Thursday, September 9, 2010

State Visit to Portugal - Day 2

The second day of the state visit began with Henri giving the welcome address at the Discover Luxembourg seminar hosted by Luxembourg for Finance and Luxembourg for Business. I wonder if he used the same speech Guillaume uses when he opens the Discover Luxembourg seminar or if it is customized for each location?

Later in the day everyone went to Cascais where the Grand Ducal Family spent the summer of 1940 in exile. Henri gave an emotional speech where he highlighted how difficult it was for his family to leave Luxembourg. He stated that the exile was the worst time of their lives. Prince Felix was praised for his wise advice. The family fled to London where a government in exile was set up. Charlotte gave frequent radio addresses from London.

Henri gave the mayor of Cascais a bust of Charlotte. He also expressed deep gratitude on behalf of himself and his family to the city and their hosts, the Espirito Santo family. The Grand Ducal Couple were made honorary citizens of Cascais and given a golden key to the city.

The Grand Duchess and the First Lady visited the Casa Sol. The establishment houses 22 children infected with HIV. The children greeted Maria Teresa with a song that they had prepared.

The First Lady is the patroness of the home. It is known that an expansion is greatly needed but cannot be furnished due to lack of funding. It is hoped that the visit of the ladies could draw much needed attention to the home and its wonderful mission. The foundation of The Grand Ducal Couple has offered support to the worthy cause!

The heads of state and their spouses also toured Castelo Sao Jorge in Lisbon, where they stopped to take in the magnificent view of the city below.

The events of the day were closed with a performance of the jazz quartet Demuth at the Jeronimos Monastery. The performance was offered by The Grand Ducal Couple to their hosts. Maria Teresa wore the same Elie Saab gown that she wore for the National Day Gala in June. She accentuated the gown with historic diamond and pearl jewelry from the grand ducal collection. She looked beautiful. The First Lady was well turned-out in an elegant black gown. The gentlemen looked stately and handsome.

Wort has an article covering the events of today with a photo gallery. The websites of The President and The First Lady each offer lovely and distinct visuals and information. The website of the Cour Grand-Ducale is also updated. Tageblatt offers coverage with many photographs. The galleries linked in the previous entry (Getty, Belga, ect...) have been updated. I encourage you to scroll down and revisit them. However, I feel that the pictures from the Portuguese websites were clearer, larger and nicer.

Thanks to everyone that provided links, photos and information...

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