Monday, August 9, 2010

Den Ierfgroussherzog

Guillaume hasn't been getting much attention lately. I thought I'd write a little something about him and the preparations he has undertaken to prepare himself for his position. I would also like to point out a few pretty obvious inaccuracies that I frequently read online.

The then Hereditary Grand Duke Henri and the lovely Hereditary Grand Duchess Maria Teresa welcomed itty-bitty baby Guillaume to the world 11 November 1981. The sound of cannons announced his birth while many Luxembourgers were having their lunch.

Prince Guillaume became The Hereditary Grand Duke on 18 December 2000.

Guillaume began his educational career at Ecole de Lorentzweiler and continued to Lycée Robert Schuman. He then attended the exclusive and oh-so-expensive College Alpin Beau Soleil in Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland where he received his French Baccalaureate in 2001.

Guillaume undertook a 44 week commissioning course at The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. His family attended his passing out parade on 9 August 2002. In December he took the oath as an officer in the Luxembourg Army. He now holds the rank of Major.

At some point after this Guillaume entered Durham University in the UK. He did not complete a degree. Some sources try to paint a picture of Guillaume literally failing out of the university. I do not seriously entertain that possibility.

Wikipedia states that Guillaume attended and graduated from Brunel University. Maybe he did attend the university but I do not believe he received a degree. From 2003-2005 Guillaume undertook various internships in Belgium, England and Spain.

In 2006 Guillaume entered Institut Philanthropos in Fribourg, Switzerland. (I didn't mention this before because I didn't want to draw attention to the school while Imre or Christoph were students). They do not offer programs in international politics. Logically, this indicates that Guillaume also studied somewhere else in Switzerland. If he didn't then person that wrote his official biography for the Grand-Ducal Court has a very different concept of what constitutes "geopolitics" than I.

Sometime after he completed the program at Philanthropos he arrived in Angers, France. In Angers he attended the Institut Albert le Grand. The Institut Albert le Grand and Université Angers have a partnership agreement. The humanities and political science program is completed at Albert le Grand and the degree is issued by Université Angers. Guillaume completed the program with honors in 2009.

This brings me to the reason why I do not believe Guillaume received a degree from Brunel.....The press release acknowledging his completion of the program stated that he received a "Licence." The Licence is not a Masters level program. It is the equivalent of what the English speaking world calls a Bachelor Degree. Both Institut Albert le Grand and Université Angers clearly differentiate between the "Licence" and the "Masters." Additionally, it is easy to obtain information on the French system of qualifications and their foreign equivalent. If Guillaume had received his Bachelor Degree at Brunel (or anywhere else) he would not have taken the Licence program in Angers. This would have been a waste of his time and money. Why would any reasonable person complete the same degree at two different schools? They wouldn't.

There was a time when I thought that Guillaume had received a degree from Brunel and that he earned a Masters at Angers. You may have noticed that I am now slightly better informed. ;)

Guillaume takes an active role in the Kraizbierg Foundation and the Board of Economic Development. He is also a member of the Council of State. Of all the Grand Duke's children only Guillaume is fully fluent in Luxembourgish, French, English, German and Spanish.

The number of engagements undertaken by The Hereditary Grand Duke increased dramatically following the completion of his Licence. I surmise that he is now working full time in his role.

6 comments:

  1. I love his explanation to my dear friend, you belong to the circle of friends of the Royal House, or is journalist? Because much of this Royal House thereon

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  2. Question: what does den lerfgroussherzog means?

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  3. It is "The Hereditary Grand Duke" in Luxembourgish.

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  4. guillaume disappeared? I miss him!

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  5. any news of him??? he really disappeared..

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  6. He's been on holiday. I believe he has a busy month planned for October.

    I miss him too.

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