Heir to the Belgian throne Princess Elisabeth, 18, will start at Brussels’ Royal Military Academy in September after returning home to complete the final year of her Welsh boarding school remotely due to COVID-19
- Princess Elizabeth of Belgium, 18, will study at Royal Military Academy
- The heir to the Belgian throne had been studying at Wales’ UWC Atlantic College
- Had to move back with family in Brussels in March due to COVID-19 lockdown
- She will spend a year learning about military and social affairs in Brussels
Princess Elisabeth of Belgium will start at the national military academy this autumn after completing her secondary education at a Welsh boarding school, it was announced today.
The heir to the throne, 18, spent 18 months boarding at UWC Atlantic College, in South Wales, before returning home to Brussels in March ahead of the government lockdown.
Like students across the country, the royal has been forced to finish her studies remotely and will not return to the school. She has spent the last two months living with her parents, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, and three siblings in Brussels.
Today it was announced Princess Elisabeth will follow in her father’s footsteps by enrolling at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, where she will learn about military and social affairs that will help her prepare for her future role as Queen.
Princess Elisabeth of Belgium will start at the national military academy this autumn after completing her secondary education at a Welsh boarding school, it was announced today. Pictured, with parents Queen Mathilde and King Philippe on her 18th birthday last October
The princess, who will receive her International Baccalaureate Diploma this summer, will complete a one-year course in social and military sciences.
King Philippe, 60, spent three years at the esteemed institution between 1978 to 1981.
Elisabeth, who is heir apparent to the Belgian throne, had been studying in Wales for the past 18 months after being accepted at the school in March 2018. She was due to take her final exam in May.
UWC Atlantic College had reportedly put in place a distance learning platform at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic so that student could complete their year, after the school had to close.
It has now be made official that the princess won’t return to Wales and instead move on to studying her country’s military system at the Royal Military Academy.
There, she will learn in-depth about the four components of Belgian defense; Army, Air Force, Navy and Medical.
While in isolation at Laeken Palace, Elizabeth and her siblings, three siblings, Prince Gabriel, 16, Prince Emmanuel, 14 and Princess Eleonore, 12, have spent time volunteering.
They showed their support for Belgium’s elderly popular by calling retirement homes and delivering baked goods.
Elizabeth’s younger sister Princess Elenore, 12, has been tagging along some of her mother’s engagements, doing her best to help Belgium move forward from the pandemic.
On May 14, she accompanied her mother Queen Mathilde to a community kitchen providing meals for the homeless.
On May 15, she headed back to school, with her dad King Philippe wearing a mask as he walked her to the establishment in Brussels.
Elizabeth is following into the footsteps of her father, King Philippie, who attended the school between 1978 to 1981. (Pictured with her brother Prince Gabriel during the Belgian National Day in 2018)
The mother-of-four, 46, and her daughter, 12, put safety first as they donned protective masks and rubber gloves as they stepped out amid the coronavirus pandemic.
During her visit, the royal inquired about the impact of coronavirus on the safety of daily life.
The Belgian government has asked all citizens to stay home and refrain from ‘non-essential inbound and outbound travel’ to slow the spread of the virus.
Welsh boarding school dubbed ‘hippie Hogwarts’
Princess Elisabeth of Belgium enrolled at UWC Atlantic College in South Wales, a top private college dubbed ‘hippie Hogwarts’, at the start of the 2018-2019 academic year.
Her home is the crumbling, 12th century St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan where she studies the International Baccalaureate.
According to reports students are encouraged to avoid ‘excessive displays of wealth’ by mingling with people from all walks of life while the use of expensive gadgets such as laptops is discouraged.
Alumni include Dutch king Willem-Alexander and Princess Raiyah of Jordan, but students are just as likely to rub shoulders with ‘refugees from west Africa’ and ‘California hippies,’ according to an article published in The Times last year.
United World College of the Atlantic is located in the 12th century St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan, pictured in file image. Some 350 students study at the school outside Cardiff – including Crown Princess Elisabeth of Belgium