Belgian heir Princess Elisabeth turns 25 with new portrait, stamp and gold coin

A low-key birthday

Princess Elisabeth turns 25 on Sunday, 25 October 2026, and the Royal Palace marked the day with a new black-and-white portrait taken by Bas Bogaerts, a photographer long trusted by the family. In the picture she looks into the lens with a calm expression and a faint smile. The palace's accompanying message was brief and gave no details about how she would spend the day, and journalists in Belgium who asked about her plans received no answer. Bpost issued a stamp bearing her likeness, and the National Bank released a commemorative gold coin with a face value of 12.50 euros, struck in a limited run of 2,500 copies. The palace has not said where she currently is, although ABC reported that she had been seen in Madrid at dinner with an aristocratic family before her birthday.

Harvard and a year off

According to VRT NWS, she completed a master's in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School in May 2026, after a bachelor's in History and Politics at Lincoln College, part of Oxford University. Her earlier studies included UWC Atlantic College in Wales, and La Libre also lists Yale among her institutions. At the graduation parade in Cambridge, among some 9,000 graduates, about twenty Belgian journalists and photographers gathered around her, and after roughly ten minutes she quietly asked the palace spokesperson to end the session, which he did firmly but without rudeness, according to 7sur7. At Harvard she had been known as 'Lizzie' or 'Lisa', shared an apartment with friends and ran regularly. She told HLN that she had started a sabbatical year to take time for herself.

Life in the public eye

Elisabeth was born on 25 October 2001 in Anderlecht and became Duchess of Brabant on 21 July 2013. Her first interview came in 2019, when she accompanied her mother on an official visit to Kenya to meet Unicef teams. Two new biographies, 'Elisabeth, Mission Trône' by Wim Dehandschutter and 'Elisabeth, née pour être reine des Belges' by Amélie Schildt, describe her as disciplined, sensitive and less self-assured than her official photographs suggest. Dehandschutter interviewed her at Harvard in May. In an exclusive interview quoted by 7sur7, she described the anonymity of her Harvard years.

“I liked not being recognised all the time in the street. It gave my life more spontaneity.”

The succession timetable

Sources differ on when her official duties begin. La Libre reports that after summer 2027 she will gradually take on official functions, including economic missions abroad, a role Queen Mathilde performs today. According to La Libre's information, the handover could come in the second half of 2027, possibly during a mission to Canada if that trip is confirmed on the royal agenda. 7sur7 instead says she is expected to resume her commitments gradually from 2028.

Asked on her diploma day when she would begin full-time work for the monarchy, she left the question open in an interview with VRT NWS. She said she would like to take a year or so longer to think about it, and that she wanted to develop herself in another way for now.

“I would like to take a year or so longer to think about that.”

The palace has not yet confirmed the Canada mission or any date for her first official engagements.