Even for immigrants with enormous privilege – white Europeans – I imagine it’s a hellish time to be in America right now. Considering what ICE is doing to non-citizens and citizens alike, it’s a good time to get the hell out of Dodge, especially if you’re only in America to study or work a science/medical/engineering job. Well, back in May, the Trump administration’s fixation with “bringing down Harvard” led them to ban all foreign students from reentering Harvard for the fall semester. The Trump administration controls the foreign student visa process now, so they can “technically” do this, although Harvard is obviously dragging the Trump administration to court over this. If the Trump administration’s ban is upheld, it will affect Harvard’s 6,800 international students, most of whom are graduate/law/medical students. Among those students? Princess Elisabeth, the crown princess of Belgium. Apparently, the crown princess isn’t making a firm decision either way – she’s waiting to see how things play out in court, and she’s not asking for special treatment from the American authorities.
As Europe’s Princesses continue to blend royal protocol with military training or Ivy League schooling, Crown Princess Elisabeth of Belgium’s future education is uncertain. But despite recent political controversies that may prevent Elisabeth’s return to her studies in America, the future heir is not planning to utilise her royal privilege, recent reports have stated.
Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant, has completed her first year studying for a postgraduate degree at Harvard, but her second year at the prestigious American institution is up in the air. According to royal journalist Wim Dehandschutter, the future Queen is refusing to have preferential treatment over her fellow international students, who are all facing the same uncertainty over their academic future.
The Belgian Palace announced in May 2024 that Princess Elisabeth had secured a place at Harvard to study public administration ahead of her graduation from the University of Oxford that July. Elisabeth has been studying at the university ever since; but in recent months, the administration of President Donald Trump moved to ban Harvard’s ability to enrol international students, a decision that a US Federal judge later blocked temporarily as the university attempted to sue the government.
The case is pending and another hearing in the matter is scheduled for 21 July in Boston, when a federal judge will decide whether to continue the Trump administration’s policy. In a modern-day Princess dilemma, that date also happens to be Belgium’s National Day, when the 23-year-old is expected to publicly celebrate with her family in Brussels.
True to form, Princess Elisabeth is not seeking refuge behind her title. The daughter of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde and her parents have ‘indicated that they do not want preferential treatment,’ royal journalist Wim said.
‘The Crown Princess finds it important to show solidarity with the other foreign students,’ he wrote. ‘Elisabeth realises how sensitive it is to profit from her status as future queen. It would send the wrong signal to all ‘ordinary’ students. Furthermore, higher interests are at stake. Every decision that the queen-in-training has to make at this stage can have a political or diplomatic resonance and possibly influence the relations between Belgium and the United States,’ also noted.
Having just completed her first year of her two-year master’s degree in public policy, Elisabeth in the meantime is back in Belgium undergoing an internship, as well as carrying out royal engagements. She recently completed a seven-week voluntary internship at Bruegel, an independent Brussels-based think tank focused on European economic policy. The placement is a requisite component of her Harvard master’s programme.
Beyond the Harvard situation, it’s so lovely to see how many crown princesses are taking their “future queen” responsibilities seriously. Elisabeth’s educational pursuits are fit for a queen. Spain’s Princess Leonor is in the process of a three-year military service. The Netherlands’ Princess Catharina-Amalia just graduated from college and she’ll soon enroll in a two-year law studies program. And then there’s the British heir to the throne, a 40-something manchild who throws temper tantrums over his brother getting more attention than him.
Anyway, as for Princess Elisabeth… as I said, in her place, I would be exiting out of the master’s program and looking to finish up my graduate studies somewhere else. I guess it’s a smart move for her to just play it by ear and wait to see what the courts say, but even if the courts reject the ban on international students, why would any of those young people want to come back?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- PARIS, FRANCE – AUGUST 10 : Princess Elisabeth of Belgium visit the International Broadcast Center (IBC) during the XXXIII Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games on August 10, 2024 in Paris, France, 10/08/2024 (,Image: 897571420, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Peter De Voecht/Avalon
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- PARIS, FRANCE – AUGUST 10 : Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, Princess Eleonore of Belgium, Prince Gabriel of Belgium, Prince Emmanuel of Belgium visit the International Broadcast Center (IBC) during the XXXIII Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games on August 10, 2024 in Paris, France, 10/08/2024 (,Image: 897576176, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Peter De Voecht/Avalon
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- PARIS, FRANCE – AUGUST 11 : Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, Princess Eleonore of Belgium, Prince Gabriel of Belgium, Prince Emmanuel of Belgium during Women’s Bronze Medal Game between Belgium and Australia at the XXXIII Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games on August 11, 2024 in Paris, France, 11/08/2024 (,Image: 897774383, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Vincent Kalut/Avalon
Agree with all your points on how the Crown Princesses of Europe take their future duties so seriously compared to the incandescent one who prefers to post on AV forums. 😂
I think Elisabeth is staying put because it’s important to have solidarity in the face of bullying which will place her in good stead when she takes on the Crown.
We had a guy who was working with us. He lives in MD. One day he just disappeared. No one knows what happened. They tracked down the company computer and it was in another country. No one is sure what happened. IT wiped the computer clean. I just wonder if he got caught up in these stupid ICE raids.
My point is that not only are we going to keep losing good students but also other people who are here on a work visa.
But how was he able to take his computer with him?
Again no one knows what happened. He just stopped showing up for work.
It was probably in his backpack when they stuffed him in the van.
I’m sure some of the sheep are enjoying the facist “take down” of universities but it is incredibly short-sighted, ignorant, racist, and just plain stupid as always. Foreign students are a huge money maker for universities. Education is a top service-industry “export” for the US, but with tourism, dump is showing how horrible he is for the economy and the poor. Having foreign students allow universities to fund scholarships for domestic students. Medical centers especially rely on those dollars, and it is foreign medical students who staff a lot of low income and rural areas.
American universities are also a form of soft power since they educate all these international students, some of whom become very prominent in their home countries, like the heiress to the Belgian throne. The equivalent would have been blackballing Ivanka if she attended the Sorbonne or Oxbridge.
Sucks to be an ignorant MAGAT.
It’s also a loss for the American students— who lose the opportunity to learn about the world from the different experiences and perspectives that the international students embody.
College relationships often run pretty deep. We’re losing the opportunity for American students to form positive relationships on a global level with – as Blogger said- people who may become prominent in their own countries. Even from an America-first perspective, this just seems stupid, but the current administration doesn’t value diplomacy or science, so this seems like just another thud in our crash to something much worse then mediocrity.
I hope Princess Elisabeth can continue her studies at a university in a country that genuinely values her presence.
The healthcare in my rural area is dependent on foreign doctors, pharmacists, nurses, etc. Our little hospital depends on Medicare + Medicaid, etc.
We’re f*cked.
“‘The Crown Princess finds it important to show solidarity with the other foreign students,’ he wrote. ‘Elisabeth realises how sensitive it is to profit from her status as future queen. It would send the wrong signal to all ‘ordinary’ students.’”
—Isn’t it kind of giving the game away to broadcast this and spell it out in so many words?
Well, it is an article from Tatler, can’t really expect top notch writing from a UK gossip rag. ESPECIALLY one focused on the lives of and intended for the consumption of the British aristocracy.
Also, the original writer they are quoting there is apparently a Dutch gossipmonger calling themselves a ‘Royal Expert’. Never a good sign.
In this situation her royal status means nothing. She’s a foreigner just like the rest of students. I hope Harvard wins the case.
Supposedly, Harvard is making contingency plans for students to finish up their studies elsewhere (like U of T here in Canada), but it’s probably not for all programs. Their loss is our gain, I guess, but it’s a tremendous waste of opportunity for the US.
The difference in education and training between the BRF and other European royal families always shocks me.
Other European royals seem to value education. The Windsors don’t seem to consider it necessary at all. Consider the lack of education for Princess Elizabeth, although in her time not as many women attended universities. Nevertheless, her father didn’t consider it necessary to give her a general education and confined her tutoring to her duties as head of state apparently. Some of the sexist ideas written by British men regarding education of women would curl your hair.
I follow the various European royals and am so happy to see that the younger heirs are taking preparing for their future roles very seriously both in furthering their education and/or taking on military service, not to forget that all of them speak at least 2 languages. I’ve never understood why the BRF really don’t take the time/effort to ensure that their heirs are educated in diplomacy, international relations, etc. While William did attend university, I don’t really understand how a degree in geography will help him when he takes the throne, and don’t get me started on his inability to speak a 2nd language, such a waste and so frustrating. It makes the BRF seem so out-of-touch and arrogant, so sure of their own superiority that they don’t need to make the slightest effort.
Meanwhile the Wales family are on holiday, again. This time they are on a luxury yacht off the coast of Greece. With Ma Middleton and Pa Middleton. Having flown in on a private jet, Lear jet of course.
I have a friend who is a research professor at Brown. She said between the funding cuts and international students/professors who are leaving it’s already put research years behind, and that’s only in 6 months.
International universities are actively recruiting, she said Canada and the UK so far are the big “winners” but it also takes time to ramp up and equip labs, hire personnel to manage projects, etc. US Pharmaceutical companies are still supporting research, just sending their money outside the US.
Stuff like this doesn’t make the headlines, but Felon47, Congress, Senate, and the Supreme Court, in all their smugness and loyalty to Project 2025, are ramping up the brain drain along with the rest of the dumpster fire of 2025.
I’ve always found it disappointing how little importance the British royal family seems to place on education. With all the access and privilege they have, you’d expect something more—more depth, more curiosity, more ambition maybe.
When I look at Crown Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, it really strikes me: Oxford, Harvard, military training… she’s clearly putting in the work. Same with Princess Leonor of Spain—disciplined, committed. And then there’s Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, who’s already starting a second degree right after finishing her first. They take their roles seriously.
What really impresses me, too, is how effortlessly multilingual they are—three, sometimes four languages fluently spoken. It’s such a contrast with the younger members of the Windsor family, who just don’t seem as driven or internationally minded.
And honestly, this isn’t just a new generation thing. Even Queen Elizabeth II, for all her historical significance, always seemed a little underwhelming intellectually compared to her counterparts like Queen Beatrix or Queen Margrethe—women who were clearly sharp, cultured, and deeply educated.
It just makes me wonder—why doesn’t the British monarchy invest more in the minds of its heirs, not just their image?
I think, after Henry VIII and Charles I and James II…the royal institution, those career men running the royal offices and all, they started to get the idea that maaaybe things would run much more smoothly if the monarchs they dealt with were more, um, docile. Uncurious and uninterested in much more than the traditional leisure pursuits of the aristocracy.
Sir Thomas More said it best, “If the lion knew his own strength, hard were it for any man to rule him.”. And I think…with the Windsors specifically, more education and more valuation of knowledge is not going to change the base nature of the people in question. It would just make them more effective at attacking each other and ultimately speeding the end of the British monarchy.
The other royal families train their Heirs to be members of the civil services while the BRF and it’s associated machinery train their Heirs to be members of the Aristocracy