Inside Princess Elisabeth of Belgium's 'affordable' Harvard University halls
On Wednesday, the Belgian Royal Palace shared new photographs of Princess Elisabeth on her first day at Harvard University.
The 22-year-old royal, who has just completed a degree in History and Politics at Oxford University, is continuing her studies with a Masters in Public Policy at the Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Looking fresh-faced in relaxed, wide-leg jeans and a caramel-hued knitted vest, the heir to the Belgian throne looked radiant as she embarked on her year of studies. But where will the young royal live during her graduate years in the USA?
Having spent the last three years living in Oxford, the Princess is used to life away from her family home in Belgium with her parents, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde.
The move to the USA poses an exciting new chapter for the young royal, who may choose to live on campus in graduate accommodation or join many students who seek private housing in the university's neighbouring Cambridge or Boston.
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Princess Elisabeth's new home
The Belgian royal has several accommodation options to choose from.
According to the university's website, however, international students are encouraged to rent with Harvard University Housing due to non-US students experiencing difficulties securing housing due to a lack of credit history in the US.
Harvard University Housing offers a portfolio of nearly 3,000 apartments open to full-time Harvard graduate students, faculty, and employees, with the majority of residences within one mile of Harvard Yard.
The Princess may even prefer to live on campus, which are dubbed as Harvard's "most affordable and most convenient" graduate housing.
While affordability will pose no problem for the Belgian heir, Elisabeth may wish to immerse herself in Harvad's culture at one of the university's graduate halls - Child, Conant, Perkins, and Richards.
The halls are a brief walk to libraries, laboratories, and classrooms on the Cambridge campus and to Harvard Square, while the royal will be able to enjoy meals with her fellow students in Commons at Lehman Hall.
The royal will be able to enjoy a host of exciting social events too, including floor and community events, residence hall–wide Halloween and Thanksgiving parties, talent show competitions, wine and cheese nights, weekend breakfast and brunches, potlucks, and finals study breaks.
Choosing accommodation at Harvard's campus also adds a much-needed extra layer of security for the Princess, whose royal title may attract unwanted attention from the media.
St Andrews, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Brian Lang, exclusively told HELLO! how he managed the future King under his care at St Andrews university.
"One thing that I did as soon as we knew William was going to be a student was to warn the student body that we expected them to respect the privacy of information," he said.
"So, I made it quite clear to the students by doing an interview with the student newspaper, in which I emphasized that we would take a very, very dim view of any inappropriate information being passed on—not just about William, but about any other student."
He added: "Andrew Neil, the Lord Rector of the university, being a very experienced newspaper man, helped us negotiate a deal with the British press, whereby they would leave William alone in return for a photo opportunity once a semester. And on the whole, that worked."
