The power princesses taking the reins of Europe's royal houses

Yahoo

03-05-2025

What makes a princess? Aside from being born to a king and queen, and possessing the ability to feel a pea beneath a pile of mattresses, non-stop access to castles and high quality jewels ranks quite highly.
But it's 2025, and while diamonds tiaras are still an important part of being a princess, things have changed. Military service, state school and commoner boyfriends are now commonplace.
The biggest change of all though, is that now several European countries have adopted absolute primogeniture rules – meaning the first born boy or girl will inherit the throne – today's princesses have got a much bigger chance of becoming queen.
Following the death of the late Queen Elizabeth in 2022, and the abdication of Queen Margrethe of Denmark in 2024, you might have been forgiven for thinking the era of female regents is on the wane. As of 2025, all 10 hereditary monarchies of Europe are presided over by men.
However, over the next few decades a whole new crop of female royals will be taking centre stage across Europe. These Gen Z princesses do things differently – as we saw when Denmark's Princess Isabella posed with her mobile phone in her official 18th birthday pics (although there was still a nice tiara in evidence).
Isabella has been pipped to the post by her older brother Crown Prince Vincent in terms of gaining the throne, but four other princesses will take the reins of Europe's royal houses in the coming years. So how will their Gen Z status and more unconventional upbringings shape their approach to being rulers?
Heir apparent to King Philippe, Princess Elisabeth will make Belgian history when she ascends to the throne as the country's first ever Queen Regnant.
Naturally, she's fluent in Dutch, French, German and English – but despite having started her schooling in Brussels, she completed her International Baccalaureate in sunny Wales as a student of posh Atlantic College. The boarding school attracts a variety of well-heeled international students and has been dubbed 'hippy Hogwarts'.
The keen student – who also attended Lincoln College, Oxford – is now at Harvard University studying a two-year master's in public policy. She has kept her title on the down-low though, varyingly being known as Elisabeth van Belgie or Elisabeth de Saxe-Cobourg. While at Oxford, she was rumoured to have started a romance with one Nicholas Dodd, a former state school pupil from Rochdale Sixth Form College.
Her schooling suggests she's slightly more blessed in the brains department than our own royals, but like Wills and Harry, Elisabeth has also had to undergo military training. 'She will learn to read maps, shoot, go on a bivouac, drill and tactics,' Colonel Thierry Pirenne, former head of training at Belgium's royal military academy, explained after Elisabeth completed her own one-year military internship there in 2021. 'She will certainly not get preferential treatment. The camps in Elsenborn [one of Belgium's military academies] are intensive. Not with the intention of turning them into Rambo. Everything is focused on leadership.'
Robert Hazell is professor of government and the constitution in the Department of Political Science at University College London and has conducted a comparative study of monarchies across Europe. He told The Telegraph: 'I was particularly struck by how much more serious and thorough the education and training of European monarchs was than their UK equivalents.'
'Typically European royals not only go to university to do an undergraduate degree but they go on and do a master's degree', continues Prof Hazell. 'That would often be in a field like international relations, because one of the main roles of a monarch as head of state is to meet lots of other heads of state and to help their country in the global arena. They often do so abroad at an English-speaking university, because English is the lingua franca of international relations. They recognise they need to be fluent [in it].'
Though the Princess has not made many public addresses, a speech made at her 18th birthday highlighted her passion for learning, enthusiasm for her role, and one particularly Gen Z area of interest: climate change.
'I share your concern for the future, in particular, the climate, and the fact that we have to find a united answer to that,' Elisabeth said. 'I believe in the future – because I see how much my generation is committed to this. I share with you the same hope and will join you in making a difference.'
Like Britain's own Princess of Wales, Catherine, Elisabeth has become something of a fashion icon. Various Belgian media outlets have reported an 'Elisabeth-effect', with clothes she wears at public engagements rapidly selling out.
Unlike Belgium, a ruling queen will be nothing unusual for the Netherlands when Catharina-Amalia succeeds her father, King Willem-Alexander. Three reigning queens have ruled in the Netherlands in succession from 1890 to 2013, when Catharina-Amalia's grandmother, Queen Beatrix abdicated.
Catharina-Amalia spent most of her formative years in the Netherlands, educated at a state primary school, followed by the prestigious independent Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet in the Hague. In 2022, she began studying for a degree in politics, psychology, law and economics.
The princess won plaudits for declining her state-sponsored annual allowance until she began a full state role. In a handwritten note to Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, she wrote, 'On 7 December 2021 I will be 18 and, according to the law, receive an allowance. I find that uncomfortable as long as I do not do anything for it in return, and while other students have a much tougher time of it, particularly in this period of coronavirus.'
For her first month at university, Catharina-Amalia lived alongside her contemporaries in normal student housing, but was soon moved back to the royal residence. At the time, the royal family mentioned only 'security threats'. In 2024, it was revealed that she had spent a year living in Madrid under the protection of the Spanish royal family due to kidnap threats by the 'Mocro' mafia, a criminal organisation stemming from the Netherland's Moroccan immigrant population.
'One can overstate the differences between the British monarchy and others: there's always talk of bicycling monarchs and the like in Europe,' says Prof Hazell. 'But as has been proved in the Netherlands, modern concerns about security are always a factor. I don't think many of the royals in other countries can still do that kind of thing any more.'
In May 2024, Catharina-Amalia announced she would start utilising her annual £1.4m allowance for staff and operational expenses in January 2025. However, she still does not receive the quarter of a million salary which she is also entitled to.
Unlike Britain's monarchy with their 'never complain, never explain' philosophy, the Dutch monarchy is a little more relaxed. Consequently, Catharina-Amalia's thoughts and feelings on the world are better known.
She has spoken before about receiving therapy for her mental health. 'Sometimes it all gets too much for me – school, friends – and then I talk to someone,' she was quoted as saying. 'If I need it, I'll make an appointment... talking to a professional every now and then is quite normal.'
Like many members of Gen Z, Catharina-Amalia is socially liberal. In an authorised biography written to celebrate her 18th birthday, the princess expressed her support for gay marriage (legal for over 20 years in Holland): 'My parents have quite a lot of different friends, so I grew up not only with 'uncle and aunt' but 'uncle and uncle' and 'auntie and auntie''. She also wrote about wearing purple clothes to school to show support for LGBTQ people.
In the Netherlands, members of the royal family must seek the consent of parliament when they choose to marry or risk losing their place in the line of succession. Catharina-Amalia has been blunt, saying she'll marry who she likes. 'If it's the man who supports me, who I love, who I want to spend my life with and parliament doesn't approve, well then we'll just have to see what I do. I can't choose at my own expense. Then I can't give the best for our country.' New legislation also means if she married a partner of the same sex, she wouldn't lose the crown. In theory, at least.
'The monarchy and individual monarchs have to tread a very delicate path in terms of how far they can go ahead of public opinion,' thinks Prof Hazell. 'It would be really interesting, if Catharina-Amalia wanted to enter into a same-sex marriage, to see what public attitudes would be, and what the attitudes of the government would be. The government would have to give their consent to the marriage and the government itself would want to reflect public opinion. Also, there would be concern about securing the line of succession because one of the roles of the monarch is to produce an heir, so it's a fraught subject.'
Unlike the other Gen Z princesses of Europe, Princess Ingrid Alexandra isn't next in line of succession, and won't ascend to the throne until it is vacated by both her grandfather King Harald V and father, Crown Prince Haakon.
However, she still has a huge weight of responsibility on her shoulders, having been described by some Norwegian news outlets as the last 'pure hope' for the royal family which has been embroiled in a string of scandals.
Ingrid Alexandra began her education at a state primary school in Oslo. As a child she was often seen walking to school and going on class outings. She went private for a bit, to learn English at the Oslo International School, but then went back to state school.
National service is mandatory in Norway though only around 17 per cent of 19-year-olds who are conscripted are selected for military service, making it highly prestigious. Perhaps it's no surprise that Ingrid Alexandra was accepted, following in her father's footsteps, in January 2024. After training she served as a gunner on a CV-90 infantry fighting vehicle.
Shortly after she started her service, scandal began to engulf the Norwegian royal family. Her older half-brother Marius Borg Høiby (who has no public role) was accused of multiple counts of sexual assault, domestic violence, drug misuse, and making death threats, as well as hosting drug-fuelled parties within royal residences. He has denied the charges. In November 2024 he was arrested on suspicion of rape. Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were drawn into the furore when Norwegian began to ask how much they knew of the situation and whether royal funds were used to finance Høiby's drug habit.
Perhaps to deflect from the criticism, the royal court announced Ingrid Alexandra would be extending her military service to 15 months rather than 12. But Prof Hazell is sceptical about whether it will impact Ingrid Alexandra's future reign. 'One thing I learnt from doing a comparative study is that all royal families have their black sheep,' he says. 'Someone who goes off the rails. Our example is Prince Andrew. Similar questions have been raised about him and to what extent the monarchy is still funding his lifestyle – it's not dissimilar. Monarchies tend to survive the odd scandal though. It really depends on how close to the individual monarch the scandal is. At worst this scandal might affect the Crown Prince, but you'd imagine his heir will be left out of it.'
Like other young royals, Ingrid Alexandra has spoken about her commitment to environmental issues including climate change and plastic waste. She is also a passionate sportswoman, winning a gold medal in the Norwegian junior surfing championship in 2020; her profile on the royal family's official website explains she is also a skier and does kickboxing. Interestingly, local media also reported her first ever summer job was as a dishwasher at a local Italian restaurant.
As with all young royals, her private life has often hit the headlines. Last year she split from her boyfriend of two years, Magnus Heien Haugstad. Meanwhile, her aunt, Princess Märtha Louise, raised eyebrows when she married shaman Durek Verrett after the suicide of her husband Ari Behn.
The youngest direct royal heir in Europe, 19-year-old Leonor, the Princess of Asturias is also the only princess who could theoretically lose her place in the line of succession. Spain still has no laws mandating absolute primogeniture, meaning that if Leonor's father, King Felipe, were to have a legitimate son he would become first-in-line. That's pretty unlikely, though.
In October 2023, on her 18th birthday, Princess Leonor made their heir's oath to swear allegiance to the king and the constitution, officially confirming her as heir to the throne.
After attending private school's in Madrid, Princess Leonor also went to Atlantic College in Wales, for a two-year-baccalaureate. This led to an odd coincidence where both the King of Spain and the King of the Netherlands attended the school's graduation in 2023 to see their respective daughters graduate.
Like all the other Gen Z European princesses, Leonor took part in military training. In August 2023, she began her three-year programme at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza. After a year, she transitioned from the army to naval training where she has been on a training ship since January 2025, touring Latin American countries.
Local media report that when Princess Leonor finishes her military training, she will study law at university.
She is widely seen as 'a normal person' in Spain, where she is among the most popular member of the country's royal family, another monarchy also beset by scandal.
There is a lot of focus on her love life, and she has been linked both to fellow Atlantic college student, German Gabriel Giacomelli and Spanish football star Pablo Gavi.
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