Dutch princess is coming to Welsh college to study
A DUTCH princess is set to study at a college in South Wales from this autumn.
Her Royal Highness Princess Alexia of the Netherlands will attend UWC Atlantic College, based at St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan.
The princess, who turns 16 in June, will begin her course at the boarding school this summer.
She will join other students including Princess Leonor – the heir to the Spanish throne, who also went through the UWC selection process.
Alexia Juliana Marcela Laurentien, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau, is the second daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima. The King also attended the college from 1983 to 1985.
In a statement, the Royal Household of the Netherlands confirmed: “After the summer, Her Royal Highness Princess Alexia of the Netherlands will continue her secondary school studies at the United World College of the Atlantic (UWC Atlantic College) in Llantwit Major in Wales, where she will pursue her International Baccalaureate.”
The statement added that the princess’ time at school is private and requested that her privacy is respected.
Jens Waltermann, executive director of UWC International, said: “Her Royal Highness Princess Alexia of the Netherlands will join 4,500 other students from 155 countries, and from a diverse range of backgrounds, at one of our 18 schools.”
UWC Atlantic, which has 350 students aged from 15 to 19, was the organisation’s founding college and was established in 1962. It is located in the 12th-century St Donat’s Castle, which was once the home of US millionaire William Randolph Hearst.