Background
She was born at the University Clinic Saint Luc, Woluwe-Street-Lambert, Belgium and is currently seventh in line to the Belgian throne.
She was born at the University Clinic Saint Luc, Woluwe-Street-Lambert, Belgium and is currently seventh in line to the Belgian throne.
Maria Laura was raised until 1993 in Basel, Switzerland, at which point her parents relocated to Belgium. She was educated, like her siblings and younger cousins, at the Jesuit school College Sint January Berchmans in Brussels. She completed her secondary education at the Saint John"s International School in Waterloo, Belgium, during which time she was involved in a minor accident (see below).
She then went to London, and attended SOAS in London, where she studied Chinese.
In 2007–2008, she spent time in China as part of her studies. She then enrolled at the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales in Paris in 2008, where she is still studying.
Maria Laura has one older brother, Amedeo (b 1986), one younger brother, Joachim (b 1991) and two younger sisters: Luisa Maria (b 1995) and Laetitia Maria (b 2003). The Princess is fluent in French, Dutch, and German, the three official languages of Belgium, as well as English. On 9 September 2005, Maria Laura, along with six other students, were riding home from Saint John"s International School in Waterloo when the bus collided into three cars and rolled over several times.
All of the students managed to escape before the bus burst into flames.
26 August 1988 – 2 December 1991: Her Imperial and Royal Highness Archduchess Maria Laura of Austria-Este, Princess Imperial of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia 2 December 1991 – 7 February 1996: Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princess Maria Laura of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este, Princess Imperial of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia 7 February 1996 – present: Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princess Maria Laura of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este, Princess Imperial of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Princess of Modena All the children of the Archduke of Austria-Este, Prince Lorenz, bear the title "Prince(ss) of Belgium" by Belgian Royal Decree of 2 December 1991, in addition to their traditional Austrian and other titles.