Royal family
Princess Elisabeth (22), the eldest daughter of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, will study at Harvard University in the US from this summer. The Palace has announced this.
Princess Elisabeth recently passed the entrance tests for the master’s degree in public policy, the Palace said in a press release.
“This two-year master’s degree will complement her university education after her bachelor’s degree in history and politics at the University of Oxford (Lincoln College),” it said.
Harvard University, in Cambridge near Boston, is one of the most prestigious universities in the world. The princess was also selected for a Fulbright program, the U.S. State Department’s international educational exchange program.
Tradition
Elisabeth follows in her father’s footsteps. He also first studied at Oxford in the United Kingdom and then moved to the US. There he studied political science for two years at Stanford University in San Francisco.
Belgian princes and princesses going to study in Great Britain are part of a tradition. Shielding certainly plays a role in this. And political pitfalls can also be avoided this way. For example, continuing your studies in your own country would have the disadvantage that a choice must be made between a Dutch-speaking and a French-speaking university, or between a Catholic and a liberal university.
The road to the throne
- 2004: Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege, Brussels. Elisabeth will become the first Belgian monarch to have received Dutch-language education from kindergarten (and up to fifth grade). As a result, she speaks the language flawlessly, although the perception is that the royal family is a French-speaking bastion. At home in Laeken, French is the main language.
- 2018: Atlantic College, Wales. There is no such thing as queen training. But by going to the Welsh Atlantic College, Elisabeth was given the basics. The curriculum included subjects such as world politics and environmental science. She was also able to brush up on her language skills and came into contact with peers from 100 nationalities and all walks of life.
- 2020: Royal Military School, Brussels. Elisabeth followed a shortened army training course, where she was registered as a Dutch-speaking student. As queen, she will become commander-in-chief of the Belgian army, so it is important that she knows Defense inside and out.
- 2021: Lincoln College, Oxford. The most popular course at Lincoln College is the arts program with drama and music. Elisabeth is artistically inclined – she plays the piano, paints and did ballet, among other things. But a more general education with history and politics is more in line with her ‘training’ as a queen. In doing so, she follows in the footsteps of her father, who studied political science.
- 2024: Harvard University, Boston. Princess Elisabeth has passed the entrance tests for the master’s degree in Public Policy and will move to the US from this summer.
