Princess Elisabeth studied at St John Berchmans College, Brussels in the Marollen district of Brussels, which had been attended by her older cousins, the children of her paternal aunt, the Archduchess of Austria-Este. This is a significant change in the habits of the royal family, as it is the first time that a future Belgian monarch's education has begun in Dutch. Elisabeth speaks Dutch, French, German and English. On 21 July 2013, once her father had taken the oath of office as King of the Belgians, Princess Elisabeth became heir apparent to the throne and as such bears the title of Duchess of Brabant. Elisabeth is currently studying at UWC Atlantic College in Wales, with the goal of completing the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in the May 2020 session. On 20 May 2020 the Belgian Royal Palace announced that she plans to enroll in the Belgian Military Academy in Brussels in the autumn of 2020.
Activities
Princess Elisabeth's first public appearance was on 21 July 2006, when she accompanied her parents during a Te Deum for National Day celebrations in the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula. A year later, on 13 June 2007, Princess Elisabeth and her parents attended the opening of a new Technopolis youth interactive at Mechelen. In 2009, Princess Elisabeth gave her name to the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station, a Belgian scientific polar research station. In September 2011, the princess gave her first public speech at the opening of Princess Elisabeth Children’s Hospital, part of Ghent University Hospital in Ghent. She gave her first official speech in 2014 amidst World War I commemorations. Princess Elisabeth became godmother of a patrol vessel named Pollux P902 on 6 May 2015 in Zeebrugge. 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. Princess Elisabeth volunteers to help children with learning difficulties, the elderly, the homeless and people with a handicap.
Position
Ten years prior to Elisabeth's birth, a new act of succession was put into effect which introduced absolute primogeniture, meaning that Elisabeth comes first in the line of succession because she is the eldest child. If she ascends to the throne as expected, she will be Belgium's first queen regnant.
