Prince Gabriel of Belgium Graduates From Royal Military Academy — and Charts a New Path for the Royal Family
Prince Gabriel of Belgium has received his degree in Social and Military Sciences from the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, graduating at a ceremony attended by his parents, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde (Hello!). Both the King and his son wore military uniforms for the occasion.
The ceremony produced a moment that travelled well beyond the official record. After locking eyes with his older sister, Princess Elisabeth, Gabriel broke into a smile and gestured for her to join the family photographs (Hello!). Elisabeth, who is heir to the Belgian throne, completed her own year in Social and Military Sciences at the same academy in July 2021 (monarchie.be).
Gabriel's path to the graduation hall was international. Before the Royal Military Academy, he studied at St John Berchmans College in Brussels, the International School of Brussels, and The National Mathematics and Science College in Warwickshire, England (Hello!). During his military training he completed a six-month Erasmus exchange at the Military Academy of Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan in France (monarchie.be). He obtained his bachelor's degree in June 2025 (monarchie.be).
What makes this graduation unusual is what comes next. Gabriel is set to become the first member of the Belgian royal family to pursue military service as a career (Hello!). Until recently, Belgian law barred royals from holding a paid professional military career. That restriction has changed, opening a door that no royal before him has walked through.
His training pipeline is already mapped out. Gabriel will attend the Infantry School in Arlon to learn how to command an infantry platoon, then undergo paratrooper training at Marche-les-Dames and Schaffen (Hello!).
He will not, however, be carrying out royal duties. Laws passed after King Philippe's accession in 2013 require only the heir to the throne to undertake official engagements, meaning Elisabeth shoulders that responsibility while her younger brother builds a career in uniform (Hello!).
Gabriel has tested the public-engagement waters once. In May, he carried out his first solo appearance, attending the penultimate evening of the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in the royal box at the Henry Le Bœuf Hall in Brussels (Hello!).
Away from military and ceremonial life, Gabriel marked his 23rd birthday by trekking through the glaciers and peaks of the Mont Blanc massif, reaching the Refuge Albert Ier mountain hut (Hello!). It is the kind of detail that rounds out a picture: a prince who chose the army over the palace, and the mountains over the party.
