Ten years ago today Grand Duke Jean signed the act of abdication. With this simple act he ended his 36 year reign. At that moment, Son Altesse Royale le Grand-Duc héritier became le Grand-Duc de Luxembourg and young Prince Guillaume became le Prince Héritier de Luxembourg*.
Little more than two months later le Grand-Duc formally bestowed the title and position of le Grand-Duc Héritier on le Prince Héritier. With this action Guillaume was formally recognized as heir to the throne and the family trust. This not only cemented Guillaume's position as heir (not like that was ever in doubt) it allowed Guillaume to take up the necessary responsibilities.
Despite a few bumps along the road Henri is a stellar grand duke. The family remains popular. I certainly have respectful and warm feelings toward them.
Wort has a gallery of visuals covering Henri's enthronement and the first decade of his reign. RTL went all out with photos, sound bites and a wonderful interview with Henri (in Luxembourgish) marking the 10th anniversary of his reign. Ademar prepared several pages covering the events of 2000. Several magazines in Luxembourg have commemorative issues available in print to mark the anniversary (Revue, et al...). Promi, on the other hand, decided that this would be an excellent time to start pre-sales of their "scandalous" book on the Grand Ducal Family (yawn).
Wort provides a nice interview with Henri. I've had the link set on auto-translate for you. I found it interesting that he said he and Guillaume do not always agree on their vision for Luxembourg. The article provides some other interesting links.
*le Prince Héritier is the official styling of the heir to reigning Grand Duke (or Grand Duchess) prior to their creation as le Grand-Duc Héritier. The title le Prince Héritier is automatic while le Grand-Duc Héritier is not.
Little more than two months later le Grand-Duc formally bestowed the title and position of le Grand-Duc Héritier on le Prince Héritier. With this action Guillaume was formally recognized as heir to the throne and the family trust. This not only cemented Guillaume's position as heir (not like that was ever in doubt) it allowed Guillaume to take up the necessary responsibilities.
Despite a few bumps along the road Henri is a stellar grand duke. The family remains popular. I certainly have respectful and warm feelings toward them.
Wort has a gallery of visuals covering Henri's enthronement and the first decade of his reign. RTL went all out with photos, sound bites and a wonderful interview with Henri (in Luxembourgish) marking the 10th anniversary of his reign. Ademar prepared several pages covering the events of 2000. Several magazines in Luxembourg have commemorative issues available in print to mark the anniversary (Revue, et al...). Promi, on the other hand, decided that this would be an excellent time to start pre-sales of their "scandalous" book on the Grand Ducal Family (yawn).
Wort provides a nice interview with Henri. I've had the link set on auto-translate for you. I found it interesting that he said he and Guillaume do not always agree on their vision for Luxembourg. The article provides some other interesting links.
*le Prince Héritier is the official styling of the heir to reigning Grand Duke (or Grand Duchess) prior to their creation as le Grand-Duc Héritier. The title le Prince Héritier is automatic while le Grand-Duc Héritier is not.
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