Royal Revelation

She may look every inch the society beauty, but 21-year-old Lady Gabriella Windsor chooses poetry over partying.
By Bronwyn Cosgrave
Photographed by John Swannell

Lady Gabriella Windsor is a great beauty, as these pictures, taken to commemorate her twenty-first birthday reveal. But the daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and the sister of young socialite Lord Frederick Windsor has neither the time nor the inclination to become an It-girl. (Freddie achieved It-boy status by posing for Mario Testino's spring/summer 2000 Burberry ad campaign--he played groom to Kate Moss's bride--and then by snogging Sophie Dahl at Tatler's most recent Little Black Book party.) Ella, as she is known to her family and close friends, is more publicity-shy. But she's no recluse. Her joint birthday party with Freddie two summers ago--a féte champetre--was a hot invitation and there are numerous websites that reveal paparazzi pictures of her diverse style. She's a beauty when she steps out in couture, she's sporty-chic on her bicycle and she's sexy in a cowboy hat. However, she prefers to keep a low profile and because of this she has become known as the royal family's "best-kept secret".

"She is a Taurus, and very stubborn," says Princess Michael. Consequently, Ella won't phone me to talk from Brown University, Rhode Island, where she's studying for a degree in comparative literature. Instead, she prefers to provide a personal update the modern way -- by email. In her schooldays, she was a keen actor. "I'm still very excited by the theatre," she writes. "Though I've always enjoyed acting, I am trying to gain experience in other areas, too. I'm currently taking a playwriting course, having decided to give the practical side of the stage a bit of a break." Her greatest passion is writing -- "mostly poetry at the moment," she explains. "Time is also invested in the delights of yoga, waffles, and Jeff Buckley."

British Vogue, May 2002, pp 212-213