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Princess Elisabeth will start studying at Harvard University in Boston this summer it was announced today:
La princesse Elisabeth entamera son master en politiques publiques... à l’Université d’Harvard !
On sait où notre Princesse poursuivra ses études. Elle entamera cet été un master au sein de la prestigieuse Université d’Harvard.
I am surprised, however, that it is not an issue in Belgium that Princess Elisabeth never attended a French-speaking school throughout her academic life. She went to a Dutch-speaking school in Belgium, then did her IB in English in Wales, used Dutch again as the language of instruction at the Royal Military Academy, and finally did her bachelor's degree and will do her master's in English respectively at Oxford (in the UK) and Harvard (in the US).
I think that in the end the logical thing is to find a balance between national and international education, because both contribute to a global formation. It's not just university training, it's about getting to know different people, places and cultures inside and outside the country.
The Belgian posters are better equipped to answer your question, but it seems to me that the point of view may be a little bit different in Belgium than in countries like Spain. Belgium is a small country with a very international outlook. Doing your university studies abroad is not something that will be necessarily seen as negative in my opinion. Keep in mind that Elisabeth also did one year at the Royal Military Academy in Belgium and had the opportunity to interact with Belgians from different backgrounds there.
The family is French-speaking, so my guess is not having a formal education in French isn't as much of a deal if the family is already perceived as mainly 'French' instead of 'Flemish'.
I've no clue where the difference in perception between Elisabeth and Amalia come from. Amalia is known as an excellent student (graduad cum laude from high school and got into a highly competitive international Bachelor's program) who by her own admission had to be convinced to be ok with not getting the highest possible grades in every single subject by her father as she pushed herself academically so much that it was considered unhealthy (and not because she struggled but because of the pressure she put on herself - she attended the highest level in high school, did additional subjects and strived for the highest grades).
Exactly, to me CA, Leonor and Elisabeth are of the same mold. I am sure CA, if she wanted too would have attended very similar universities to Elisabeth. No slight to other royal families but I don't see for example someone from the BRF to set their sight so high as to achieve academically at top universities abroad in a language different from their own. Some families just don't value the same thing and the "1st child syndrome" turns out differently. If we stick to the same generation as those ladies, I definitely don't see Christian nor Ingrid Alexandra with that academic hunger and interest. It's not a bad thing, just very different personalities based on what we can see so far.
Working in Higher Education, I am very much aware that there are higher education systems that are far more international than others - unfortunately, the US is one which often is inward focused (not unexpected for a large country; and there are other examples that would raise comparable questions) - although I would indeed expect an institution like Harvard would be less so.
I was always under the impression, the difficulties for Belgium and the Crown of Belgium derive from the internal ethnic and economical cleavages of this state. Surely: Foreign affairs are very fascinating, but the Crown stands and falls with the public opinion of the Belgian people, which as such is divided.
I very much doubt the Duchess of Brabant would require a Travel Grant!
