The Belgian Royal Palace wrote on Twitter, ‘Princess Elisabeth turns 21 today! Happy Birthday!’, as well as inviting royal fans to send birthday wishes to the young royal on Instagram. The two images were taken by Bas Bogaerts, one of the family’s go-to photographers, who has previously captured fellow royals including Elisabeth’s parents, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, and her younger siblings, Prince Gabriel, Prince Emmanuel and Princess Eléonore.
Elisabeth, who also holds the title Duchess of Brabant, is first in line to the Belgian throne, after her grandfather, King Albert II abdicated in favour of her father in 2013. The young royal is currently a student at Oxford University, where she studies History and Politics at Lincoln College. She previously earned her International Baccalaureate at UWC Atlantic College in Wales – a school that has long been a favourite with European royals – and has also completed a year studying Social and Military Sciences at Belgium’s Royal Military Academy. Quite the international young woman, she also once attended the Yale Young Global Scholars Program at Yale University.
