#Princess Elisabeth of Belgium

[princesscatherinemiddleton]

The Royal Fandom Autumn 2024 Photo Challenge!

Day Ten: Favourite royal formalwear

[theroyalsandi]

Belgian Royal Family - Happy 90th Birthday to King Albert II of Belgium! (b. 06 June 1934)

The Royal Palace has released photos of the 3 generations of Monarchs in celebration of King Albert II's birthday. The photo session was organized at King Albert’s home in March, when King Philippe, King Albert (often in Italy and France) and Princess Elisabeth (studies in Oxford) were all together in Belgium. (Photos by Bas Bogaerts) | June 06, 2024

[ldagence-royal]

Princess Elisabeth and Princess Eléonore of Belgium - Christmas Concert at the Royal Palace on December 20, 2022 in Brussels, Belgium.

[daily-celeb-photos]

Princess Elisabeth of Belgium

[houseofbrat]

I'm going to be very tough, but if it continues the way it is in a few years Leonor of Spain and Elisabeth of Belgium may be considered better prepared heiresses than William They already seem to have a greater sense of work than him.

They're both about half William's age and have demonstrated more willingness to do the job they were born to do.

William has drug his feet and complained about having to be king behind the scenes for more than twenty years. When I think about the situation at the palace twenty years ago when William was pitching fits about doing normal heir-to-the-throne things and Harry was the spare... My god. The nightmares courtiers must have had back then.

There's been two instances of British heirs to the throne not really making it: Eddy, The Duke of Clarence & Avonale and Edward VIII. Both times the spares were able to pick up the job and succeed at it.

Imagine being a courtier back in the 2000s and dealing with William's fits about how he doesn't want to do this, that, and the other thing and knowing that he's the only option. Because the spare is Harry.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands

Princess Catharina-Amalia (born 7 December 2003) is the heir to the Dutch throne and is the eldest of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima’s three daughters.

Unusually, the monarchy in The Netherlands has been predominantly female-led, with three Queens reigning in succession from 1890-2013, when Catharina-Amalia’s father became King, so she’s in good company historically.

Unlike her parents who have committed a handful of regrettable gaffes (including going on holiday to Greece during a Covid-19 lockdown), Catharina-Amalia seems to have her finger on the pulse of the nation.

Case in point:

She rejected her rights to a yearly royal allowance when she turned 18, ostensibly because as a student (she’s studying politics, psychology, law, and economics at the University of Amsterdam), she’s not a “working” royal but also because it felt wrong during a cost of living crisis.

Much like Prince William here, the Princess is keen to have a normal university experience and lived in shared housing with other students until she was threatened with kidnap by a criminal gang.

She also attended a public primary school and even worked in a beach bar in The Hague during her summer break.

Like many Gen Z-ers, she has spoken candidly about mental health, revealing she sometimes sees a therapist, and while making no direct comments about it, she was the focus of new legislation that means LGBTQIA+ royals would be able to marry anyone they chose without forfeiting their right to the throne.

The House of Orange is in need of good PR, as its popularity rankings have dropped in recent years, with Catharina-Amalia hopefully just the fresh face it needs.

Princess Elisabeth of Belgium

Princess Elisabeth (born 25 October 2001) will make history when she ascends to the throne as the country’s first Queen Regnant.

A decade before her birth, the primogeniture was altered to allow for female succession, and she will be the first monarch to benefit.

Had it not been changed, her younger brother, Prince Gabriel, would have been the next King.

The 22-year-old is the eldest daughter of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde. She has a second younger brother, Prince Emmanuel.

She spent her formative years in Brussels, before attending ���Hippie Hogwarts,” UWC Atlantic College in Wales.

After completing her education, she undertook a year of military training at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, following in the footsteps of other heirs to the throne.

She’s now studying at Lincoln’s College at Oxford University, where she has competed in the rowing team.

She’s a confident public speaker, having had lots of practice: her first speech was at the age of nine when she opened a children’s hospital named in her honour.

She’s also becoming increasingly recognised for her fashion choices, with reports of the “Elisabeth” effect in Belgium, where her fans rush out to buy what she’s wearing, drawing comparisons to our very own Princess of Wales.

In recent years, Belgium, like many other Western nations, has had to confront its colonial past.

How the Princess decides to acknowledge and apologise for Belgium’s part remains to be seen, but will be vital for how she’s viewed both at home and on the world stage.

Princess Leonor of Spain

The world has been gripped by so-called “Leonormania” in recent weeks, after the heir to the Spanish throne turned 18.

The eldest of King Felipe and Queen Letizia’s two daughters, Princess Leonor (born 31 October 2005) is fast-becoming a national obsession, with her every fashion choice (and potential boyfriend) documented and dissected.

Her rising public profile is in contrast to her closely guarded childhood, during which she made very few public appearances.

After attending primary school in Barcelona, she moved to Wales to complete her education at UWC Atlantic (the same school as Princess Elisabeth of Belgium), where she graduated earlier this year.

She is now enrolled in a military academy undergoing officer training, which will last for three years.

Ahead of her 18th birthday, she presented her inaugural Princess of Asturias Awards, managing to appear decidedly unstarstuck when meeting Hollywood icon Meryl Streep and Japanese author Haruki Murakami.

Much like her father, Leonor will be keen to distance herself from the fiscal scandals of her grandfather, the ex-King Juan Carlos, which also implicated her aunt and uncle, and have played out telenovela-style in Spain over the last decade.

She will do well instead to emulate her mother and grandmother, the beloved Queen Sofia, whose chic style she has already clearly inherited.

In terms of politics, one issue she may have to face head on is the rise of Catalan separatism – an issue that her father made a rare public statement against in 2020 – and which he has been widely criticised on.

Princess Victoria of Sweden (and Princess Estelle)

The 46-year-old Princess Victoria (born 14 July 1977) is another European royal who has benefitted from the modernisation of primogeniture.

In fact, she was second-in-line to the Swedish throne at birth and leapfrogged over her younger brother, Prince Carl Philip, upon the change in the constitution.

It caused something of a controversy at the time, as her father, King Carl XVI Gustaf, objected to the change – not because he didn’t want women to succeed but because of his sympathy towards his son, who was suddenly stripped of his Crown Prince status.

In Sweden, the monarch has even less of a role in public life than in the UK, and as such, King Carl XVI Gustaf has largely kept out of the spotlight.

However, similar to other royals of her generation, Victoria has been more candid about her personal life. She was open about her struggles with anorexia in the 1990s.

Speaking about her experience in 2002, she said:

“I, Victoria, didn’t exist. It felt like everything in my life and around me was controlled by others. The one thing I could control was the food I put in me.”

She leapt to the defence of her now-husband, personal trainer Daniel Westering, when the couple’s early relationship came under close scrutiny.

Princess Victoria’s 11-year-old daughter, Princess Estelle (born 23 February 2012), is next in line to the throne after her mother.

She has similarly benefitted from the change in the law, as she has a younger brother, Prince Oscar.

Commentary in the Swedish press questioned the appropriateness of their match, something which Victoria spoke out against.

[momentos-reales]

La Princesa Elisabeth de Bélgica visitando 12 años después el hospital que inauguró y lleva su nombre en Gante, Bélgica (20 de diciembre, 2023).

© Olivier Matthys

[leonisandmurex]

Red and green should never be seen, except at Christmas

[tiaramania]

Heirs of Europe

Princess Estelle of Sweden

Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

Prince Christian of Denmark

Crown Princess Catharina Amalia of the Netherlands

Crown Princess Elisabeth of Belgium

[royalchildreneurope]

Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, The Duchess of Brabant poses for official portraits to celebrate her 23rd birthday, in Cambridge, Boston, United States -October 25th 2024.

[archduchessofnowhere]

Queen Victoria to her daughter Crown Princess Victoria of Germany, on the engagement of Princess Stephanie of Belgium to Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria:

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, MARCH 12, 1880 On Tuesday 9th the Empress [Elisabeth] of Austria came and stopped for luncheon and was most amiable. She is a little aged, but still very handsome and graceful and distinguished looking and the figure beautiful, only her dress was so tight she could hardly move or sit down. Poor little Stephanie’s engagement took everyone by surprise including the Empress and Leopold of B [King of the Belgians, Stephanie's father]. The poor thing has been completely shut up—never seen anyone—never been to a dance or a play etc. and suddenly the C. Prince of Austria is brought, speaks to her and she is engaged and brought out!! It is a most wonderful arrangement but you like children’s engagements and so you won’t be so astonished.

Crown Princess Victoria's reply:

PEGLI, MARCH 15, 1880 (...) I decidedly think with you that dear little Stephanie’s marriage is very sudden, and taking such a great leap all of a sudden, is of course very trying to a young girl’s mental and moral development! Though I was engaged at 14—and there are many other examples of the same kind, yet in principle I am strongly against it and think it far better to be a little older, but what I always pleaded is that there are cases where peculiar circumstances make it advisable and desirable—and unavoidable. I have heard no details yet. I suppose the Crown Prince (who has been rather wild and flighty) was urged to marry and chose Stephanie young as she was. It will be a great trial to the poor dear child to be grown up on such short notice and engaged to a young man she does not know, and had never seen.

Queen Victoria's reply:

WINDSOR CASTLE, MARCH 22, 1880 (...) Neither Leopold B. or the Emperor of Austria knew anything of the Archduke Rudolf’s plans. It seems Stephanie was entirely his own choice. It is a great thing that the Emperor and Empress have at length allowed the marriage or rather the engagement to be announced, and I hope Willie [Prince Wilhelm, Crown Princess Victoria's son] will travel and see the world a little before he marries, which I trust will be next year. Those very long engagements are very trying and not very good and poor Victoria [Auguste Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, Wilhelm's fiancée] will be 22 in October.

Fulford, Roger [ed.] (1981). Beloved mama: Private correspondence of Queen Victoria and the German Crown Princess, 1878-1885

Pictured: Princess Stephanie and Crown Prince Rudolf's engagement photograph, by Géruzet Frères, 1880 (left); Crown Princess Victoria of Germany, by Alexander Bassano, 1879 (right). Via Wikimedia Commons and the Royal Collection Trust.

[princesscatherinemiddleton]

The Royal Fandom Autumn 2024 Photo Challenge!

Day Six: Favourite photo(s) of an heir (they have to be currently first in line to the throne)

[theroyalsandi]

Belgian Royal Family - The Duchess of Brabant and Princess Eleonore arrives to the traditional Christmas concert at the Royal Palace in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by Shutterstock) | December 18, 2024

[ldagence-royal]

The Royal Sisters! Princess Elisabeth and Princess Eléonore of Belgium - Belgian National Day, 21 July 2024 at the Parc de Bruxelles in Brussels, Belgium

[ifreakingloveroyals]

Happy 23rd Birthday Elisabeth Thérèse Marie Hélène! (b. 25 October 2001)

[foreverinthepagesofhistoryy]

@princesscatherinemiddleton’s Royal Fandom Summer 2024 Photo Challenge

Day 31: Favourite photos of royals in August (2024)

★