Duchess Sophie and Prince Edward showcased some friendly rivalry on their bikes today, Friday, February 23, while news of their daughter Lady Louise’s future in the Royal Family seems to suggest she will never be a working member of the Firm.
The 20-year-old is currently studying at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, as her parents continue with their role as senior working royals.
Sophie and Edward visited the British Track Championships at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester and even had a go at some of the physical activities on offer themselves.
The couple have two children, Louise, and her 16-year-old brother James, Earl of Wessex, yet one former royal correspondent believes that despite being the granchildren of the last Queen Elizabeth, the Edinburgh children have no future career with the Firm.
Jennie Bond told OK! magazine: “It’s clear that for the next 15 years or so (depending on when Prince George decides to take up, full-time royal duties), the working royals are going to become extremely thin on the ground.
“But I’m doubtful that Lady Louise would ever become a full-time working royal, partly because I’m not sure she would want to, and also because the King and William know only too well that the monarchy has to be increasingly accountable to the taxpayer.”
She went on to explain how Louise becoming a working royal could create a backlash from the public: “The most common complaint about the Royal Family is that they cost too much.
“Extra working royals would mean extra staff, extra administration, extra security – extra cost. And that is not the direction that either the King or William want to take.”
Ms Bond suggested that Louise may choose to take after someone in the family like Zara Tindall because she “sees the independence and freedom and fun she has in her life as a much-loved member of the Royal Family, but not a working royal”.
Other members of the family such as Peter Phillips, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are also not working royals but occasionally carry out engagements on behalf of the Firm, such as at the Coronation.
However none of them are funded by the taxpayer and have their own jobs and personal lives outside the royal circle, which according to Zara has been extremely beneficial.
