A royal heiress is set to become a new Princess of Wales – as Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth takes up classes at a top private college.
Elisabeth – first in line to the Belgian throne – will swap her palace home near Brussels for a dorm in Atlantic College in South Wales.
The 16-year-old will join other teenagers from across the world at the United World College of the Atlantic in the 12th century St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan as she studies the International Baccalaureate.
The Belgian royal family posted snaps of the princess saying goodbye to her brothers and sister – and the family Westie – at the royal palace of Laeken in Brussels to its official Instagram account.
Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, 16, says goodbye to (left to right) her sister Princess Eleonore, ten, Prince Gabriel, 14, and Prince Emmanuel, 12, at the royal palace of Laeken in Brussels before heading to Wales to study
The future queen of Belgium is swapping her palace home for a dorm in Atlantic College in South Wales where she will study for the International Baccalaureate
It was announced in March this year that the eldest child of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde had passed the entry exams required to attend.
The princess will be working towards an Internationale Baccalauréat with the aim to complete it by 2020.
She’s previously been studying at the Dutch-speaking Sint-Jan Berchmans college in Brussels.
According to Princess Elisabeth’s official biography, the multi-lingual royal also speaks French and English and is studying German.
Princess Elisabeth with her mother Queen Mathilde of Belgium, pictured attending the finals of the Queen Elisabeth Contest in the Bozar on May 12, 2018 in Brussels, Belgium
Elixabeth is the eldest of Queen Mathilde and King Felipe’s four children. Pictured: The family attending a church service at the Saint Gudule and Michel Cathedral in Belgium in July 2018. Left to right: Princess Eléonore, Prince Gabriel, Queen Mathilde, King Philip of Belgium, Princess Elisabeth and Prince Emmanuel
She likes to indulge her creative side with drawing and reading; plays the piano and also practices ballet.
The princess is also sports and enjoys cycling, tennis, swimming, skiing and sailing.
Her choice of college already has royal connections having been founded by German Kurt Hahn in 1962 who also opened Gordonstoun boarding school in Scotland which was attended by Prince Charles.
Hahn believed his approach to education, for pupils aged 16-19, could lead to a quicker resolution of international conflict, an ethos that is still carried by the establishment which aims to ‘promote mutual understanding’.
The young royal, pictured on Belgium’s National Day in July 2018, is multilingual and can speak Dutch, German and French and is learning German
United World College of the Atlantic is located in the 12th century St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan, pictured in file image. Some 350 students study at the school outside Cardiff
The 350 students studying at the school, which is about 40 minutes from Cardiff, come from more than 90 countries, the majority of whom are selected through their country’s National Committee.
Previous students at the college include King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands who studied there from 1983-1985 and Princess Raiyah bint Al Hussein.
The Queen currently acts as president to the college with Nelson Mandela previously holding the role until his death in 2013.
Princess Elisabeth is the eldest of four children sister to Princess Eleonore, ten, Prince Emmanuel, 12, and Prince Gabriel, 14.
Belgium’s Prince Emmanuel, Prince Gabriel, Crown Princess Elisabeth, Princess Eleonore, Queen Mathilde of Belgium and King Philippe – Filip of Belgium pose during a photo session of the Belgian Royal Family’s vacation at the Villers Abbey in Villers-la-Ville, on June 24, 2018