Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
The younger royals are growing up and it’s almost time to head back to school!
After a summer break that included, for many, attending the Summer Olympics in Paris or taking on extra constitutional duties or military training, many are headed back to school or planning their next steps.
Here, we round up where the European royals are studying and training.
Princess Elisabeth has had a busy few years with her education. After graduating from UWC Atlantic in 2020 (and kicking off a trend of fellow European princesses attending the school), she studied at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels for a spell before heading to the United Kingdom once more.
From 2021 until earlier this summer, Princess Elisabeth was a student at Lincoln College, Oxford, reading history and politics. She graduated in July with upper second class honours in the presence of her parents, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, and her siblings.
The Belgian Royal Court announced before her graduation that she would, from the autumn, attend Harvard in the United States. The future queen of the Belgians will study for a master’s degree in public policy.
Following a year of army training at the General Military Academy and receiving the rank of Dame-Cadet, Princess Leonor is headed into her second year of military training with a stint in naval college.
From the autumn, Princess Leonor will be a student and Midshipman at the Military Naval School in Marín before practical training on the Juan Sebastián de Elcano ship. In 2025, she’ll complete her three years of military training at the General Air Academy. From there, she may pursue traditional university education, although no announcements have yet been made.
It’s been a whirlwind year for Crown Prince Christian. In January he officially became Crown Prince of Denmark following his grandmother’s shock abdication. In June, he graduated secondary school at Ordrup Gymnasium with his family at his side, surrounded by classmates and showered in champagne (no, really!).
When asked by reporters what his plans were for the fall, Crown Prince Christian kept mum. “I will probably go out and see the world, test myself in new ways and prepare for different things,” he said.
To date, the Danish Royal Court has not announced the Crown Prince’s future plans. Whether he takes a gap year, begins military training straight away, or heads to university first is still a mystery.
The future queen of the Netherlands has had a tough path with her post-secondary education. Princess Catharina-Amalia announced in 2022 that she would be a student at the University of Amsterdam, taking courses for a degree in Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics.
The royal moved into student housing that autumn but quickly had to move back home due to threats of kidnapping from the Moroccan mafia. It became so bad that for part of 2023, Princess Amalia had to move abroad to Spain to continue her schooling online.
On King’s Day earlier this year, the future queen told a Dutch newspaper: “Of course, it was strange circumstances that made me go there. I’m still very grateful to everyone who made it possible for me to walk around there in freedom. I managed to find a little more freedom there than was possible here.”
Princess Amalia drew further attention when she revealed she would begin collecting her annual allowance to pay for operational matters, even though she will continue to be a full-time student for the next school year.
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Princess Ingrid Alexandra, the future queen of Norway, announced late last year that 2024 would see her training with the Engineer Battalion in Brigade Nord. The princess is still in the midst of military training, and no formal announcements have been made for her educational plans in 2025.
The Dutch Royal Court announced late last week that the middle daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima will begin her studies at University College London from the end of September.
Princess Alexia will study for a Bachelor of Science & Engineering for Social Change. According to University College London’s website, students will be taught from “engineering, social and political perspectives” to gain “multi-disciplinary knowledge that is sought-after in business, charity, government and policy roles.”
The Dutch princess previously attended UWC Atlantic in Wales, which boasts alumni in Princess Elisabeth, Princess Leonor, and Infanta Sofía. She graduated in 2023 and took the last year as a gap year.
Princess Ariane, the youngest of the Dutch princesses, is set to return to UWC Adriatic this autumn for her final year of study there.
The younger sister of Princess Leonor was perhaps even higher profile during the summer as her passion for sports saw her cheer on Spanish athletes at the Olympics and watch the men’s football team claim an historic Euros win.
But as autumn approaches, it’s back to Wales for Sofia. She is currently a student at UWC Atlantic in Wales, following in her older sister’s footsteps. She’s heading into her second year of study.
Second in line to the Danish throne, Princess Isabella, is coming up on her final year at Øregård Gymnasium.
Third and fourth in line, Prince Vincent atends Tranegårdskolen and his twin sister Princess Josephine, attends Kildegård Privatskole.
Prince Gabriel, who has just turned 21, continues his military training and will head to the Ecole Militaire Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan in France for an Erasmus course as part of it.
His younger brother, Prince Emmanuel, is also heading abroad to continue his education. He has received his IB from the International School of Brussels and will study overseas. Princess Eléonore, the youngest member of the Belgian Royal Family, is still a student at the International School of Brussels.
As his family deals with controversy, Prince Sverre Magnus has kept a low profile over the summer.
He graduated from Elvebakken upper secondary school earlier this year, but has not announced his plans for either university or military training.
Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are headed back to Lambrook in Windsor. The future of Prince George’s education is a popular topic in the press right now: will he follow the Eton route like his father or will he attend another school? Time will tell. As is usual in British private schools, the age of thirteen is a traditional transition age so the decision is still some way off.
Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar of Sweden are back for another term at Campus Manilla in Djurgården, located just outside Stockholm.
Princess Estelle is now 12 and her younger brother is 8 years old.