Future Queen Is Among Harvard Students in Limbo

Princess Elisabeth will spend the summer in Belgium waiting to see how Trump policy unfolds
Posted May 23, 2025 1:05 PM CDT
Future Queen of Belgium's Future at Harvard Uncertain
Princess Elisabeth of Belgium is seen during Prince Christian's 18th birthday gala dinner at Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023.   (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)

The future queen of Belgium is among the thousands of international students whose lives could be upended by the Trump administration's feud with Harvard University. Princess Elisabeth, 23, is pursuing a master's degree in public policy at Harvard but it's not clear whether she will be able to return for the second year of the two-year program, NBC News reports. The administration revoked Harvard's ability to enroll international students on Thursday, but a federal judge blocked the order after Harvard filed a lawsuit on Friday. The princess is one of almost 7,000 international students at Harvard, from more than 100 countries.

Belgium's Royal Palace says Elisabeth, the eldest of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde's four children, will spend the summer in Belgium waiting to see what happens with the policy, the AP reports. "We are analyzing this at the moment and will let things settle. A lot can still happen in the coming days and weeks," Xavier Baert, the palace's communication director, told Reuters before a judge granted Harvard's request for a restraining order against the administration's move. Elisabeth graduated from Oxford University with a degree in history and politics last year. Her father went to Oxford before getting a master's in political science at Stanford. (More Harvard University stories.)

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