Is royal romance blossoming once again at venerable Scottish university St Andrews?
Famously the place where Prince William met Kate back in the early 2000s, two decades on, this historic establishment – long a favorite of the royal family – is now the picturesque backdrop to another eye-catching love story: that of Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, (daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh) and fellow student Felix da Silva-Clamp.
Windsor, the youngest niece of King Charles III and 16th in line to the throne, and who celebrated her 21st birthday on November 8, began reading English literature at St Andrews in 2022. In doing so, she has followed in the educational footsteps of her cousin Prince William, a geography student, and his wife, Catherine, who read history of art. It seems as though history is repeating itself in another way too: Lady Louise has similarly been juggling her studies with a flourishing relationship.
The object of her affection is Felix da Silva-Clamp, 20, who looks to share Prince Harry’s red hair and cheeky charm. Silva-Clamp has a part-time job in a local ice cream parlor, a down-to-earth quality that clearly chimes with Lady Louise, who spent her summer in 2022 working at a Surrey garden center, where she helped customers, rung up items on the tills, and tended to the plants, all for $8.46 an hour.
One impressed customer commented: “The staff seemed to adore her. It’s not every day you buy your begonias off a royal.”
An acquaintance of Lady Louise, who also attends St Andrews, says that her royal pal’s university experience has been surprisingly normal. “She works a student job during the week, in the canteen, and she takes part in a lot of student theater productions – she was in the chorus for a play called Dragon Fever, she was really good. The theater isn’t massive, so it shows quite a lot of dedication that she’s part of it.”
The student newspaper, The Saint, reviewed Dragon Fever, “an ambitious cross between an Agatha Christie mystery and Tolkien’s The Hobbit”, in January, praising Lady Louise’s “compelling performance” in the role of a powerful witch.
Also in the cast was da Silva-Clamp, playing “an impressionable and naïve young squire” – which won him the award for Best Scene Stealer.
Lady Louise is very fond of reeling, says her fellow student: “She finds Scottish dancing really fun. The reeling balls are lovely – everyone always wants to be her partner because she’s a really good dancer. She does a lot with the cadet force as well.”
Lady Louise is dedicated to her course, they add, and keen to be considered a regular member of the student community. “She’s really grounded, whenever I see her she’s wearing understated clothes – you literally wouldn’t know at all that she’s a member of the royal family.”
St Andrews suits Lady Louise perfectly, as it has countless other royal students (including Princess Margaret’s grandson Sam Chatto), her friend explains, partly because of its remote location. It’s situated on the coast in the Fife region, which helps to protect her privacy. “You don’t have a train station, it’s only really accessible by bus, so you’re kept incredibly safe. The town is basically a student town. It’s a friendly place, easy to get involved.”
Though St Andrews is considered to be rather less ferociously academic than Oxbridge, it still attracts serious students, her fellow student adds. “Louise did well at school and she really wanted to be stretched.”
“It’s not every day you buy your begonias off a royal.”
Lady Louise can now add a student romance to her growing list of the usual university experiences – and, again following William and Kate’s example, she has chosen a sympatico fellow student who comes from a respected but non-royal family.
Da Silva-Clamp, who Lady Louise’s friend confirms is her boyfriend, was born in London in 2004 to parents Jonathan Clamp (the da Silva seems to be a recent addition), a solicitor who stood for election in 2010 as a Conservative candidate, and Kendall, who has a master’s in epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and is a member of the WHO mental health gap action program.
Their son was raised in Melbourne, Australia, where Kendall currently lives. Sources say that Lady Louise, who can study abroad as part of her degree, is now considering Macquarie University in Australia so that she can travel with da Silva-Clamp.
Her devoted beau has even been to Sandringham. In June he was at the Norfolk estate to cheer on Lady Louise as she competed in the Sandringham Horse Driving Trials, winning a silver medal. His enthusiastic support is rather reminiscent of Kate cheering on Prince William at his polo matches.
There he met her proud parents, and seems to get on well with both the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. Lady Louise has previously spoken about how her beloved grandfather, the late Duke of Edinburgh, shared her love of carriage riding. “After a competition, he would always ask how it went. His eyes would light up.”
Da Silva-Clamp and Lady Louise were recently pictured cosying up at their university drama society’s fundraiser, hitting the dance floor together and snapping selfies – an opportunity for the young royal, who wore a fetching V-neck black dress, to cut loose. It’s reminiscent of Kate catching William’s eye when she wore a sheer lace dress in the St Andrews charity fashion show.
Although Lady Louise is thriving at 21, she nearly lost her life – along with her mother – when she first entered the world in 2003. Lady Sophie suffered from an acute placental abruption, causing significant blood loss, and required an emergency Caesarean.
The Duchess was 15 minutes from death and needed a blood transfusion of around nine pints.
Lady Louise, who was born prematurely and weighed just 4lb 9oz, was taken to the neonatal unit at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, London. Meanwhile the Duke of Edinburgh had rushed back from his official visit to Mauritius to be with his wife and new daughter.
Queen Elizabeth II also broke royal protocol to visit the Duchess in hospital. Lady Louise was left with the eye condition esotropia, which causes your eyes to look in different directions, but an operation cured her in 2013.
She attended St George’s School and St Mary’s Ascot, studying English, history, politics and drama for A-level. She also enjoyed participating in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, no doubt to the delight of its namesake, and she has been involved in several royal occasions. At age seven, in 2011, she acted as bridesmaid to Prince William and Kate, and she has also been present at Trooping the Colour, the late Queen’s state funeral, and King Charles III’s coronation.
Lady Louise has also begun carrying out public duties. In 2018 she joined her mother, who is patron of UK Sail Training, at an event at Haslar Marina in Portsmouth Harbor, and she took part in the Great British Beach Clean on Southsea Beach in 2020. Her passion for dance extends beyond reeling, too: in 2018, she and her mother joined the studio audience for Strictly Come Dancing.
However, she and her brother James have had a relatively protected and private upbringing. The Duchess explained that they chose not to use their children’s HRH titles because they wanted to raise them “with the understanding that they are very likely to have to work for a living.”
Lady Louise is reportedly interested in pursuing a military career, as many of her relatives have done, or perhaps working in law or diplomacy.
Any of those would make her a wonderful asset to the family – and if the girl dubbed their “secret weapon” has a supportive partner by her side, just as Kate has been to Prince William, and her mother Sophie has been to the Duke of Edinburgh, she could well join them in shaping the future of Britain’s royals.
Marianka Swain is a London-based writer and editor
