These photos prove 18-year-old Lady Louise Windsor is the royal family's blossoming English rose

Lady Louise Windsor arrived four weeks premature via emergency caesarean after Sophie was rushed to hospital. The Countess of Wessex came close to death after losing more than five litres of blood to internal bleeding. Fortunately both mother and daughter came through.

Edwards was absent for his daughter's birth, as he was on an official visit to Mauritius at the time. Sophie recalled in 2019: "My daughter, Louise, was born prematurely and so every time I see anything to do with premature babies it takes me back to those early days."

Though she's the Queen's granddaughter and had the right to an HRH title, Sophie and Edward chose not to use it for Louise.

When Sophie and Edward married in 1999, they decided they wanted their future children to lead a normal life - opting to drop "HRH" titles, which is why Louise has the title "Lady."

The pair were devoted to giving Louise as normal a childhood as possible, as proved by this snap from 2010.

And a normal childhood includes ice cream!

Louise had a squint as a child due to her premature arrival, Sophie once explaining: "Her squint was quite profound when she was tiny and it takes time to correct it. You've got to make sure one eye doesn't become more dominant than the other but she's fine now – her eyesight is perfect."

Louise made her big royal debut in 2011 at William and Catherine's royal wedding, where she was a bridesmaid. Can you spot her next to Pippa Middleton?

She rode in a carriage with cousin Prince Harry, confidently waving to the crowds as they passed.

Though she had a relatively 'normal' childhood, Louise has always had the poise and graces of a proper little royal.

She has also made several appearances at Sandringham for royal Christmas holidays over the years.

From an early age, Louise was taking style cues from her fashionable mother.

Away from royal life, Louise got to enjoy activities like zoo visits and family holidays with her parents.

It's widely agreed that Louise inherited her mother's good looks, taking after Sophie in both her features and colouring.

The resemblance is impossible to deny in photos like this.

It's understood that the royal mother-daughter duo also share an incredibly close relationship. Speaking of her approach to parenting Louise and brother James, Sophie once said: "If they've had as normal a start in life they possibly can get, then hopefully that will stand them in good stead."

It's hard to believe, but Louise didn't know her grandmother was the Queen until she started school.

"It was only when she was coming home from school and saying, 'Mummy, people keep on telling me that grandma is the queen.'," Sophie said. "And I asked her, 'Yes, how does that make you feel?' And she said, 'I don't understand...' I don't think she had grasped that perhaps there was only one Queen."

When she turned 18, Louise technically had the option to adopt an HRH title - provided the Queen approved the change - but chose not to.

Louise's love of carriage riding comes from her late grandfather, Prince Philip. "The Duke of Edinburgh has been so involved in my driving which has been lovely... it's incredible to have learned first-hand from him and definitely made us closer," she said.

In 2022 she and brother James appeared for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Louise wore a hat and Jacket Sophie donned for her daughter's first Buckingham Palace balcony appearance decades earlier (see the third slide in this gallery).

Stepping out that same year, Louise wowed royal fans by how much she had grown up and blossomed into a true English rose.

Though she and James won't be working royals, meaning they will need to pursue careers of their own, we can expect to see more of them in the coming years.