Princess Alexia of the Netherlands Is Headed to College in London! All About Her Academic Plans

Mar. 15, 2025

Princess Alexia of the Netherlands during a photo call at Huis ten Bosch palace in The Hague, the Netherlands on June 7, 2024.Photo:Patrick van Katwijk/Getty

Patrick van Katwijk/Getty

Princess Alexia of the Netherlands is continuing her education in Great Britain.

The Royal House of the Netherlands has announced that King Willem-Alexander andQueen Maxima’s 19-year-old daughter is enrolling at University College London this fall.

“Her Royal Highness Princess Alexia of the Netherlands will start a bachelor’s degree in Science and Engineering for Social Change at the Faculty of Engineering, University College London (UCL) at the end of September,” the royal house said in astatementon Aug. 8.

The court added that Princess Alexia’s time at college is “considered to be private.”

Princess Alexia is second in the line of succession to the Dutch throne, following her elder sisterPrincess Catharina-Amalia, 20, and ahead of her younger sister, Princess Ariane, 17.

(From left) Queen Maxima, Princess Ariane, Princess Alexia, Princess Catharina-Amalia and King Willem-Alexander during a photo call at Huis ten Bosch palace in The Hague, the Netherlands on June 7, 2024.Patrick van Katwijk/Getty

Princess Alexia is heading to University College London after taking a gap year, and said in June that she was “a bit stressed about choosing” a university and program of study, theNL Timesreported. According to the outlet, the royal made the revelation at the press conference that accompanied a summer photo session.

During her gap year, Princess Alexia marked an exciting royal milestone: her first solo engagement. In September 2023, the princess christened theVox Alexiahopper dredger ship in Rotterdam, and had another royal first a few days later when she debuted her Order of the Lion of the Netherlands, the country’s oldest and highest order of civilian chivalry, at the state opening of Parliament.

Princess Alexia at the naming ceremony for the Vox Alexia on Sept. 9, 2023 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.Patrick van Katwijk/Getty

As Princess Alexia looks ahead to attending University College London, back in the spring, her sister Princess Catharina-Amalia reflected on the “strange circumstances” of having to secretly switch schools in 2022 due to security threats.

In April, the heir to the throne said she was “grateful” to have found refuge in Spain aftersafety concernsprevented her from continuing to live in student housing in Amsterdam.

That month, it emerged that Princess Catharina-Amalia quietly studied in Madrid for a time due to threats made in the fall of 2022 while she was astudent at the University of Amsterdam. TheBBCreported that organized crime communications hinted the princess may have been a target for kidnapping or an attack, initially prompting her to move home and only leave for class. After her under-the-radar stay in Spain, the future queen was reportedly later able to resume her studies in the Netherlands.

“Of course, it was strange circumstances that made me go there,” Princess Catharina-Amalia later reflected to the press, according toBild. “I’m still very grateful to everyone who made it possible for me to walk around there in freedom. I managed to find a little more freedom there than was possible here.”

Princess Catharina-Amalia and Princess Alexia on the balcony of Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands on Sept. 19, 2023.Patrick van Katwijk/Getty

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“The Netherlands is my home, so it’s nice to be here again,” she said, mentioning that her stay in Spain “made life here somewhat possible again.”

Princess Catharina-Amalia’sroyal biooutlines that she is “currently focusing on her university studies,” and she and Princess Alexia recently joined their parents at theParis Olympics.

(From left) King Willem-Alexander, Princess Catharina-Amalia, Princess Alexia and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands watch volleyball at the Paris Olympics on July 29, 2024.Henk Jan Dijks/Marcel ter Bals/DeFodi Images via Getty

Henk Jan Dijks/Marcel ter Bals/DeFodi Images via Getty

source: people.com