Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Coming Up: Octave, Elections, D-Day and More

Mark your calendars, there are a few special events coming up that will bring out quite a few members of the Grand Ducal Family. Grand Duke Jean, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie, Prince Félix, Prince Louis, Princess Tessy, Princess Alexandra and Prince Sébastien are expected to cast their vote in the European elections at the Ratskeller polling station on Sunday. They will arrive at around 11am after leaving the palais grand-ducal about 15 minutes earlier. (Why yes, the Grand Ducal Family does have a right to vote.)

However, Sunday isn't only election day, it's also the day of the closing of the Octave of our Lady of Luxembourg. Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria-Teresa will attend a pontifical mass in the morning and in the afternoon the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess accompanied by the Hereditary Grand Duke and the Hereditary Grand Duchess as well as "members of the Grand Ducal Family" will attend the closing procession. As all the Grand Ducal Couple's children are in Luxembourg this weekend, I guess all of them are meant by the latter. I wouldn't count on Princess Claire actually attending the closing procession as it might be a bit much for a nine-month pregnant woman. Positive surprises, however, a warmly welcome. The Grand Ducal Family will also make a balcony appearance that usually also brings out Prince Gabriel and Prince Noah.

A bit down the road, Grand Duke Henri is scheduled to attend the 70th anniversary celebrations of the allied Normandy landings on June 6th. Other royal heads of state to attend are King Philippe of the Belgians, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, King Harald V of Norway, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Already on Friday Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie will visit Junglinster as part of their tour of the Grand Duchy's 15 Centre de Développement et d'Attraction (CDA). Also this week the Grand Duke has a handful of other events including a visit to the American military cemetery in Hamm.


Source: Cour grand-ducale, France 3

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