Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Prince Josef completes Sandhurst

Prince Josef of Liechtenstein has completed his training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He "passed out" (this does not imply he fainted) on 11 December 2009 at the Sovereign's Parade. He also took part in the Commandants Parade 2 days earlier.

According to the Times his commission will be in Liechtenstein's armed forces which is odd considering that Liechtenstein does not maintain any armed forces. The times also erroneously styled him as His Royal Highness. Let's not allow the sloppy work of the times to distract from his achievement. Completing Sandhurst is no easy task.

Prince Josef is the second grandson of Grand Duke Jean to complete the training regimen at Sandhurst. Guillaume also completed Sandhurst. Felix, unfortunately, sustained a serious ski injury that prevented him from completing the program despite being among the best cadets in his class.

Prince Josef is the exceptionally attractive son of Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein and Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Annual Christmas Eve address 2009 - updated

The Grand Duke's annual Christmas Eve speech is now available. The written translations of the speech haven't been published yet but the video still nice.

Wort finally has an article on The Grand Duke's Christmas message which includes a brief description of some of the points covered. Original...Ghetto English. 

RTL also has a mention of the message with some description of the highlights and also offers the video. They also offer the text of the speech in French but their Luxembourgish link is broken.

Hereditary Grand Duke to open seminar in UAE and Bahrain

On Monday, 11 January 2010, Guillaume will give the welcome address at the Luxembourg, A Global Financial Services Center in Manama, Bahrain. The seminar will be held at the Hotel Ritz Carlton.

The Bahrain seminar is in partnership with Bahrain Associate of Banks, the Central Bank of Bahrain and Luxembourg for Finance. 

On Tuesday, 12 January 2010, Guillaume will give the welcome address at the Luxembourg, A Global Financial Services Center seminar in Dubai. The seminar will held at the Hotel Jumeirah Emirates Towers.

The Dubai seminar is in partnership with Luxembourg For Finance and Dubai International Finance Center.

Guillaume will be part of the mission to Dubai and Bahrain from 10-13 January 2010. He will be accompanied by Mr. Luc Frieden, Minister of Finance and representatives of the financial industry of Luxembourg.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Annual Christmas Eve address

Tomorrow the traditional Christmas Eve speech of The Grand Duke will be broadcast from the Yellow Room of the Grand Ducal Palace.

I'm pretty sure the speech is prerecorded because I think the family likes to pass the Christmas season at their chalet in Switzerland. If you are one of those people who just has to have a source for everything you can check old issues of the Spanish language magazine Vanidades.

In honor of the upcoming speech of The Duke I thought it would be a good time to reflect on last year's message. The text of his previous speech may be read in English, French, and Luxembourgish. You may also view his speech in Luxembourgish. I have attached the speech. Remember this is the message from last year. When the new message comes online I'll make a new post for it.

Christmas Eve broadcast 2008

Grand Ducal Palace

This year the Grand Ducal Palace attracted more than 10,000 visitors. The GDP is traditionally open from July to August each year. This coincides roughly with the time when The Grand Duke is on his annual holiday in Bromes-les-Mimosas in the South of France.

The proceeds of the guided tours are given to the foundation established by The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess early in their marriage. This year 28, 027 Euro has been paid to the foundation as a result of the tours.

I tried to find the website of the foundation with no luck. There used to be a website which seemed to always be under construction.

Article in ghetto English. 

Birthday of Princess Elisabeth

Yesterday, 22 December 2009, was the birthday of Princess Elisabeth of Luxembourg. She is the second child of the late Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg and her husband Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma (also created Prince of Luxembourg). As such, she is the younger sister of Grand Duke Jean and the aunt of Grand Duke Henri.

In 1956 she married HSH Prince Franz of Hohenberg. Prince Franz was the heir to the Ducal House of Hohenberg. The House of Hohenberg is a morgantic branch of the Imperial House of Habsburg. In 1962 Prince Franz became 2nd Duke of Hohenberg. When he became The Duke of Hohenberg he also acquired the higher style of His Highness. Princess Elisabeth and The Duke of Hohenberg had two daughters Princesses Anita and Sophie.

Friday, December 18, 2009

A new advisor for The Grand Duke

On 1 December 2009 Mr. Patrick Engelberg became the new Chief of Cabinet (Chef de Cabinet/Kabinettschef). Mr. Engelberg is the former Chief of Protocol for the Foreign Ministry. As the new Chief of Cabinet it is his privilege to advise The Grand Duke.

The post of Chief of Cabinet has been vacant since 2002. Mr. Albert Hansen was the last Chief.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Grand Duke receives Nobel Laureate

Papp received Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel at the Grand Ducal Palace yesterday. Elie was giving a lecture at the University of Luxembourg.

I absolutely love Elie Wiesel and have tremendous respect for him! I'm very pleased to see the Grand Duke hosting him. Surely everyone who can read this blog knows who Elie Wiesel is. If you aren't aware of who Elie is please visit the website of The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity and read about this amazing man and his foundation.

If you didn't already think Bernard Madoff was an example of the worst form of all around greedy dirt bag  then his fleecing of the Foundation for Humanity should be enough to convince you of it.

I looked around for more information on the audience and on the conference at the university but have been unable to locate anything else. I'll keep looking.

Grand Duke presents award

Henri presented Mr. Robert Schuler and Dr Charles Delagardelle the International Olympic Committee award for "Sport et Lutte contre le dopage"(literally Sport and the Fight Against Doping).

Dr. Delagardelle is the president of the Luxembourg Society of Sports Medicine. He is also a founding member of the Comité National de Lutte contre le Dopage dans le Sport (CNLDS. Mr. Schuler is also a founding member of the Comité National de Lutte contre le Dopage (National Committee to Fight Against Doping). In 1990 the CNLDS was renamed Agence luxembourgeoise antidopage (ALAD).

Both Dr. Delagardelle and Mr. Schuler have a long history of being involved in the fight against doping in Luxembourg sport.

Additional information can be found on he website of the Comite Olympique et Sportif Luxembourgeois in the news archives section.

The photograph on the official website page that I linked in the first paragraph is credited to Wort but I couldn't locate any information about this online.

I know It's been a slow news week related to the Luxembourg family. Don't fret soon we'll have The Grand Duke's Christmas message and the traditional New Year audiences at the GDP. The traditional reception for the Luxembourg Army and National Police should also be happening before Christmas. Tessy and Louis are back in Luxembourg for a bit and one assumes Felix has also arrived home for the holiday season so hopefully we'll have some nice new pics from the reception for the army and police. Personally, I'd like to see a picture of Grand Duke Jean with the family for the holidays.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Audience and anniversary

On 11 December Papp hosted architects and engineers of The Grand Duchy at the GDP.

On 9 December he was present at the Philharmonie for an "academic session" hosted by Le 
Fonds National de la Recherche (Foundation for National Research) in honor of their 10th anniversary. There were speeches a lecture on the importance of research excellence in smaller European countries and the FNR showcased their new promotional film "FNR: See what's behind it."

I know I was a little slow to update on this. I apologize. I had finals this week and I took a few days of much needed relaxation. I'm back on track now and there shouldn't be any other delays with my "DeLux" blogging.

Since it is the holiday season I assume that the Grand Ducal Family has or will be gathering for family time. Guillaume and Felix, my dears, it would be particularly wonderful if you could attend some event with a camera present. I'm just saying new pics would be a nice Christmas present. ;) Maybe Tessy and Louis could even appear since they've been off the radar in the US. I'm just saying....

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Grand Duke hosts audience

The Grand Duke received General Antonios Chatzidakis at the GDP. General Antonios Chatzidakis is the new general manager of NAMSA. NAMSA is the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency which appears to be based in Capellen, Luxembourg


On a side note, Revue has this old gallery of pics from National Day. 

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Grand Duke attends anniversary


The Grand Duke has attended the 100th anniversary celebration of the CGFP (Civil Servants Union) at the grand theater. The photo description of one of the pictures points out that for 100 years the CGFP has shaped the destiny of Luxembourg.

 I have had final exams for university last week and this week. I apologize for not being as interesting as usual. If this little blog could actually be considered interesting.

B-day

On 8 December Archduke Imre of Austira celebrated his 24th birthday. The Archduke is the second child Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg and her husband Archduke Carl-Christian of Austria. Princess Marie-Astrid and Archduke Carl-Christian are my favorite royal couple and Archduke Imre is among my favorite princes. He's in the top 5 most awesome category according to moi ;) So, Happy belated birthday Imre.

As usual, I've updated the b-day countdown. The next birthday in the family is Princess Elisabeth who will turn 87 years young on 22 December.

Friday, December 4, 2009

The funeral of Prince Alexander of Belgium


The Grand Duke attended the funeral of his uncle Prince Alexander of Belgium today in Laeken. His sisters Princess Margaretha and Princess Marie-Astrid also attended. Princess Marie-Astrid was accompanied by her husband Archduke Carl-Christian and his mother Archduchess Yolande (nee de Ligne).

Belga and PPE Agency each have a gallery of photos of the funeral.

King Albert II of the Belgians is now the only remaining biological uncle of The Grand Duke and his siblings. Their uncles King Baudouin of the Belgians and Prince Charles of Luxembourg died in 1993 and 1977, respectively. They have 5 surviving biological aunts. The surviving sisters of Grand Duke Jean are Princess Elisabeth, Princess Alix, and Princess Marie-Gabriele. Princess Marie-Adelaide predeceased them in 2007. Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte was survived by her younger (half) sisters Princess Marie-Christine and Princess Marie-Esmeralda.

I extend my deepest sympathy to the family of Prince Alexander. Despite being relatively unknown, he was one of my favorite princes and I am saddened by his sudden death.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Grand Duke to attend funeral

According to Royal Blog The Grand Duke will attend the funeral of his uncle Prince Alexander of Belgium. The funeral of Prince Alexander will be held tomorrow in Laeken. The Prince will be interred in a crypt in the chapel adjacent to the Royal Crypt at the Church of Our Lady.

It is not confirmed but I highly suspect that The Grand Duchess will be in attendance with Henri and that his sisters and their husband's (they are close to their Belgian relatives) will attend.

Prince Alexander,  born July 18, 1942, was the child of Leopold III, King of the Belgians and his second, much vilified, wife Princess Lilian (nee Baels). He died November 29, 2009 of an acute pulmonary embolism. He was predeceased by his elder (half) siblings Baudouin, King of the Belgians and Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte of Luxembourg. He is survived by his wife Lea who is styled as Princess Alexander of Belgium, his older (half) brother Albert II, King of the Belgians and his two younger sisters Princesses Marie-Christine and Marie-Esmeralda of Belgium.

I've read many comments since the death of Prince Alexander about the relationship between himself and his siblings. I consider several of these comments to be in bad taste. Prince Alexander seemed to enjoy a good relationship with his elder siblings from the first marriage of their father. The same cannot always be said for his younger sister Princess Marie-Christine who had a rather difficult relationship with not only their siblings but their parents. The relationship between the children of Queen Astrid and their step mother couldn't have been as bad as the press leads us to believe considering that Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte named her first child after both her mother and her step-mother.

I just want to point out that I am really not comfortable with the term "half uncle" that other people seem to prefer. I'm only moderately more comfortable with the term "half brother." I have five "half uncles" and and two "half aunts." They would feel insulted and disrespected if I ever introduced them as my "half" aunt or uncle. I understand that, perhaps, this term is useful from a genealogical prospective but I have a hard time accepting that any person of decorum would use the term "half uncle" while referring to their relatives. Seriously, either your an uncle or you aren't. Does a "half" uncle somehow act as an uncle only half of the time?

Tuesday, December 1, 2009


The Grand Ducal Couple together with Guillaume received the officials of the community of Sant' Edidio at Schloss Berg in Colmar-Berg.

The Community of Sant'Edidio is a Catholic lay organisation. The community is active in charitable works and peace negotiations.