Another Royal Is Moving to the U.S. — Here’s What We Know
In a Prince Harry-esque fashion, another royal is moving to the United States! Except it wasn’t spawned by safety concerns and vitriol … so emphasis on the –esque. The Belgian Royal Palace announced that Princess Elisabeth is moving to the U.S. this summer to start earning a public policy master’s degree at Harvard University. The Duchess of Brabant already holds a bachelor’s degree in History and Politics from the University of Oxford.
“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,” a translation of the palace’s statement said.
The two-year program will come in handy one day as Princess Elisabeth, the firstborn child of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, is not just any old heir to any old throne. She will become the country’s first queen regnant one day, should she accept the crown.
It’s probably a more fair assessment to say that Princess Elisabeth’s move is much more like that of her father — who moved to California to earn his master’s degree in political science at Stanford University —than that she’s like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle who were all but forced here. But we do have to wonder if she and the Sussexes will ever meet up. Maybe the former senior members of the British royal family will have pointers for the 22-year-old Duchess as she transitions to life in the U.S.
Or maybe she will travel to the Obama family’s summer home in Martha’s Vineyard to visit her ol’ friend Barack. In March, she and her father met with the former U.S. president at the Castle of Laeken. He could probably give her some pointers about Cambridge as a Harvard grad himself.
And while we are mostly excited by this news because it’s always great to hear that a female world leader is becoming even more bad a** by furthering her education, we’re also secretly hoping for a little bit of romance. C’mon! Doesn’t Princess Elisabeth look like Julia Stiles? Can’t you picture a reverse The Prince & Me situation? The Belgian princess falls in love with an unassuming American student. Perhaps the student accidentally spills their Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee all over the Duchess and instead of having them beheaded, she invites them to a Red Sox game where sparks begin to fly. *Sigh* A girl can dream!
Bon voyage and best of luck, Princess Elisabeth!