Education
In Canada, Princess Beatrix attended nursery and primary school. On her return to the Netherlands, she continued her primary education at The Workshop (De Werkplaats), Kees Boeke’s progressive school in Bilthoven.
In April 1950, Princess Beatrix entered the Incrementum, part of the Baarns Lyceum, where she passed her school-leaving examinations in arts subjects and classics in 1956.
University
In the same year, the Princess enrolled as a student at Leiden University. She was also an active member of the Leiden Women Students’ Association. In her first years at university, she attended lectures in sociology, jurisprudence, economics, parliamentary history and constitutional law. Later she also attended lectures on the cultures of Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles, the Charter of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, international affairs, international law, history and European law.
While at university, the Princess visited various European and international organisations in Geneva, Strasbourg, Paris and Brussels. In the summer of 1959, she passed her preliminary examination in law, and obtained her degree in July 1961.
In 2005, the Queen received an honorary doctorate from the University of Leiden, in recognition of the attention she has focused on freedom and the responsibilities that go with it.