Yet Another European Royal—An Heir to the Throne, To Boot—Is Moving to the United States

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 8 May 2024

From Princess Madeleine of Sweden in Florida to Prince Joachim of Denmark in Washington, D.C. to the former Princess Mako of Japan (now, after marriage, Mako Komuro) in New York City to Princess Martha Louise of Norway and, perhaps most famously, Prince Harry of the United Kingdom in California—the United States may not have a royal family, but it has hodgepodged together one from royals around the world.

And the U.S. is about to become home to another European royal—and an heir to the throne, to boot. Princess Elisabeth of Belgium is moving stateside to attend Harvard University, where the 22-year-old will enroll in a master’s program this summer, People reports.

“After having recently successfully completed the admission tests, Her Royal Highness Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant, will begin a master’s degree in public policy this summer at Harvard University (Harvard Kennedy School) in Boston,” the Palace said in a statement, per translation. “The two-year course will complete her university education following her bachelor’s degree in History and Politics at the University of Oxford (Lincoln College). The Princess was also selected for an Honorary Award from the Fulbright program, the international exchange program in the field of education of the United States Department of State.”

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The update from the Palace was shared alongside one of Elisabeth’s glamorous birthday portraits, released on the eve of her 22nd birthday last October. “Like many young modern heirs, Princess Elisabeth has focused on her education and occasionally dipped her toes into official duties by shadowing her parents,” People reports. “In March, she joined her dad [King Philippe] at the Castle of Laeken to receive a special guest—former U.S. President Barack Obama.” (Himself a Harvard grad, by the way, specifically Harvard Law School.) Attending school in the U.S. is a chip off the old block, as Philippe too pursued his master’s degree in the U.S.—he studied for two years at Stanford, where he earned a master’s in political science.

Elisabeth also holds an International Baccalaureate from the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales—a popular choice for teens from several royal families—and trained at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, where she took an officer’s oath last September.

Though there are currently no female monarchs globally after the death of Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom in September 2022 and the abdication of Queen Margrethe of Denmark this past January, the lack of women on the throne will one day end—in addition to Belgium, the future is female across many European countries, as future monarchs of Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, and Norway will all be led by a woman.

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.