Era XXIecan one ascend a throne without having traveled the vast world, or at least the corridors of a great American university? Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway – who celebrated her 21st birthday on January 21, 2025 – undoubtedly asked herself this question. And her response should not take long: next September, she will continue her course. It remains to be seen where? For many observers, it is time for her… to cross the Atlantic! She could thus imitate Elisabeth of Belgium, currently in a master’s degree in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, by far the most international of the heiress of her generation, also passed through Oxford and Atlantic College, in Wales, like Leonor d’ Spain.
Harvard isn’t the only Ivy League university attracting royals. Still on the east coast, Yale hosted Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden from 1998 to 2000, who followed, again, a course in political science but also in history. Ingrid Alexandra could also go further afield, to the west coast, like her father Crown Prince Haakon who obtained a degree from Berkeley after his time in the Norwegian navy, or to Stanford, like King Philippe of Belgium. What if the future sovereign chose to innovate? After all, the Kingdom of Norway is known for being forward-thinking in many areas. Nothing stops the princess from applying to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – 3e best university in the world according to the Shanghai 2024 ranking –, at ETH Zurich, Switzerland (21e according to this same classification) or at Tsinghua University, in China (22e). Finally, other options are on the table for an heiress looking for new horizons: an internship in an embassy or an international institution, volunteering in an NGO… or a sabbatical year, with backpack and rangers!
Prince William himself needed this breathing when he left Eton, between Africa and South America. In Tortel, a Chilean village of 500 souls, he taught English for several weeks and got involved in environmental projects, living in Spartan conditions. Before returning to the United Kingdom and starting a new cycle at the University of St Andrews. The rest, we know it…
