Queen Elizabeth's Granddaughter Follows After Prince William, Kate Middleton's Footsteps; Attends St. Andrews

Lady Louise Windsor will attend the university where Prince William and Kate Middleton first met.

On Thursday, Buckingham Palace announced that the 18-year-old granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II will start at St. Andrews University in Scotland next month following the release of the results of her A-Level exams.

The daughter of Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex is planning to study English, People reported.

St. Andrews counts several members of the royal family as alumni, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who met there as college students in 2001 and eventually fell in love.

According to Laura Warshauer, a St. Andrews student who lived in the same dorm as Prince William and Middleton, the pair "definitely had chemistry" during their time at university.

"Whenever Kate was in the room, Will was obviously paying attention to her," Warshauer told People in 2021.

She continued, "When we'd be sitting at lunch in the dining hall and the two of them would be talking, it was amazing to see how natural it was, how they had so much to say to each other. Looking back, there were all these small moments — certainly moments where I was like, 'Wow, this could really be something.'"

Prince William and Middleton, both 40, tied the knot in a lavish ceremony in 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, England, during which Lady Louise served as a bridesmaid.

The royal couple now has three children, 9-year-old Prince George, 7-year-old Princess Charlotte and 4-year-old Prince Louis.

During an interview with the Sunday Times over two years ago, the 57-year-old Countess of Wessex revealed that she "hoped" her daughter would opt to attend university. Sophie made it clear that she wouldn't "force" Louise but believed that her daughter would likely get a college degree as she was "quite clever."

Lady Louise is the eldest daughter of Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and is currently the 16th in the line of succession to the British throne. She has a younger brother, 15-year-old James, Viscount Severn.

Louise and James are the youngest grandchildren of the Queen and her late husband Prince Philip.

Lady Louise often participates in royal family events, including the Trooping the Colour and the Service of Thanksgiving. She also has a passion for carriage driving, a sport that was loved by Prince Philip.

During her late grandfather's funeral in April 2021, she paid tribute to their shared love of the equestrian sport by wearing a brooch featuring a horse's head and a whip.

Lady Louise also rode in a carriage previously owned by her grandfather as part of the Windsor Horse Show's "A Gallop Through History" show in May 2021.

In 2020, Countess Sophie praised her daughter for her talent in carriage driving and her achievements in the sport.

"I trail in her wake, frankly," Sophie told commentator Nick Brooks-Ward in an interview. "She is naturally so good at it, she really is. It's something that she has taken to very well."