US President Donald Trump’s administration has revoked Harvard University’s ability to enrol international students in an escalating battle – and the move looks likely to impact a major royal, who is a future Queen
A controversial move by Donald Trump has left a major royal’s future in the US hanging in the balance. The US president’s administration has revoked Harvard University’s ability to enrol international students in its escalating battle with the Ivy League school. It says thousands of students must transfer to other schools or leave the country.
The Department of Homeland Security announced the action, accusing Harvard of creating an unsafe campus environment by allowing “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” to assault Jewish students on campus. It also accused Harvard of co-ordinating with the Chinese Communist Party, contending the school had hosted and trained members of a Chinese paramilitary group as recently as 2024.
And although a judge granted a temporary restraining order to block the ban, the situation could affect the heir to the Belgian throne, Princess Elisabeth. The future Queen has been studying at Harvard and was set to return to the university for her second year, but could be caught up in the ban on foreign students.
The Belgian Royal Palace’s head of communications, Xavier Baert, said: “We are looking into the situation, to see what kind of impact this decision might have on the princess, or not. It’s too early to say right now.”
Mr Baert said that Princess Elisabeth, aged 23, has completed her first year of a graduate school programme at Harvard and would spend the summer back in Belgium.
The princess is the first of four children born to King Philippe and Queen Mathilde and has been studying for a Master’s in Public Policy. The 23-year-old will make history when she ascends the Belgian throne – she will become the country’s first Queen regent. She has two brothers and a sister and sits ahead of her brothers in the line of succession when Belgium introduced absolute primogeniture in 1991.
Her father King Phillipe became monarch in 2013 when his father King Albert II abdicated due to health reasons. She attended UWC Atlantic College in Wales, which has been dubbed the ‘Hippie Hogwarts’.
It is set in the 12th century St Donat’s Castle on the southern Welsh coast and campus facilities include a library, woodland, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, and classrooms within historic buildings.
Students are offered activities and subjects like Tai Chi, leadership and Tibetan literature alongside traditional classes. It was founded in 1962 by German educationalist Kurt Hahn, who also set up Gordonstoun boarding school in Scotland, where King Charles attended.
Elisabeth speaks several languages and is described as a keen sportswoman who loves tennis, skiing, scuba diving and cooking. She studied history and politics at Lincoln College at Oxford University and graduated last year before moving to America.
Harvard president Alan Garber earlier this month said the university has made changes to its governance over the past year and a half, including a broad strategy to combat antisemitism.
He said the university would not budge on its “its core, legally-protected principles” over fears of retaliation. Harvard as said it will respond at a later time to allegations first raised by House Republicans about co-ordination with the Chinese Communist Party.