A 20-year-old Belgium-based social-media user has gained viral attention after pointing out a striking similarity between most European royal heirs.
Thomas, who goes by u/biebrforro on the Reddit platform, highlighted that the descendants of many European royal households are members of Gen Z, thanks to being born between 1997 and 2012. While that may seem like an obvious point, with most parents with teenage or young adult children being Gen Xers or millennials, Thomas was intrigued by how royals raised with fast-evolving technology, social media, memes and AI would take to their thrones.
“I’m pretty interested in the royal families of Europe so I made that graphic myself,” Thomas told Newsweek. “And I’m Gen Z too and am personally a big fan of Princess Elisabeth of our country.
“But, for context, Ingrid, Estelle and George are second-in-line. All the rest are first-in-line, so basically only one death away from becoming monarch; for example, Prince William in England will be king before Prince George. Still, they are all heirs to the throne.”
Thomas had shared a collage to the platform’s r/genz forum, with images of a few European royal heirs. Included in his lineup are Princess Elisabeth of Belgium; Princess Ingrid Alexandria of Norway; Dutch Princess Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange; Prince Christian of Denmark; Princess Leonor of Spain; Princess Estelle of Sweden; and Britain’s Prince George of Wales.
Despite Prince George being born on July 22, 2013, making him a member of Gen Alpha, the other heirs are all born between 2001 and 2012, positioning them firmly in Gen Z. The eldest of the cohort, Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant, turned 24 on October 25.
While the post was meant to double up as some lighthearted fun for Thomas, a self-confessed fan of royal history, some viewers on Reddit took issue with there being so many titled heirs to thrones on the European continent.
“Honestly this is gross,” one viewer said. “Even if it is mostly symbolic, there’s no place for kings and queens in the modern era. It’s a system that inherently and irrevocably considers individuals as being better than everyone solely by virtue of birth.” Their comment has been upvoted more than 1,100 times.
“I don’t really care what other countries do but I’d never want a king or queen personally,” another added.
“Let’s hope that by the time they come around to taking office, monarchies are no longer a thing,” a third viewer shared.
Still, several responded more lightly to the Reddit post, which has been upvoted more than 5,000 times.
“I don’t see them as individuals, but a part of an important cultural institution,” one viewer said.
Another added: “[By the way] the three women at the top have admitted they’re in a WhatsApp group together. I’m just dying to know the name lol [laugh out loud].”
“Finally, Gen Z leaders. Some hope for a world where we all take ourselves a little less seriously,” a third shared.
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