Queen jokes grandson Louis is ‘quite a handful’ during Isle of Man visit
Meeting a baby in the crowd with the same name, the Queen said: ‘I have a Louis grandson… quite a handful’.
The Queen joked her grandson Louis was “quite a handful” as she met crowds of well-wishers on a visit to the Isle of Man.
Camilla made the comment as she greeted people outside Douglas Borough Council on Wednesday after presenting the letters patent, officially conferring city status on Douglas.
Meeting 38-year-old Rachael Hughes and her 15-week-old twin boys Louie and Oliver, the Queen said: “I have a Louis grandson… quite a handful”.
“It was so lovely to see her. She is doing a great job and she looks fabulous.”
Camilla has three grandsons, twin boys Gus and Louis by her daughter Laura Lopes, and 13-year-old Frederick, by son Tom Parker Bowles.
She also has a step-grandson Prince Louis, the lively youngest son of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The Queen, dressed in navy adorned with a sapphire and diamond brooch, made a flying visit to the isle on behalf of her husband the King, saying he was “so sorry” he could not be there himself to celebrate the “extremely special occasion”.
It read: “The granting of your city status is particularly special to me, as your letters patent are the only ones in existence that hold both my signature and that of my late mother.
“Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, as you mark your well-deserved status as one of the newest cities in the British Isles, and the only one of the Crown Dependencies, I would like to offer on behalf of my wife and myself, my heartfelt congratulations and my very best wishes for the future.”
Crowds gathered to meet the Queen after she unveiled a City Hall plaque, waving flags, handing her bouquets of flowers and shaking hands.
She was handed gift bags from the RNLI and The Fynoderee Distillery, which produced commemorative spirits to mark the lifeboat charity’s 200th anniversary this year.
The Queen then greeted schoolchildren who had gathered to see her, asking them if they were excited for the upcoming Easter holidays, what their plans were and if they were going to take part in Easter egg hunts.
Camilla also spent around 45 minutes with Diana Parkes CBE, an Isle of Man resident who set up the Joanna Simpson Foundation in memory of her daughter who was murdered by her estranged husband, before leaving Government House.
Douglas was one of eight towns to be granted city status in May 2022 as part of the celebrations for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, alongside Bangor, Colchester, Doncaster, Dunfermline, Milton Keynes, Stanley and Wrexham.
