Elisabeth studied at
St John Berchmans College in Brussels from 2004 until 2018.[6][7] This marked a significant change in royal tradition, being the first time that a future Belgian monarch's education has begun in Dutch. She graduated from primary school in 2013 with a 95% average on her report card.[8] In 2018, Elisabeth continued her secondary education at
UWC Atlantic College in
Wales under the name "Elisabeth de Brabant", receiving her
International Baccalaureate Diploma in May 2020.[9][10] She also attended the Yale Young Global Scholars Program at
Yale University.[6]
In May 2020, the Belgian Royal Court announced that Elisabeth would undertake military training.[11] On 31 August 2020, Elisabeth entered the
Royal Military Academy in
Brussels, studying social and military sciences.[12][6] Among the 160th promotion, Elisabeth received her
blue beret in September 2022,[13] having completed her one-year military training on 9 July 2021.[14] For the next two years, she attended the Royal Military Academy's annual three-week summer camps and other practical and theoretical military classes.[15][16] She swore the officers' oath on 26 September 2023 being commissioned as a
second lieutenant in the
Belgian Army.[17][18] Elisabeth had one of the highest grades in her promotion.[19]
Elisabeth speaks Dutch, French, German and English,[26] and has also taken classes in Mandarin Chinese.[27]
Activities
Elisabeth's first public appearance was on 21 July 2006, when she accompanied her parents during the
Te Deum for
National Day celebrations at the
Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula.[28] The following year, on 13 June 2007, Princess Elisabeth and her parents attended the opening of a new Technopolis youth interactive at
Mechelen.[29] In 2009, she gave her name to the
Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station, a Belgian scientific polar research station.[6]
In September 2011, the nine-year-old princess gave her first public speech (in Dutch) at the opening of Princess Elisabeth Children's Hospital, part of
Ghent University Hospital.[30] She gave her first official self-written speech in 2014 during commemorations of the
centenary of the outbreak of World War I at
Nieuwpoort.[31][28] Princess Elisabeth read the prayer intentions at her great-aunt
Queen Fabiola's funeral in December 2014.[32] Princess Elisabeth was honoured to be
godmother of the
patrol vesselPollux P902 on 6 May 2015 in
Zeebrugge.[6] In April 2019, Elisabeth joined her father King Philippe on a visit to meet Brussels firefighters.[33] She attended the funeral of
Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg in May 2019.[31] In June 2019, the Duchess of Brabant and her mother traveled to
Kenya for the
United Nations Children's Fund, where they visited the Kakuma refugee camp.[34] During the
COVID-19 pandemic, Princess Elisabeth held conversations over the phone with elderly people in residential care centers in order to give them encouragement and support.[6] On 21 July 2021, she joined fellow students of the Royal Military Academy Belgium to parade during Belgian National Day.[35]
On 12 May 2022, Princess Elisabeth accompanied her aunt Princess Astrid on a visit to
St Hilda's College, Oxford.[36] There, she and her aunt met St Hilda's Principal Professor Dame
Sarah Springman and the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University Professor Dame
Louise Richardson.[36] On 17 June 2022, together with her mother the Queen, she was among the royal guests invited to the celebrations of the 18th birthday of Princess
Ingrid Alexandra of Norway.[37] Elisabeth carried her two first solo official engagements in the following week by christening the Belgian oceanographic research vessel RV Belgica and inaugurating
KU Leuven's Princess Elisabeth Additive Manufacturing Lab.[38][39] In December 2022, Princess Elisabeth and her brother Prince Emmanuel participated in the Warmathon in Brussels.[40][41]
Elisabeth volunteers to help children with learning difficulties, the elderly, the homeless and disabled people.[11]
Position
Ten years prior to Elisabeth's birth, a new
act of
succession was put into effect which introduced
absolute primogeniture, meaning that she comes first in the line of succession because she is the eldest child. On 21 July 2013, once Elisabeth's father had sworn the oath of office as
King of the Belgians (his father, King Albert II, having abdicated shortly before), she became
heir apparent to the
throne, taking the title of
Duchess of Brabant.[47] Should she ascend to the
throne as expected, Elisabeth will become
Belgium's first
female monarch.[48]
Styled "Her Royal Highness Princess Elisabeth of Belgium" from birth, when her father acceded as
King of the Belgians on 21 July 2013, she was accorded the
title of "Her Royal Highness Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant".[6]
^"Les premières déclarations du Prince Philippe" (in French). 26 October 2001. Le Prince Philippe a annoncé, dans la nuit de jeudi à vendredi à la presse, que la Princesse Élisabeth Thérèse Marie Hélène était née à 21h58 par césarienne.
^
abHurtado, Alexandra (16 September 2020).
"PRINCESS SWAPS DRESSES FOR MILITARY FATIGUES: SEE THE ROYAL TEEN IN ACTION". Hola!.
Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023. The phase will end on Sept. 25 with a blue berets ceremony. Students who pass the training will receive their blue beret in front of their family members.
^
ab"" Je jure fidélité au Roi, obéissance à la Constitution et aux lois du peuple belge ! "" [« I swear loyalty to the King, obedience to the Constitution and the laws of the Belgian people! »] (in French). Belgian Royal Palace. 27 September 2023.
Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023 – via Instagram. Elle est commissionnée au grade de sous-lieutenant de l'armée belge. [She was commissioned at the rank of second lieutenant in the Belgian army.]
^Text in French of the 1991 amendment: « Le titre de Duc de Brabant ou de Duchesse de Brabant sera toujours porté, à l'avenir, par le Prince ou la Princesse, fils aîné ou fille aînée du Roi, et, à défaut, par le Prince ou la Princesse, fils aîné ou fille aînée du fils aîné ou de la fille aînée du Roi. »
^"The King, the Queen and their Family". Monarchie.be. The Belgian Monarchy. Retrieved 12 June 2018. In the past, only boys could become Kings. The Constitution was changed in 1991: Princesses can now also ascend the throne and become Queen. Princess Elisabeth, who is the eldest of four children of King Philippe, is therefore the heiress of the Belgian monarchy. When she succeeds her father King Philippe, Princess Elisabeth will be the first woman to become Head of State in Belgium.
^Dehandschutter, Wim (26 April 2022).
"Nieuwe foto's van prinses Elisabeth in militair uniform duiken op" [New photos of Princess Elisabeth in military uniform emerge]. Nieuwsblad (in Dutch).
Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023. En opeens duiken nieuwe foto's van kandidaat-officier Van België in kaki uniform op? [And suddenly new photos of candidate officer Van België in khaki uniform appear? ]