Future Queen of the Netherlands Announces College Plans — Find Out What the Princess Will Study

Patrick van Katwijk/WireImage Princess Catharina-Amalia

Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, heir to the Dutch throne, is heading to college this fall.

The palace announced Monday that the 18-year-old daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima is heading to the University of Amsterdam. She plans to pursue a bachelor's degree in politics, psychology, law and economics.

Although the royal's study time is considered private, the office added that Princess Amalia will live in Amsterdam with fellow students come September.

Along with the announcement on Instagram, the palace shared a photo of Princess Amalia sitting beside one of Amsterdam's famous canals.

RELATED: Future Queen of the Netherlands Turns Down $2 Million Annual Allowance: 'I Find It Uncomfortable'

Princess Amalia took a gap year after graduating from high school. In keeping with Dutch tradition, she raised the country's flag along with her backpack in a video shared to the family's social media accounts after passing her final exams at the Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet in The Hague.

While Princess Amalia is keeping her studies in the Netherlands, her younger sister Princess Alexia, 16, is studying abroad at UWC Atlantic in Wales. In fact, she has another royal classmate: Spanish heir to the throne Princess Leonor, 16, also attends the U.K. school.

Patrick van Katwijk/WireImage; Jesús Hellín/Europa Press via Getty Images Princess Alexia; Princess Leonor

Ahead of her 18th birthday, the royal turned down a nearly $2 million annual allowance until she formally takes up royal duties.

"I find that uncomfortable as long as I do not do anything for it in return, and while other students have a much tougher time of it, particularly in this period of coronavirus," she said in a handwritten letter to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

She said she would repay the nearly $400,000 she was entitled to during her time as a student and would not claim $1.6 million in expenses "until I incur high costs in my role as Princess of Orange."

Princess Amalia recently told biographer Claudia de Breij that she doesn't feel ready to be queen and would ask her mother Queen Maxima, 51, to step in should her father King Willem-Alexander, 55, unexpectedly pass in the near future.

"I said to my father, 'You just keep on eating healthy and exercising a lot,' " the royal said.

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! 

Patrick van Katwijk/WireImage King Willem-Alexander and Princess Catharina-Amalia

It is a tradition for heirs to the Dutch throne to have books published about them for their 18th birthday. Similar biographies were released for Amalia's father, King Willem-Alexander, and her grandmother, former monarch Princess Beatrix.