. 

Their mother the Duchess of Edinburgh has previously told The Sunday Times: “We try to bring them up with the understanding they are very likely to have to work for a living. Hence we made the decision not to use HRH titles. They have them and can decide to use them from 18, but I think it’s highly unlikely.”

Listen to HELLO!’s A Right Royal Podcast and find out why Princess Charlotte may not follow in mum Kate’s footsteps when it comes to schools..