Sunday, June 30, 2013

About Parisian Galas and Viennese Balls

Photo: Getty Images
Already in the first half of this month, on 11 June to be exact, and wholly unnoticed by moi, a gala dinner hosted by the World Monuments Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites, took place at the Hôtel de Talleyrand in Paris. Among the names on the guest list full of royals, nobles and otherwise societal figures were Prince Philipp and Princess Isabelle, who have made the outskirts of Paris their home many years ago.

More pictures of the gala which was also attended by Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este as well as Prince Michel and Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon Parma are located at Getty Images.

Photo: Christian Mikes / Society24.at
Last Friday about 1000 kilometres further east and slightly south, Prince Constantin's wife Princess Marie mingled with the Viennese society at the Fête Imperiale held at the Winter Riding School of the Spanish Riding School located at the Hofburg in Vienna.

For the forth years in a row, the stunning Winter Riding School, where the famous Lippizaner horses usually give their performances, was transformed into a ballroom for a night. The Spanish Riding School is no stranger to society events and already played host to Empress Maria Theresa's legendary gatherings during the 18th century. All proceeds of the summer ball help to protect Europe's oldest cultural horse breed and to preserve the quality of the Spanish Riding School.

More visuals of Vienna's only summer ball can be found at Society24.at.


Sources: Fête Imperiale, Society24.at, Getty Images

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Representing Liechtenstein

Photo: 1 FL TV
The trainees of the Swiss diplomatic and consular service visited Liechtenstein over the past two days in order to get an impression and to learn about the Principality which many of them will represent diplomaticly in the future. During their visit, they were received at Schloss Vaduz by Prince Hans-Adam II.

As Liechtenstein is a pretty small country, the country only maintains few diplomatic missions in other countries. The Principality has embassies in Austria, which also serves for the Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, the United States of America as well as a non-resident ambassador to the Holy See. In addition, it has permanent representations in Brussels, Geneva, Strasbourg and New York City to the different major multilateral organisations as well as a bunch of consulates. In all other countries, Liechtenstein is represented by Switzerland who also offer all services to Liechtensteiners that they offer their own citizens.

A video of the trainees visiting the Prince can be found at 1 FL TV.


Friday, June 28, 2013

Official Visit to Singapore *

Photo: MFA
Since Wednesday, Hereditary Prince Alois has been visiting Singapore for a bunch of things. Singapore's prime minister Lee Hsien Loong invited the Liechtenstein regent for his second official visit to the Southeast Asian country. The Hereditary Prince was accompanied by his country's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Education and Culture, Dr Aurelia Frick, as well as a delegation consisting of officials and businessmen as well as the prince's uncle Prince Philipp and his brother Prince Max with wife Princess Angela but more on that in a second.

Over the last few days, Hereditary Prince Alois has met with different Singaporean officials, ranging from aforementioned prime minister, president Tony Tan Keng Yam, to the ministers of foreign affairs, trade and finance. During the course of the meetings a double tax agreement was signed. The Hereditary Prince also was the guest of honour at the official opening of the Consulate of the Principality of Liechtenstein and held a lecture at the National University of Singapore talking about "The Chances and Challenges of Liechtenstein". In addition, there were several business meetings to talk about possible investements in Singapore and Liechtenstein.

Photo: PD / Liechtensteiner Vaterland / Vaterland.li
The highlight of the Singapore visit  - at least for all art lovers and the purpose of this blog - was the opening of the exhibition "Princely Treasures of the House of Liechtenstein" at the National Museum of Singapore on Wednesday night. As the art exhibit is sponsored by the family-owned LGT Group, it's not too surprising - though very nice nonetheless - that the Hereditary Prince was joined by his brother Prince Max, CEO and president, who brought along his wife Princess Angela, as well as their uncle Prince Philipp, who is the chairman of the board of trustees of the LGT.

(In case you can't locate them on the picture, have a look at our Who's Who to identify them.)

The exhibition consisting of 91 art works owned by the Princely Family is currently touring Asia; earlier this year it was viewable in three Japanese cities and it will move to Beijing and Shanghai later on. The Princely Family owns what is considered one of the most important private art collections in the whole world. The exhibition in Singapore will run until 29 September.

More information and pictures are located at Volksblatt, Vaterland, the website of the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Presseportal which features the press release of the Liechtenstein government. You can also enjoy a news video of the visit at Channel News Asia - A special thanks to the always informative Royal Correspondent who sent in the link! - and one by Loo & Partners LLP on Youtube.


Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore, IKR

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Happy Birthday, Tageblatt

Photo: Gerry Huberty / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu
The Tageblatt, Luxembourg's second biggest newspaper, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and they had a big birthday bash at the Grand Théâtre earlier tonight. The Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess where on hand to participate in the festivities which included a discussion forum about the role and responsibility of publishers. Founded as the Escher Tageblatt by Paul Schroell, its first edition was published on 30 June 1913.

Pictures of the celebrations are located at Tageblatt and Wort in German.


Source: Wort

Planes, Pictures and a Handshake

Photo: Cour grand-ducale
Earlier today, Grand Duke Henri welcomed Zafer Çağlayan, Turkey's minister of the economy, at the palais for an audience during which they obviously shook hands though not much else is known. Mr Çağlayan arrived in the Grand Duchy yesterday with the first Turkish Airlines' direct flight between Istanbul and Luxembourg which will now be continued daily.

While nothing has yet become known about the garden party held at the Château de Berg on Monday night, the cour went artsy by releasing a bunch of black and white pictures of the torchlight parade on the eve of National Day.


Source: Cour grand-ducale, Wort

Sartorius Wedding

Photo: Hola
As mentioned before, the 5th Marquis of Mariño also known as Luis Sartorius, younger brother of Isabel Sartorius, most famously the former girlfriend of the Prince of Asturias, tied the knot with his long-time girlfriend and mother of his two children, Bárbara Pérez, last Saturday. Luis Sartorius is also the stepson of Princess Nora of Liechtenstein, who was the groom's late father's second wife.

So naturally Princess Nora (first row on the left) and her daughter Teresa (second row, third from the right) were also among the guests for the nuptials that were held at the beautiful Castillo de Belmonte in the Spanish province of Cuenca which is owned by the family of Javier Fitz-James Stuart Soto, father of Isabel Sartorius' daughter Mencia and good friend of the groom.

Source: Hola

Church and State

Photo: Liechtensteiner Volksblatt
Last night, Prince Nikolaus discussed matters of state and church in Schaan, Liechtenstein's biggest municipality. Other guests at the discussion forum included Adrian Hasler, the head of government, and Daniel Hilti, mayor of Schaan. The unbundling of church and state has been a topic that has kept the Principality busy for years.

The discussion was initiated by Prince Hans-Adam II after the erection of the archbishopric of Vaduz by the Holy See. (It is generally said that the the Princely Family did not like the move which was largely regarded as an act to settle quarrels in the Chur diocese to which Liechtenstein belonged before. The Liechtenstein-born former bishop of Chur, Wolfgang Haas, who then became the archbishop of Chur is a controversial figure to say the least.) In 1997, the Prince said that the strong linking between state and church was against the freedom of worship. Since then politicians have worked unbundle matters of state and church; the country has also worked on a concordat with the Holy See. As Liechtenstein's ambassador to the Holy See, Prince Nikolaus has been heavily involved in the whole process and headed the country's delegation who worked on the concordat.

More information and another picture can be found at Vaterland.


Source: Liechtensteiner Volksblatt

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Grand Duke's Brothers Willing to Appear in Court

The cour grand-ducale has issued a statement regarding Prince Jean and Prince Guillaume in relation to the Bommeleeër case stating that both will appear in court to make their witness statements. (Have a look at our recent post as to why the Grand Duke's brothers are due to appear in court anyway.)

The statement of the cour reads that both Prince Jean and Prince Guillaume have already demonstrated their will to fulfill their civic duties by appearing in front of the court back in February when all called witnesses had to be appear in court at the beginning of the Bommeleeër trial. They will continue to do so by testifying in front of the court when called upon and have at no point in time considered to make provision of article 510 and following of the Code d’instruction criminelle which would allow princes and princesses as well as other dignitaries of the Empire - it was written in 1812... - not to testify. The cour also lets everyone know that the princes can't wait to hear about the outcome of the trial hoping that it will shed some light on the matter.


Source: RTL

Monday, June 24, 2013

The Hereditary Grand Duchess

Getty Images / Daylife / Charles Caratini / SIP / Guy Wolff / Cour grand-ducale
Eight months ago, Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy married Luxembourg's Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume in a lavish [Note: I feel like everyone who writes about royal weddings always uses that word as if they were sent into the dungeon in case they didn't. So just to make sure that I don't...] two-day-event. This weekend, she experienced her very first National Day in her new country. She welcomed the people of Colmar-Berg at the local castle, she visited Esch-sur-Alzette, watched the torchlight parade at the Place Guillaume II, attended the first interconfessional Te Deum, sat (and stood) through the military parade, and got the chance to dress up for the gala event

Why I am telling you all of this? The peeps over at RTL have made a special report about Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie's first National Day and you can watch it right here. The video also reveals that we can look forward to September as the Hereditary Grand Ducal couple is planning to meet with the press to give interviews after the summer is over.

Moi took the occasion to show you all of Stéphanie's tiara appearances - one of my favourite topics, if you hadn't guessed already - once again. In only eight months, she showed us five different sparklers on her head. (That's five more than we've seen on a certain Monégasque Princess in two years.)  For all the criticising I sometimes do, I really love how she's digging deep into the vaults and brings out a lot of long unseen pieces though also knows when to go for the family's more substantial and important pieces.

National Day Gala *

Photo: Charles Caratini / SIP
Drumroll please... To my and hopefully also your utter delight, there was a picture of the gala event of the Luxembourgish national day celebrations released. Let's pause for a moment of applause here.

Alright... Both Grand Duchess Maria Teresa and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie are wearing gowns that we have seen on them before. The Grand Duchess is sporting the same Elie Saab gown that she wore to the pre-wedding dinner of her oldest son last October which she topped off with the Belgian Scroll Tiara and rather substantial pearl earrings. Meanwhile, the Hereditary Grand Duchess is is repeating the pink Valentino dress she wore to the private birthday ball of Princess Maria Galitzine and Nina Peers de Nieuwburgh.

Let's pause for another moment of applause for what is happening on Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie her head, shall we? We shall!

Photos: Getty Images / Charles Caratini / SIP / Cour grand-ducale
Once again she dug deep into the family's jewel vault - I love her for that! - and unearthed another rarely seen tiara of the Grand Ducal Family. In fact, it is a bit of a mystery one. For a long time, many of us, including humble me, assumed that the amethyst tiara worn by Grand Duchess Maria Teresa on the left picture was a remodelling of the amethyst and pearl or diamond tiara worn by Princess Marie-Astrid during the 1970's and 1980's (right picture). Thanks to the Hereditary Grand Duchess, we now know that the amethyst and pearl or diamond tiara is still in existence. Well done, your highness!

In not the most surprising move of the year, Grand Duke Henri and Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume looked dashing in their black gala uniforms of the Luxembourgish army, which they top of with the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau.

Let's hope that the Grand Ducal gods - also known as the cour - will be generous with us and also release pictures of Prince Louis, Princess Tessy and Princess Alexandra attending the gala reception (if they were present) for the members of the government, the bureau of the Chamber of Deputies, the Council of State, representatives of the judiciary, heads of the administration and foreign ambassadors.

You can catch a few glimpses of the gala reception in this RTL video (starting at 2:33).

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Meanwhile in Liechtenstein

Photo: VolksblattTV
While we were busy keeping up with the Luxembourg's who celebrated their national day this weekend, the Liechtenstein's were also out and about celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Harmoniemusik Vaduz, a wind orchestra, and the 66th wind orchestra music festival. (Indeed, I have no idea how to translate Verbandsmusikfest. If you do, let me know!) On the occasion, they had organised a weekend full of music and fun.

On Friday night, there was the opening event including a jubilee concert of the Harmoniemusik Vaduz together with the Christoph Walter Showorchestra. Hereditary Prince Alois and Hereditary Princess Sophie were the guests of honour at the event. 

Photo: Liechtensteiner Volksblatt / Volksblatt.li
Also spotted among the festival goers but in a much less official function was Princess Marie. It seems that the wife of the nominal head of state simply went to town to enjoy a bit of music, drinks and general fun. I could not spot her at any of the seriously official events - though she did take some pictures with some jubilarians - but rather seated at one of the tables at the party tent chatting with members of the government and other, I presume, important Liechtensteiners.

Pictures of weekend are located at Vaterland and Volksblatt, a video of the Friday event by Volksblatt on Youtube and another one (starting at 2:48) including an interview with the Hereditary Prince at 1 FL TV.


Source: Volksblatt

National Day: Pictures and Videos **

To make it easier for both you and me, here's a simple list of pictures and videos of today's and yesterday's national day celebrations.

Esch

Eschweiler

Torchlight parade

Te Deum

Military parade

Joint galleries

(Not Only) Military Parade

Photos: RTL
Following the Te Deum it was time for yet another parade after last night's with the torchlights. This time around, it was a more official one. After all other dignitaries had arrived on site, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie maneuvered their hats out of the limousine to be greeted by prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, minister of defense Jean-Marie Halsdorf and a couple of other guys.

A few minutes later, Grand Duke Henri and Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume arrived at the Avenue de la Liberté to inspect the military and police forces. Afterwards, a parade of all things military, police, rescue and all kinds of other stuff followed. As you probably guessed already, even though it's called military parade, the hour long parade doesn't only consist of soldiers marching in front of the Grand Ducal Family.

Te Deum

Photos: RTL
Shortly before the clock struck ten this morning, the Grand Ducal Family arrived for the tradition Te Deum, one of the official celebrations of the National Day. For the first time in history, it was an interconfessional service and the Catholic archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich was joined by Alain Nacache, the chief rabbi of Luxembourg, Messouad Atrous, imam of the Muslim community, and Spyridon Tsekouras, priest of the Greek Orthodox Church.

And a rather surprising move, Prince Louis and Princess Tessy joined those we already saw yesterday - Grand Duke Henri, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie and Princess Alexandra to name them - for today's festivities. A very welcome move at that!

To give you the sartorial rundown: the Grand Duchess is wearing Armani - that's a first, methinks - and a hat that looks like Philip Treacy, the Hereditary Grand Duchess is wearing Weill - see her coat here - and Princess Alexandra wears Natan and it looks like it - make of that comment whatever you want. 

Sadly, Pierre Dillenburg got a little confused when informing the viewers about the dressmakers. When Princess Tessy arrived, he said that she was also wearing Weill but later, when Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie arrived, he corrected himself saying that it was her who is wearing Weill and not Princess Alexandra. Go figure! Wouldn't surprise me though if Tessy's hat turns out to be Fabienne Delvigne.

First visuals can be found at RTL. More pictures to come later when they arrive, so make sure to check back later today. Next up is the military parade where we will see the Grand Ducal and the Hereditary Grand Ducal couples.

National Day: How to Watch It Live

Today is Luxembourg's National Day and both RTL and Wort are streaming the official celebrations live. RTL's live coverage of the day starts at 10am. The Te Deum is expected to commence at 10:30 and ends at about 11:15. The subsequent military parade will start at 12:00 (the broadcast at 11:40) and will also be shown live by RTL. Their coverage of the day's activities ends at 1pm. I expect Wort to have a similar schedule.
      
In case you are not able to watch it but would like to know what goes on anyway, I will live-tweeting the event on Twitter (@SydneyLux). You can also ask questions and such which I will try to answer to the best of my knowledge. Of course we will also be covering the celebrations right here on the blog. As RTL usually uploads the videos afterwards, you won't miss anything if you can't watch it live.

Liechtenstein Side Notes

The seemingly always travelling Prince Philipp was in Au in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland on last Thursday. In front of the local Rotary Club he held a speech about the "Responsibility of the Citizen - the Citizen as Sovereign", one of his family's favourite topics.

Next week, Hereditary Prince Alois will pay a visit to Singapore. Among other more political stuff, the Hereditary Prince will open the exhibition "Princely Treasures of the House of Liechtenstein" at the National Museum in Singapore. The delegation with which he travels will also be visiting Hong Kong but it's not yet clear - to me, I'm sure they know - whether Hereditary Prince Alois will accompany them.

On 25 June, Prince Nikolaus will participate in a discussion forum about state and church and the seperation of the two, a topic currently much debated in the Principality. The panel will take place in Schaan and other participants include the head of government, Adrian Hasler.

On 28 June, Princess Marie, the wife of Prince Constantin, will be among the guests at the summer ball of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. It's a charity event in support of the additional riding school for Lipizzan horses located at the Hofburg. Considering the fact that Prince Philipp's wife, Princess Isabelle, has attended many of their events in the past, I wouldn't be too surprised to see her either.


Sources: RC Au, Vienna.at, Volksblatt, Vaterland

Torchlights, Music and Fun *

Photos: RTL
As already mentioned, Princess Alexandra was the only one of the Grand Ducal Couple's children not living in the Grand Duchy who made her way to Luxembourg for this year's national day celebrations. Pretty in pink, she accompanied her parents, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, and her oldest brother, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, and his wife, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie, to the Place Guillaume II only a stone's throw from the palais grand-ducal to watch the traditional torchlight procession.

The parade took longer than expected and was over after about two hours at midnight. I did notice some yawning on the Hereditary Grand Duke's part towards the end. Let's hope he gets a good night's sleep and will be bright as a daisy for tomorrow's activities. Before the yawning started, he, however, seem to have a lot of fun watching the parade and trying to keep track, with a little help from mayor Xavier Bettel, of which group was just marching right in front of them - the whole order of the procession can be found here.

The fun seem to been expanded to Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa as well. Sadly, the cameras mainly focused on the four aforementioned people when showing the VIP stand but I'm assuming that the Hereditary Grand Duchess and Princess Alexandra didn't have the worst time either.

Not sure whether it's just been the case because the traditional parade was expanded with additional parts to celebrate the 1050th birthday of the city of Luxembourg but, at times, it seemed to me that the city's whole population was either part of the parade or watched from the sides. It felt like they were hundreds of groups ranging from A to Z  - you can basically insert anything that comes to your mind here as there were so many; there were scouts, music groups, sports clubs, people in traditional costumes, folklore groups, religious groups, the military, and, and, and. All of them with torchlights (the grown-ups) or lanterns (the children) firmly in hand.

To celebrate the city's anniversary, the parade also included four parts to represent Luxembourg through the times. First the middle ages, then the fortress city and via the 19th and 20th century to  Europe and the rose city.

I really appreciated the cheeriness of the members of the Grand Ducal Family who clapped and waved along the whole time. At one point, one of the music groups sang a Luxembourgish folksong to which the Grand Duke, the Grand Duchess and the Hereditary Grand Duke full-throatedly sang along. Every once in a while, members of the family were also presented with gifts by the different groups.

The evening ended with fireworks over the Pont d'Adolph. Tomorrow, there are going to be the official celebrations for the actual national day. The Te Deum starts at 10:30am CET, RTL's broadcast alread half an hour earlier. Have a look here for the schedule. That's it for tonight. Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite!

Pictures are available at Tageblatt, Wort in French, Wort in German and Wort in English.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Torchlight Procession Live

Photo: RTL
After the Grand Duke and Duchess visited Eschweiler and the Hereditary Grand Duke and Duchess visited Esch earlier today, the family reunited for tonight's torchlight procession in Luxembourg City and brought Princess Alexandra along for the fun. If you like, you can watch it here.

Esch, Eschweiler and More **

Photo: RTL
On the occasion of National Day, Grand Duke Henri and very chic Grand Duchess Maria Teresa visited Eschweiler in Northern Luxembourg today. With a population of little more of 800 people in the entire commune which also includes Erpeldange and Knaphoscheid, Eschweiler is one of the smallest communes in the entire Grand Duchy so you can imagine what a big event the visit was.

At 5pm, the couple was welcomed in Eschweiler by by ministers Marco Schank, Romain Schneider and Martine Hansen as well as the town's mayor, François Rossler, and a couple of other important people.

The Grand Ducal Couple psaid a visit the Haus Edith Stein, a house for women in distress established by the Fondation Maison de la porte ouverte and the ministry for equal opportunities. Afterwards they were received a short presentation about the Oesling region covering the Northern part of the Grand Duchy and visited the local church. They will also be laid a wreath of flowers at the war memorial.

After an official reception at the town hall including speeches as well as a short concert by the children's choir of the local primary school and another performance of children, they got the chance to mingle with the people of Eschweiler, before making their way home again.

Pictures of the visit to Eschweiler are located at RTL and Wort in German.

Photo: RTL
Meanwhile, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie - who is on a roll fashion-wise - visited Esch-sur-Alzette in the south of the country. It is a tradition that members of the family visit the Grand Duchy's second largest town on theh eve of National Day. (To see just how far back the tradition goes, have a look at our gallery of visuals of the visits to Esch.) This year, their visit has also been incorporated into their tour of the country which will lead them to the country's 15 Centres de Développement et d’Attraction.
 
Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie will be arrived in Esch-Belval, a former brownfield turned scientific and cultural centre, at 4:45pm. At the Avenue de Rock'n'Roll, they were welcomed by an array of politicians including prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, ministers Mars di Bartolomeo, Jean-Marie Halsdorf and Marc Spautz as well as Lydia Mutsch, mayor of Esch-sur-Alzette.

After a short walk through the Avenue de Rock'n'Roll, they were also be greeted by Olivier Toth, general director of the Rockhal, Luxembourg's biggest concert hall, and Josée Hansen, chair of the board of directors. To kick off their visit, they had a look at the "Main Hall", the major concert hall, and the "Club", a smaller concert hall. Afterwards, the Hereditary Grand Ducal Couple got a taste of music by listening to the rehearsals for this year's "Screaming Fields", a music competition for student bands. They also met with members of the hardcore band Blood to Prove.

In addition, the couple also visited the Massenoire building which houses the exhibitions "Belval&more" about the historical and contemporary context of Belval and "Public Art Experience" where they viewed a presentation about the future university district planned on site, the Cité des Sciences

Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie subsequently proceeded to the Place de la Résistance where they laid a wreath at the war memorial. They then made their way to the town hall of Esch-sur-Alzette.

The couple also got the chance to witness the performances of young gymnasts of Espérance Esch, the country's largest sports club celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Afterwards they watched a parade of different clubs and associations of the town. After a short reception hosted in their honour, the Hereditary Grand Duke and Duchess made a short appearance on the balcony of the town hall, before they mingled with the population at the Escher Volleksfest and also lit a fire together with the scouts.

Visuals of the Esch adventures are available at RTL, Wort in German, Wort in English and Tageblatt. RTL has a video.

In his address on the occasion on the National Day, prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker thanked the Grand Duke and Duchess and the Hereditary Grand Duke and Duchess for their hard work for the good of the country.


Source: CGD, Gouvernement

National Day: Schedule

This weekend is Luxembourg's weekend of the year! Tomorrow is the country's National Day but celebrations are already kicking off today. Tomorrow's festivities will be shown live on TV and also be streamed by the country's biggest newspaper, Wort - we will make sure to post links in time. Until then, here's an exhaustive (and exhausting) schedule about what will go on in the Grand Duchy Grand Ducal Family-wise in relation to National Day.

Palais grand-ducal

National Day traditionally starts with the changing of the guard at the palais in the afternoon hours. It's not a major celebration and thus there isn't any royal attendance but a nice little spectacle nonetheless.

Esch-sur-Alzette

The Hereditary Grand Duke and his +1 - this year for the first of many times his wife, the Hereditary Grand Duchess - traditionally visit Luxembourg's second biggest town, Esch-sur-Alzette, on the eve of National Day. This year, their visit has also been incorporated into their tour of the country which will lead them to the country's 15 Centres de Développement et d’Attraction.

Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie will be arriving in Esch-Belval, a former brownfield turned scientific and cultural centre, at 4:45pm. At the Avenue de Rock'n'Roll, they will be welcomed by an array of politicians including prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, ministers Mars di Bartolomeo, Jean-Marie Halsdorf and Marc Spautz as well as Lydia Mutsch, mayor of Esch-sur-Alzette.

After a short walk through the Avenue de Rock'n'Roll, they will also be greeted by Olivier Toth, general director of the Rockhal, Luxembourg's biggest concert hall, and Josée Hansen, chair of the board of directors. To kick off their visit, they will have a look at the "Main Hall", the major concert hall, and the "Club", a smaller concert hall. Afterwards, the Hereditary Grand Ducal Couple will get a taste of music by listening to the rehearsals for this year's "Screaming Fields", a music competition for student bands. They will also meet with members of the hardcore band Blood to Prove.

In addition, the couple will also visit the Massenoire building which houses the exhibitions "Belval&more" about the historical and contemporary context of Belval and "Public Art Experience" where they will view a presentation about the future university district planned on site, the Cité des Sciences

Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie will than proceed to the Place de la Résistance where they will lay a wreath at the war memorial. With a motorcade they will then make their way to the town hall of Esch-sur-Alzette.

The couple will get the chance to witness the performances of young gymnasts of Espérance Esch, the country's largest sports club celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. They will then watch a parade of different clubs and associations of the town. After a short reception hosted in their honour, the Hereditary Grand Duke and Duchess will make an appearance on the balcony of the town hall, before the will get the chance to mingle with the population at the Escher Volleksfest, where they will also light a fire.

In case you are interested, che-che-check out our photo gallery of National Day in Esch since 1939.

Eschweiler

Meanwhile, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa will be visiting Eschweiler, a small town in Northern Luxembourg in the canton of Wiltz. At 5pm, the couple will be officially welcomed by ministers Marco Schank, Romain Schneider and Martine Hansen as well as the town's mayor, François Rossler, and a couple of other important people.

The Grand Ducal Couple will first visit the Haus Edith Stein, a house for women in distress established by the Fondation Maison de la porte ouverte and the ministry for equal opportunities. After a short presentation about the Oesling region covering the Northern part of the Grand Duchy, they will visit the local church. They will also be laying a wreath of flowers at the war memorial.

Afterwards, there is going to be an official reception at the town hall including speeches as well as a short concert by the children's choir of the local primary school and another performance of children. They will also get the chance to mingle with the people of Eschweiler. 

Place Guillaume II

At 10pm, the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess accompanied by their children (according to the government) or members of the Grand Ducal Family (according to the cour) will arrive at the Place Guillaume II to view a torchlight parade that will also celebrate the 1050th birthday of the city of Luxembourg - happy birthday Luxembourg! 

Te Deum, Cathédrale Notre-Dame

And then the actual National Day arrives with the Te Deum at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Luxembourg at 10:30am. For the first time, it will be an interconfessional religious service. Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich will be assisted by Alain Nacache, the chief rabbi of Luxembourg, Messouad Atrous, imam of the Muslim community, and Spyridon Tsekouras, priest of the Greek Orthodox Church.

According to the government, the Te Deum will be attended by members of the Grand Ducal Family while the cour specifically mentions the Grand Duke and Duchess as well as the Hereditary Grand Duke and Duchess. I, however, am not giving up hope just yet to see any other children of the Grand Ducal Couple. The cour has been imprecise about who was going to attend events in the past though sadly (for us, at this specific moment) they have been pretty spot on during the last weeks and months. 

Military Parade, Avenue de la Liberté

Afterwards and whoever attends, only the Grand Ducal Couple and the Hereditary Grand Ducal Couple will make their way to the Avenue de la Liberté where the Grand Duke and his heir will inspect the troops and afterwards view a parade of military and police forces, as well as members of the fire brigade, rescue forces and all kinds of other people doing good for the country.

National Day Gala

At 8pm, a gala reception including dashing uniforms, stunning dresses and sparkling tiaras - [insert my typical rant about them not releasing pictures here] - will take place at the palais. Invited are members of the government, the bureau of the Chamber of Deputies, the Council of State, representatives of the judiciary, heads of the administration and foreign ambassadors.

Garden parties

On 24 July and 28 July, the Grand Ducal Family will host two garden parties at the Château de Berg in honour of all kinds of people. 

Further reads in relation to National Day

Source: Agenda of the cour grand-ducale, Communiqué du gouvernement

A New Karl and Zita Descendant

Princess Adelheid of Liechtenstein, older daughter of the late Prince Vincenz - who was also known as Vincenz Liechtenstein, the name he used as a politician - and his first wife née Hélène de Cossé-Brissac, and her husband Count Dominik Coudenhove-Kalergi welcomed their second daughter on May 6th. Born in Graz, Austria, the baby's name is Tatiana Maria Mitsuko Benedikta Zita. Princess Adelheid is also a great-granddaughter of Blessed Emperor Karl and Empress Zita of Austria through their youngest daughter, Archduchess Elisabeth (1922-1993), and thus closely related to members of the Grand Ducal Family.


Source: Le Figaro

Torchlight Parade in Colmar-Berg

Photo: Domingos Oliveira / RTL / RTL.lu
In advance to National Day, many different celebrations are held throughout the Grand Duchy. As per tradition, the inhabitants of Colmar-Berg - where the Grand Ducal Family's home, the Château de Berg, is located - processed with their torchlights through the town to the castle where they were greeted by the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess as well as the Hereditary Grand Duke and the Hereditary Grand Duchess.

Photos: Domingos Oliveira / RTL / RTL.lu

The parade is organised every year by the municipality and after its over the people of Colmar-Berg get the chance to mingle with their royal townmates in the inner-courtyard of the beautifully lit Château.

A gallery of more than 100 visuals is located at RTL. Tom Wagner also has pictures, as do Tageblatt, L'essentiel, Wort in French, Wort in German and Wort in English. A glimpse of the event is viewable during this RTL video.


Source: CGD

Friday, June 21, 2013

This, That and Such

Photo: Charles Caratini / Cour grand-ducale
Last night, the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess attended the opening of a conference entitled "L’Afrique: terre d’opportunités" (Africa: Land of Opportunities) organised by the Community of Sant’Egidio. Other guests included Jean Asselborn, minister of foreign affairs, whose speech can be found here, and Marc Spautz, minister of corporation and humanitarian affairs.

As seen on the picture above, the Grand Duke welcomed an array of people at the palais today. The cause of their visit was to be bestowed with the Civil and Military Order of Merit of Adolph of Nassau.

The names of the array of people are Jeannot Bisenius, David Bressan, Guy Cailliau, Jacques Konsbruck, Maria Gomes-Vaz Alves, Jeannot Bernard, Pascal Konz, David Lesch, Chantal Bruck, Maria Rodrigues de Almeida, Gérard Frising, Daniel Charlier, Adelaide Magalhaes Marques, Marcia Brossi de Lima and Franck Olsem in case you know one of them and like to congratulate them. In case you do not, they are members of of the army or police, work for the cour in some capacity, or are otherwise active in public or institutional life.

 Photos: Anouk Antony / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu

Also today, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa as well as Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie assisted at a dinner and general thank you event for the volunteers of the Games of the Small States of Europe that brought Luxembourg a lot of fun and us a lot of royal sightings.

More visuals of the event are viewable at Wort in German, Wort in French and Wort in English.

While Luxembourg will be celebrating its national day this weekend, Luis Sartorius, 5th Marquess de Mariño and stepson of Princess Nora of Liechtenstein will celebrate his wedding to Bárbara Pérez, mother of his two children, on Saturday at the Castillo del Belmondo in the province of Cuenca. We'll see if there'll be any more news about the wedding this weekend.


Source: CGD, Place Royale, Wort, Vanitatis

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Luxarazzi 101: Princess Marie of Liechtenstein

As promised, it did not took one and a half years for the second part of the biography of Princess Marie of Liechtenstein to appear on the blog. (For the first part, have a look here.)

                (Photo: Volksblatt)                
After the announcement engagement in January 1966 (it officially happened at Easter that year), Countess Marie of Wchinitz and Tettau and Hereditary Prince Hans-Adam of Liechtenstein finally tied the knot about one and a half years later. The couple had to wait the little while as their parents wanted them to test themselves and to prove that the Hereditary Prince would not neglect his studies.

On 30 July 1967, Hereditary Prince Hans-Adam and Countess Marie first married civilly in Liechtenstein's capital and later religiously at the Church of St. Florin. On the eve of their wedding, a bridal soirée took place at Schloss Vaduz.

The marriage was officiated by the bishop of Chur, Johannes Vonderach. Princess Marie wore the Habsburg Fringe Tiara which was brought into the family by her husband's grandmother, Archduchess Elisabeth Amalia of Austria, and orginally made for her mother Archduchess Maria Theresa, née Infanta of Portugal.

The wedding guests included Empress Zita of Austria, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece and Queen Sofia of Spain, at the time the Princess of Asturias. As it is tradition in Liechtenstein, they had a parade and public festival in the evening to celebrate their wedding together with the country's citizens.

A video of the evening celebrations by the Schweizer Fernsehen in case you are interested

After their wedding, Hereditary Prince Hans-Adam and Hereditary Princess Marie moved to St. Gallen in Switzerland, where the prince was attending university at the time. As the new princess sometimes felt lonely and missed having a lot of family and friends around her, they moved to Liechtenstein some time around the birth of their first son in June 1968. Until his graduation a year later, the Hereditary Prince commuted to St. Gallen from Vaduz. 

            The couple with their children            
Prince Alois was followed by Prince Maximilian a year later and Prince Constantin in 1972. Their only daughter, Princess Tatjana, was born in 1973.

The couple raised their children on their own without the help of tutors or governesses mainly due to the fact that Hereditary Prince Hans-Adam did not like being raised by them. Instead, they only had a housekeeper and someone who would also take care of the children when the parents had to go away. Their four children attended local schools and lived in Liechtenstein until they graduated from high school.

In 1976, the Hereditary Princess became member of the board of the Liechtensteinische Gesellschaft für Umweltschutz (LGU), the country's society for environmental protection.

Taking over from her mother-in-law, Princess Marie was the president of the Society for Orthopaedic Aid between 1983 and 2005, since that year she has been its patron. She is also the president of the Liechtenstein Red Cross since 1985, an office she has also taken over from Princess Gina, and in addition patron of the Verband Liechtensteinischer Familienhilfen, a family support organisation, since 1990.

The Princely Couple
in Israel in 1992
Photo: Vaterland
During the 1980's, then Hereditary Prince Hans-Adam started to act as a regent for his father. When the Prince Franz Joseph II died in 1989, he ascended to the throne as the Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein and Hereditary Princess Marie became the Princess. Since her wedding she is styled as a Serene Highness and since her husband became the ruler, she is also the Duchess Troppau and Jägerndorf and the Countess of Rietberg.

The Princely Family has never been big on state visits apart from occassional but less grand visits to their two neighbouring countries, Switzerland and Austria. Nevertheless, especially during the early 1990's, they did pay a few visits to countries a little further away. Since the Princely Couple's oldest son Hereditary Prince Alois has taken over regency for his father, Prince Hans-Adam II and Princess Marie have taken a backseat in many matters.

Consequently, the Princess' official duties are almost entirely limited to charitable causes in Liechtenstein these days. Generally, Princess Marie is interested in art and culture as well as matters of education and parenting. While she was in school she liked acting. She is a member of the historical society of the Principality.

Photo: EinTracht
Princess Marie is a grandmother to 15 children (14 of which are pictured above with their parents). Her oldest son Hereditary Prince Alois and his wife Hereditary Princess Sophie have four children, princes Joseph-Wenzel, Georg and Nikolaus as well as Princess Marie-Caroline. While second-born Prince Maximilian and his wife Princess Angela have a son, Prince Alfons, the Princely Couple's third son, Prince Constantin, and his wife Priness Marie have three children, princes Moritz and Benedikt as well as Princess Georgina. Princess Tatjana and her husband Philipp von Lattorff have seven children, Lukas, Elisabeth, Marie, Camilla, Anna, Sophie and Maximilian.