Royalty in the News » school

Mette-Marit No Longer Taking Management Courses

Megan M — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:20:09 +0000

Crown Princess Mette-Marit revealed she did not complete her management studies at the Norwegian School of Management in Oslo. The news came from a two-part documentary about her which aired on Norwegian television over the weekend.

See more photos of Mette-Marit here

In the documentary, the Crown Princess claimed she was too busy to complete her master’s degree.

“The program has been so easy until now,” Mette-Marit said on the program. “I have trained myself not to be so good and that not everything had to be perfect, and I think that really is a bit good for me.”

Royal watcher Kjell Arne Totland has been speaking to the Norwegian media, saying he is not surprised the future Queen gave up on her studies.

“It was too difficult to combine studies with work as a Princess and a normal family life. I know that these studies has meant a lot to Mette-Marit and understand that she was upset because she has not been able to complete as planned. Maybe that was why she had to take a timeout in the fall?” Totland said, referring to the private world tour Mette-Marit took with her family in late 2010.

“It is after all a great respect of what she has accomplished and achieved in recent years,” Totland pointed out. “And who knows? Maybe she will take it up again later? I think it is great for Mette-Marit to be able to see the positive and come to the realization that no one can overcome all.”

As of now, there is no word if the Crown Princess would ever continue with her studies.

Sources: TV2, Seher

First Day of School for All Four Belgian Royal Children

Megan M — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:34:15 +0000

Click here for more images of the Crown Princely family!

It’s September and most children around the world knows what that means – school starts again!

The four children of Belgium’s Crown Princely couple are no exception. Thursday morning, Philippe and Mathilde took their brood to Sint-Jan-Bergmans College in Brussels. They allowed the media to photograph their children beginning the school year.

The eldest, Princess Elisabeth, is starting fifth grade, while her younger brothers, Princes Gabriel and Emmanuel are going into the third and first grades. Little sister Princess Eleonore begins the pre-school program at the College.

Once they arrived, the children shook hands with the principal and their teachers before settling down for the school year.

Source: Huffington Post

Sverre Magnus’ First Day of School

Megan M — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:50:40 +0000

Thursday saw Norway’s Prince Sverre Magnus begin school at Jansløkka School in Asker, not far from his family’s palace in the Oslo suburbs. This is the same school elder sister Princess Ingrid Alexandra already attends, and half brother Marius Borg Høiby went there also.

Click here for photos of Prince Sverre Magnus

The little Prince, who will turn 6 years old on December 3rd, was escorted to Jansløkka at noon by his parents, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, and his grandmother, Queen Sonja.

At the school, there was a traditional welcoming ceremony, in which the school’s song was sang and each new student’s name was called. Upon hearing their names, the children went up to their teacher to be greeted.

Afterward, the children went inside and the media was off limits indoors.

By choosing to send their children to Jansløkka School, Haakon and Mette-Marit are breaking with royal tradition by not sending them to more exclusive schools in Oslo. Jansløkka is a local public school.

Prince Sverre Magnus is third in line to the Norwegian throne.

Source: NewsinEnglish.no

Prince Christian Begins Primary School

Megan M — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 23:59:46 +0000

Denmark’s Prince Christian had his first day of primary school Friday. The 6 year old Prince is now a student at Tranegårdsskolen, which is a public school instead of a private scho0l. His parents – Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary – wanted to have their son be like any other Danish student.

Click here for more images

The day started off with a photo call outside Amalienborg Palace and a couple of brief questions for Christian. One reporter asked him what was in his lunchbox, and he answered that it was a “secret”. Another asked who were his classmates. The little Prince responded, “You don’t need to know that.” Clearly at a young age, Christian is learning how to deal with the press.

After meeting with the press, Frederik and Mary took their son to school. The whole point of the photo call was to keep the media away from the school so it wouldn’t affect the other students. But one newspaper had a photographer there anyway, and he snapped away when Christian and his parents arrived at Tranegårdsskolen.

Although this was the Prince’s first official day of school, he had already met his classmates earlier this week during an orientation session.

This is the first time a Danish royal is attending a public school. Frederik and his brother Prince Joachim attended the exclusive school, Krebs. Even Joachim’s two eldest sons are students there.

Perhaps this is a new trend among royalty. Over in Norway, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, who is second in line to the throne, also attends a local public school near her home.

Source: The Royal Forums Blog

Princess Ariane Begins School

Megan M — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 23:45:56 +0000

The youngest daughter of Dutch Crown Prince Willem Alexander and Princess Maxima had her first day of school Monday. Princess Ariane, age 4, entered Bloemcampschool in Wassenaar hand in hand with big sisters, Princess Catharina-Amalia, age 7, and 5 year old Princess Alexia.

Arriving at the school, School Director Coenraad Gerard welcomed the royal family and said hello to his new student. Ariane shyly shook his hand and showed him her Hello Kitty backpack.

Big sister Amalia directed her to the where Ariane could hang up her backpack before showing her to room 1A. There, Ariane’s teachers, Yvonne and Carla waited. Those are the same teachers the other young princesses had when they began at Bloemcampschool.

Princess Ariane is fourth in line to the Dutch throne.

Below is a detailed video of her first day of school.

Source: De Gelderlander

South African Princess a Student at University of Georgia

Megan M — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:20:15 +0000

On the outside, Vusani Tshivhase is just another student at the University of Georgia on a Fulbright scholarship. But in truth, she is no ordinary student.

Kathryn Ingall/The Red and Black

“I kind of come from a royal family,” she said. “In a way, I’ve got royal blood flowing in my veins.”

Vusani is the daughter of the King of the Venda tribe in rural northeast South Africa. She is studying health promotion in order to increase the number of health clinics in her region.

The Princess talked to the University’s school newspaper – The Red and Black – about being a tribal princess.

“We do have — I guess you could call it a palace. It’s not like the Buckingham Palace — it’s more traditional.”

“When you go back to the palace, or the royal kraal, we kind of strip off this city-girl persona and you go back to being that traditional girl,” she said. “You walk around wearing traditional attire and being respectful.”

“When you talk to the king you need to bow,” Vusani said. “He’s my dad at home, but when I talk to my dad outside, I have to bow to him and I cannot look at him straight in the eye.”

Traditional as her father might be, he is looking to modernize some of the old ways. One of them is a festival which includes a dance where the women dance like snakes. As they do that, men watch them and then choose which women they want as a wife.

But Vusani’s father the King wants things to be different.

“Right now my dad is kind of doing away with the fact that people can just come and pick a wife,” she said. “He’s like, ‘I’m not going to do that. We’re going to keep the dance, but you cannot just pick a wife.’”

However, Vusani is expected to marry someone of her social class, which she considers to be a “downside”.

Until then, this Fulbright scholar is going to continue to enjoy her time at the University of Georgia.

“When you get educated and you move away from home and you go somewhere else and you interact with other people and you learn all this stuff, you change and you grow and whatever you used to settle for is not enough anymore.”

Source: The Red and Black

Princess Aiko Still Struggling With School

Megan M — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 19:46:34 +0000

It is being reported that while Japan’s Princess Aiko, the only child of the Crown Princely couple, is slowly returning to a normal routine at school, she still has lots to do. The Princess has yet to eat in the cafeteria of Gakushuin Primary in Tokyo with her classmates and even attend all her classes.

REUTERS/Imperial Household Agency of Japan/Handout/FILE

It all began last year when it emerged that Aiko missed several school days due to anxiety from “rowdy” boys. The then second-grader eased back to classes by having her mother, Crown Princess Masako, take her to and from school and sit with her during lessons.

When Aiko began third grade last April, she would only attend morning classes.

It took a while for her to increase her attendance to the afternoon. On a recent school trip, the Princess rode in a separate vehicle from her classmates. She regularly walks home from school.

“The school is dealing with the Imperial Family, and it cannot take the usual measures in addressing the problem of children refusing to go to school. They have been trying an unprecedented approach,” said Hosei University clinical pedagogy professor Naoki Ogi.

However, Gakushuin managing director Motomasa Higashisono said, “We have been taking the necessary measures while in consultation with the Imperial Household Agency. We will make further efforts so the Princess will soon attend classes more regularly.”

Source: Mainichi Daily

Where is Prince Daniel?

Megan M — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 23:47:30 +0000

The husband of Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria has not been seen publicly since his Christmas speech at his hometown church. Since then, the heir to the Swedish throne has been doing several duties, one of them a five day trip to the UAE in mid-January, but not with Prince Daniel.

Lintao Zhang/Getty Images/FILE

This has led many royal watchers to wonder – what has become of the new Prince, who was impressing Swedish media with his effortless adaption to royal life?

The answer is simple: Daniel enrolled at Sweden’s well known Karolinska Institutet to study physiology. He began taking classes in January, which is why he was unable to join Victoria for her UAE official visit.

A former fitness trainer who dealt with a kidney transplant in 2009, it seems natural for the Prince to want to expand his knowledge of the body.

He is also not the only royal who went back to school to be further educated. In late 2008, Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit began taking courses in management, and apparently still is.

Bertil Ternert confirmed Daniel’s schooling to the Finnish newspaper, Iltalehti. Ternert, the Swedish court’s communications director, also said Prince Daniel will be able to balance royal duties with his studies.

Source: The Royal Forums Blog

Princess Aiko Smiles During School Festival

Megan M — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 18:41:00 +0000

AP Photo/Yoshikazu Tsuno, Pool

Japanese Princess Aiko was all smiles as she danced away during her primary school’s annual sports festival. The 8 year old had been experiencing anxiety during most of the year because of bullying by boys at Gakushuin. But on Monday, that seemed far from Aiko’s mind.

Her parents, Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako attended the festival. Both parents also seemed delighted to see their daughter enjoying herself. Even Naruhito snapped away with his large camera.

Besides taking part in a dance routine, Aiko took part in a relay race.

Click here to check out a video from Japanese television.

Leonor & Sofia Return to School

Megan M — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:04:21 +0000

REUTERS/Susana Vera

Spain’s Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia took time to let the media photograph and film their two young daughters on their way to school Wednesday. Although Infantas Leonor and Sofia started Santa Maria de los Rosales on Monday, their parents chose for a photocall today.

The little girls even spoke to the press a bit. Leonor, who turns 5 in October, told a reporter that she will take care of her 3 year-old sister as she starts the pre-school at Santa Maria.

But when reporters tried to speak to Sofia, who is considered to be the liveliest of the girls according to their mother, she got very shy and turned away. Princess Letizia tried to soothe her into answering the questions.

The media also wished Letizia a happy birthday, which she celebrates today.

The media call lasted only four minutes. After the quick interviews and posing for the photographers, Felipe and Letizia took their daughters inside to their classrooms.

The Infantas’ father is very familiar with Santa Maria de los Rosales. It is the same school he attended while growing up. It is located just outside of Madrid in Aravaca.

Source: EFE