Princess Beatrice, the Duke and Duchess of York's elder daughter, is planning to join the growing number of students rejecting British universities to study in America.

　　The princess, 17, intends to follow the example of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent's daughter, Lady Gabriella Windsor, and study at an American college.

　　Over the past decade, the Duchess of York has spent several months of every year in the United States and she has a home in New York. She earns an estimated ?2 million a year in America, with her most lucrative contract being to promote Weightwatchers.

　　The Duchess started spending more time in the US in order to pay off her ?3 million debt that she built up at the end of her failed marriage to Prince Andrew. The couple divorced in 1996 but remain close.

　　"America is her mother's second home now and Beatrice loves the idea of studying there," said a friend of the Yorks. "She hangs out at the Manhattan apartment her mother rents and loves the fact she can pretty much come and go as she pleases without having to worry about the paparazzi."

　　The princess, the fifth in line to the throne, is in the first year of her A-levels studies at St George's School, in Ascot, Berkshire, where the fees for boarders are more than ?21,000 a year. Her sister, Princess Eugenie, 15, attends Marlborough College, where fees for boarders are almost ?22,000 a year. Princess Beatrice achieved two A*s, two As and five Bs in her GCSEs earlier this year. The results were seen as impressive as she had been set back a year in school after being diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of seven.

　　She hopes to win a place at an Ivy League university - one of the eight most prestigious colleges in the US. If she wins a place, Princess Beatrice would join the growing number of British students who are choosing to pursue their studies in America, where there is world-class teaching, generous financial support and widely envied facilities.

　　The princess's choice of university may be influenced by Lady Gabriella, who graduated from Brown University, Rhode Island, last year. Tuition and fees at Brown, whose famous alumni include John Kennedy Jnr and Ted Turner, are $40,000 (?22,000) a year.

　　Lady Gabriella, 24, spent four years at Brown studying Spanish and English literature. She also met her boyfriend, Aatish Taseer, the son of a prominent Indian journalist, while at university in the US.

　　Princess Beatrice will be the first member of the Royal Family to attend university since her cousin, Prince William, graduated from St Andrews with a 2:1 in geography earlier this year.

　　She spoke recently about her struggle to overcome dyslexia, which affects reading and writing skills. "I have been given circumstances that anyone would wish for and I do believe that I must do something good with it," she said. "That was one of the reasons why I came out publicly to let people know I am dyslexic. It was my decision to do that because it is a problem helped by more people knowing about it."

英王位第5继承人比特莱斯公主向往美名校

　　英国安德鲁王子的长女、比特莱斯公主近日表示，她希望能在中学毕业后前往全球知名的美国常春藤盟校念大学。

　　据《每日电讯报》10月16日报道，现年17岁的比特莱斯公主是英国王位的第5继承人，她的父亲安德鲁王子(即约克公爵)为英女王伊丽莎白二世的次子。比特莱斯向往的大学是美国常春藤盟校中的一所。声名远扬的常春藤是哈佛、耶鲁和布朗大学等8所美国最富盛名的高等学府的总称。

　　2000年，英国肯特郡迈克亲王之女、加布里埃拉-温莎成为了常春藤盟校的新生。加布里埃拉在布朗大学学习西班牙和英国文学，并于去年毕业。在大学里，加布里埃拉还遇见了自己的白马王子——印度著名记者之子。或许加布里埃拉浪漫精彩的大学生活打动了比特莱斯，她很可能在选择具体的学校时参考加布里埃拉的意见。

　　据伦敦美国教育资讯机构的数据表明，目前，美国各高校共计接受了8000名英国学生，这一数字是3年前的3倍且还将不断增加。但由于高昂的学费(布朗大学每年的学费为4万美元)，选择常春藤盟校的学生仅是8年前的2倍。

　　比特莱斯公主是自威廉王子后第一个将要进入大学的英国王位继承人。目前，她正在圣-乔治中学进行中学高级水平考试课程(A-levels)的学习。在年初的英国普通中等教育证书考试中，比特莱斯取得了1个A和5个B的成绩。

　　尽管成绩一般，但对比特莱斯而言这已经很棒了。比特莱斯在7岁时被诊断出患有阅读障碍症，并因此休学一年。最近，比特莱斯向外界公开了自己克服阅读障碍症的经历。她说：“在与病魔作斗争的过程中，身边人不断地祝福坚定了我战胜困难的决心。这也是我决定向公众透露自己病情的原因，因为阅读障碍症需要引起更多人的关注。”

　　阅读障碍症的症状通常表现为患者注意力不集中，对词汇记忆、拼写、朗读存在一定的困难，对阅读无法产生兴趣；病因是由于眼睛在成像时发生畸变而无法正常阅读。

　　1996年，比特莱斯的父母、约克公爵夫妇离婚。近几年，公爵夫人为偿还离婚前欠下的300万英镑的债务，每年都要前往美国工作数月，并在纽约曼哈顿租下了一套公寓。据知情人士透露：“美国是她(比特莱斯)母亲的第2个家，比特莱斯很想去那儿念大学。她经常出现在母亲位于曼哈顿的公寓附近。在那里，她可以打扮得更加漂亮，并且出入自由。再也不必为狗仔队的纠缠而苦恼了。”(

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