The rumored romance between the future Queen of Belgium and a University of Oxford student may have come to an end.
Crown Princess Elisabeth has been attending the esteemed institution since 2021, pursuing an undergraduate degree in History and Politics at Lincoln College. The 22-year-old is next in line to the Belgian throne, being the eldest of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium’s four children.
Earlier this year, reports emerged that the Princess had developed a relationship that "transcends friendship" with another student.
She and Nicholas Dodd from Rochdale first met on their matriculation day in October 2021. Mr. Dodd, a 20-year-old history student at Lincoln College, hails from the Pennine village of Whitworth, just outside Rochdale in Lancashire.
“They ended up in the same study group and there was an instant connection,” a source told Het Laatste Nieuws, a Dutch-language newspaper based in Antwerp, according to The Times. “Later, they studied together, wrote essays, and worked on projects together.”
However, there are concerns that their relationship may be strained by Elisabeth leaving Oxford this summer. Photo by Ian Jones, Wikimedia commons.