In a monarchy, the academic training of the heirs to the throne is of capital importance and involves the entire country, because princes are no longer only asked to be born… but also to demonstrate their aptitude to reign. From this point of view, the Kingdom of Belgium, where political and linguistic balances are still fragile, shows true solidity by banking on a crown princess who is remarkably intelligent and gifted in her studies.
“Having recently successfully completed the admissions tests, Her Royal Highness Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant, will begin this summer a master’s degree in public policy at Harvard University (Harvard Kennedy School) in Boston,” announced the royal palace in Brussels. Thus, Princess Elisabeth of Belgium is extending her university studies by two years and this American course completes her training in history and politics at Lincoln College of the University of Oxford where she had already passed the entrance examinations, which were nevertheless very difficult.
“The princess was also selected for an Honorary Award from the Fulbright program, the international exchange program in the field of the United States Department of State,” adds the palace. Suffice to say that the performances of the eldest of the four children of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde provoke many praising comments in the mysteries of Belgian power. The future Queen of the Belgians, who was sworn in last September as an officer after her training at the Royal Military School, “is not an ordinary student, she is brilliant,” notes Colonel Thierry Pirenne who was her instructor, “she obtained results at the top of the basket, among the three or four best, and it was very deserved.
Everyone agrees that Princess Elisabeth is not only gifted, but curious about everything, thirsty to learn, and “she invests herself in a very personal way to reach the required level”. In other words, she’s also a hard worker! There are so many expectations, so many issues for the future of Belgium that it does not want to disappoint the expectations placed on it.
Called to become the first female sovereign in Belgium
Likewise, while she will one day have to reign over a kingdom divided by regions and languages, she expresses herself just as well in French, Dutch, German or English… Moreover, after a ridiculous episode at Oxford where we lent to the princess a flirtation with a classmate Nicholas Dodd, it was considered wise to allow her to taste a little more of her student freedom – as much as her studies at the prestigious Harvard University in Massachusetts will offer her – before returning to the flat country which is hers to be allocated a House as Duchess of Brabant, with collaborators, a public endowment, allowing her to develop her own public activities preparing her for succession.
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It is worth remembering that this 22-year-old young woman, called to become the first female sovereign in Belgium, has a faultless career. After studying until the end of middle school in a Dutch-speaking school in Brussels, she completed her last two years of secondary school at a boarding school in Wales, at Atlantic College, where she obtained her international baccalaureate.
Some key tricks up his sleeve
Back in Belgium, she followed training at the Royal Military Academy for a year, where she still regularly attends refresher courses, before leaving to study at the University of Oxford. The two additional years at Harvard should complete the introduction of the erudite princess to political science and high public administration, before delving into the no less complex mysteries of Belgian political life.
Certainly, the Duchess of Brabant will return with a few key assets up her sleeve: a perfect knowledge of languages, a university course which arouses admiration, an education in every way remarkable to which are added a happy and cheerful character, and an insatiable curiosity of everything and everyone. Crown Princess Elisabeth is the stuff that great sovereigns are made of.
