Before, during and in the aftermath of the grand ducal wedding last months, there were questions arising about the new Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie and her life before we got to know her, so this post is trying to answer some of those questions...
Photo: Cour grand-ducale |
Then
Countess Stéphanie started her primary education at the Dutch-speaking school Sancta
Maria in Ronse. The first two years of her secondary education, she spent at
the Collège Sainte-Odile in Lambersart, Northern France. Afterwards she
transferred to the Brussels-based Institut de la Vierge Fidèle.
She
graduated from secondary education in 2002. Afterwards she spent a year in the Russian
capital Moscow to learn Russian and take violin classes. After returning from
Russia, she then spent 3 months in Munich to learn German.
She
started her university education at the Université
catholique de Louvain, where she would spend the next three years to study
Germanic Philology. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree with distinction. After
graduating, she moved to Berlin, Germany, where she attended the Humboldt University for
her Master’s studies. She wrote her Master’s thesis in German about the
influence of German romanticism on Russian literature using the examples of
E.T.A. Hoffmann and Alexander Pushkin.
After
finishing up university, she decided to stay in Berlin for a year and did an
internship at the L'Agence Wallone à l'Exportation at the Belgian embassy. When
she returned to Belgium, she started to work in an investment firm in Brussels. During this time she lived at her family's home in the Belgian capital.
Photo: Cour grand-ducale |
Being
involved in voluntary work, Stéphanie has made many trips with youth groups. In
her free time, she enjoys skiing and swimming.
On April
27th, 2012, she was introduced to the public when she announced her
engagement with Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume. The two had been a couple for
a few years, after being introduced by mutual friends a few years earlier. Even
though there was an instant connection, the two lost track of one another before
finally starting to date.
Photo: Christian Aschman / Cour grand-ducale |
Upon her
marriage to the Hereditary Grand Duke – civilly on October 19th and
religiously on October 20th, 2012 – she gained Luxembourgish
citizenship. From the religious wedding on, she is known as “Her Royal Highness
Princess Stéphanie, the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Hereditary
Princess of Nassau and Princess de Bourbon de Parme”.
Since
June 2012, she has been a member of the board of directors of the Fondation du
Grand-Duc et de la Grande-Duchesse. Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie has
expressed the wish to dedicate some of her time fighting solitude in all age
groups.
No comments:
Post a Comment