Saturday, April 30, 2016

Guillaume and Sibilla Support Alsatian Religious Communities

Photo: L'Alsace / Lalsace.fr
On Friday, Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla were at City Hall in Sélestat to present assistance to representatives from three different religious communities within Alsace: Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish. The presentation occurs in connection to the philanthropic work started by Princess Sibilla's grandfather, Paul-Louis Weiller, who was made an honorary citizen of Sélestat.

A little more at L'Alsace.

Friday, April 29, 2016

Henri and Family Receive Chambre des Députés

Photo: Lex Kleren / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu
On Thursday evening, members of the Grand Ducal family were at Château de Berg to receive members of the Chambre des Députés. Grand Duke Henri, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie received the guests and then joined them for a dinner.

More photos at Wort.

Antique Grand Ducal Convertible Sold at Auction

An automobile auction in Toulouse saw a Grand Ducal vehicle among the listed items: the Cadillac Series 62 convertible that King Leopold III of Belgium gifted to his daughter Josephine Charlotte upon her marriage to Jean (then Hereditary Grand Duke, and later Grand Duke), in 1953. The antique car saw a price of 58,000 euros to a Belgian collector.

A little more information at ladepeche.fr.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Little Interview with Princess Maria-Anunciata

Photo: Tory Burch / Tory Daily
Princess Maria-Anunciata might be one of the most regularly featured grandchildren of Grand Duke Jean and member of the extended Liechtenstein family to be featured here on Luxarazzi, but we still don't know much about her and how she sees herself apart from pictures taken here and there with often little information to accompany them. That's going to change a little: For Tory Daily, the blog of Tory Burch, the daughter of Prince Nikolaus and Princess Margaretha gave a little interview about the "Austroalpine influenes" of her style, her first fashion memory and watching "her [her mother's] every preparation as she got ready for a soirée in a long evening-gown", and her work in the art world. 

Also don't miss her travel tips for the grand ducal summer residence: "Cabasson, a tiny hamlet in Var, France, situated in a natural reserve facing Les Îles d’Or, about 40 minutes away from Saint Tropez. My mother’s family has a property there, which is literally on the beach, and we spend all our summers there with a bunch of cousins and friends."

Guillaume Hands Out Mérite Jeunesse Awards

The Guillaume in question appears to be up for discussion, however. Chronicle claims the Hereditary Grand Duke was there, but as Prince Guillaume is President of the Board the odds lean a little more in favor of his being present instead.

The event took place at Forum Geesseknäppchen in Luxembourg-Merl, with 23 Explorer Scouts from the Telstar Group receiving Mérite Jeunesse awards. Nearly 200 young people total were there to receive their awards for the Gold, Silver, or Bronze levels.

A little more information from Chronicle.

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden's Birthday

Talk of royal town this week? The 70th birthday of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden's 70th birthday coming up this weekend. In true royal style, there'll be multiple days of events marking it including a glittering dinner of Saturday. I have read in different places that there'll also be some Luxembourgish attendance, however, - and I hate to disappoint you - that's highly unlikely. 

The cour has announced an event for the Grand Duke, the Grand Duchess, the Hereditary Grand Duke and the Hereditary Grand Duchess for tomorrow (Thursday) night, as well as the attendance of various members of the family for the Octave celebrations on Sunday, including the mass in the morning for the grand ducal couple. Also, don't hold your breath for any Liechtenstein attendance though I'd like us to all be surprised. And while you're at it, also keep breathing and don't expect to see Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie for the Octave on Sunday. There'll likely be already be in China.

Guillaume and Stephanie Visit Ampacet

The Hereditary Grand Ducal Couple have visited the European headquarters of Ampacet located in Dudelange, Luxembourg. The company creates master batch components which are used in 1/3 of the plastic products produced globally. Ampacet has received the Luxembourg American Business Award and has over 1 billion in revenue. Since opening a facility in Luxembourg over 20 years ago Ampacet  has contributed much to the local economy and continues to invest in their Luxembourg operations.

Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and his wife toured their production facilities and met with staff members. A few photographs are available at L'essential.

Hereditary Prince Greets New Ambassadors

Photo: IKR
Hereditary Prince Alois received five new ambassadors to Liechtenstein in audience at Schloss Vaduz today to be presented with their letters of credence. The new ambassadors are Marco Del Panta Ridolfi of Italy, Pham Hai Bang of Vietnam, Nopadol Gunavibool of Thailand, Haroula Skolarikou of Greece as well as und Julián Jaramillo Escobar, new ambassador from Columbia.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Luxembourg and Liechtenstein Royals at Monaco Party

Photo: Sulejman Gjana
On April 21, Prince Alvaro and Princess Antonella of Bourbon-Orléans hosted a reception for apparently no specific reason at the Hôtel de Paris in Monaco. Among the party's 200 guest were also some familiar faces to all Luxarazzi regulars: Prince Hans-Adam II, Prince Jean and Countess Diane as well as Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla. Pictures of all of them in the current edition of Point de Vue. As there weren't pictures of all 200 guests, it's possible that some more Luxarazzi regulars and not-so-regulars attended as well.

Monday, April 25, 2016

Honor for Grand Ducal Couple's Foundation

© Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for 100 Lives.
On April 24th in Yerevan, Armenia, Burundian humanitarian Marguerite Barankitse became the first recipient of the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. The Prize was created to recognize someone "whose actions have had an exceptional impact on preserving human life and advancing humanitarian causes" (Aurora Prize website). George Clooney was there to give Barankitse the award.

Additionally, Barankitse as the first Prize Laureate will receive an award of US $100,000 as well as the opportunity to return US $1,000,000 to the organizations that have supported and encouraged her humanitarian work. The Foundation of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess is one of three organizations that Barankitse will be honoring. (The other two are the Bridderlech Deelen Foundation, also in Luxembourg, and the Jean-François Peterbroeck Foundation in Belgium.)

Marguerite Barankitse has a long history with the Foundation, which has supported her work for a number of years.

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Stéphanie Gets Film History Lesson

Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie got a little lesson in Luxembourgish film history today. At the Musée Dräi Eechelen, she watched one of the first ever Luxembourgish films entitled De falschen Hond. The drama was released in 1989 and coincided with the 150 anniversary of Luxembourgish independence. A plot summary: "Luxembourg, October 1830. Unrest spreads in the region in the wake of the Belgian Revolution. Fed up with the domination of the Dutch, most of the people want to become Belgian. Those who want an independent Luxembourg are few. Among them a town clerk obstinately refuses to accept the Belgian nationality. Considered as a traitor, he is forced to go into exile. A few years later, in 1839, Luxembourg finally becomes independent."

Prior to the screening of the film at the museum, the Hereditary Grand Duchess attended a public meeting with De falschen Hond actor André Jung hosted by Paul Lesch, communication scientist, film historian and director of the Centre national de l'audiovisuel (CNA).  

No pictures as of yet but we will add them if any become available. 

Prince Hans-Adam II at Otto von Habsburg Symposium

Photo: Paneuropa Bewegung Österreich
Yesterday, Prince Hans-Adam II was among the speakers of the fifth Otto von Habsburg symposium of the Austrian branch of the Paneuropean Movement at the Palais Eschenbach in Vienna. The Fürst talked about the state in the third millenium, which is not very coincidentally also the title and topic of one of his books, and participated in a panel discussion alongside Archduke Karl, head of the Habsburg family, as well as Severin Meister, one of the grandsons of Archduke Otto, the last crown prince of Austria. This year's symposium was headlined "Subsidiarity, Souvereignity, the state and the citizen: From principles to solutions". 

Sophie Supports Counseling Initiative

Photo: Tatjana Schnalzger / Liechtensteiner Vaterland / Vaterland.li
Looks like our news drought is over, also Liechtenstein-wise... On Friday night, Hereditary Princess Sophie was out and about in Balzers attending the general assembly of the counseling initiative and subsequently a talk about life and habitation in old age. (Hello again, Your Royal Highness, long time no see!) Loads more information about the event at Vaterland.

Maria Teresa Supports Télévie

Photo: René Scho / RTL / RTL.lu
Last night, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa lend her support to the Télévie fund-raising campaign. Firstly initiated in Belgium in 1989 by RTL-TVI to help fund cancer and leukaemia research, the Luxembourgish branch of RTL has been running the campaign for the 15th time now. The Grand Duchess isn't the first one in the family to support the Télévie and take some calls, one or maybe even two of her sons did so before. I certainly remember Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume doing so maybe about ten years ago and possibly also Prince Félix, I'm not 100 percent sure. This time around, the Télévie reached a new donation record with 1.567.596 euros to benefit cancer research.

Loads more pictures at RTL.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Alois Celebrates Private School Anniversary

Photo: Michael Zhangellini / Liechtensteiner Volkblatt / Volksblatt.li
Yesterday, Hereditary Prince Alois celebrated the 20 anniversary of the Formatio private school in Triesen. The school was founded 20 years ago by Peter and Helma Ritter. Formatio's aim is to foster children in what they are good at rather than focus in areas they lack. Originally a secondary high school, Formatio now also includes a primary school as well as a school for higher education and is well established is Liechtenstein.

More photos and information are available at Vaterland and Volksblatt.

Guillaume, Stéphanie and "The Family of Man"

Photo: Armand Wagner / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu
Hello again Guillaume et Stéphanie, long time no (proper) see! Together with Les Amis des Musées d'Art et d'Histoire the Hereditary Grand Duke and the Hereditary Grand Duchess visited "The Family of Man" exhibition at the Château de Clervaux today. The couple already previously visited the exhibition by the late Luxembourgish-born American photographer Edward Steichen three years ago as part of their introductory visit to Clervaux. The exhibition including 503 photos by 273 artists from 68 countries was first shown starting in 1955 at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.

Since 1994, "The Family of Man" is shown at the castle in Clervaux, which interestingly has a family connection to Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie: between 1631 and 1856 it was owned by a branch of the Lannoy family. It is also the Hereditary Grand Duchess who has the connection to Les Amis des Musées d'Art et d'Histoire; since March 2013 she is the patron of the organisation. 

More pictures at Wort.

Henri and Maria Teresa Open Spring Fair

Photo: Christophe Olinger / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu
It's spring fair again! After Prince Félix and Princess Claire last year and Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie the year before, it was again time for Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa to attend the opening of the annual Spring Fair. (They last did so in 2013.) The duo was accompanied by Minister Etienne Schneider for the overview (and overtaste) of the about 400 businesses and shops who displayed their goods. The Spring Fair has been organized by Luxexpo since 1976 and is now considered one of the largest trade events in the Greater Region.

Visials of the visit at Tageblatt and Wort.

Hereditary Prince Meets EFTA Surveillance Authority

Photo: IKR
Yesterday, Hereditary Prince Alois received the surveillance authority of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) at Schloss Vaduz. The EFTA is a free trade organisation between Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland which operates parallelly and is linked to the European Union. The so-called package meeting of the surveillance authority takes place each year in the Principality.

Heaps more information at Volksblatt.

Friday, April 22, 2016

State Visit to Finland

Here we were, asking ourselves how to start a petition to make another state visit to or from Luxembourg happen - cause seriously, there hasn't been any state visit glitter in ages! (I know, pretty shallow but still.) So now it's time to rejoice as we won't need one (a petition that is): There is a state visit by the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess to Finland coming up, as the cour announced today. The couple will travel to Finland between May 10 and 12 at the invitation of Finnish President Sauli Niinistö. Not much more information as of yet apart from the fact that they will be accompanied by no less than four ministers (Schneider, Asselborn, Gramegna and Dieschbourg). Stay tuned for more, yours truly will make sure to cover everything you need to know and more...

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Félix and Sébastien Play Golf

Photo: Château les Crostes
On Sunday, Prince Félix and Prince Sébastien (presumably or at least by the looks of it) enjoyed themselves some golf at the St. Endréol Golf Course in La Motte, France. The competition was sponsored by Château les Crostes, the property of Prince Félix and Princess Claire.

Grand Duke Opens New HQ of Luxembourg Air Rescue

Photo: Chris Karaba / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu
Grand Duke Henri officially opened the new headquarters of Luxembourg Air Rescue at Findel Airport today. The new site and three hangars are spread out over 7,000 square metres. The Luxembourg Air Rescue (LAR) operates five planes and five helicopters. The private humanitarian air rescue organisation aims to save human lives in Luxembourg, the Greater Region surrounding the Grand Duchy and worldwide in disaster relief operations. The new site will also be used in cases of emergency at Findel Airport as it can be used to care for up to 50 injured people in case of an attack or plane crash.

Galleries of visuals at Wort, RTL and Tageblatt.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Alois Meets Indian Minister of State of External Affairs

Photo: IKR
India's Minister of State of External Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh was on a visit to the Principality today. Naturally, he was also received in audience at Schloss Vaduz by Hereditary Prince Alois. While in Liechtenstein, Mr. Singh also met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Education and Culture, Aurelia Frick, and visited different companies with her.

Monday, April 18, 2016

Tessy Gets Mrongovius Medal in Poland

Photo: Aleksandra / almondstreet.5
The University of Olsztyn in in northeastern Poland held a conference today entitled "Life socio-cultural state of the Teutonic Order" or something along those lines, crappy Google Translator isn't much of a help. Among the attendees of the conference, which will continue tomorrow, are Princess Tessy as well as Ingrid Detter de Frankopan, professor of international law and mother of Lawrence Doimi de Frankopan. Both ladies were honoured with the Mrongovius Medal for "spreading Humanistic Ideas Worldwide".

Nazi-Looted Paintings Owned by Prince Felix Recovered

Italian police announced today that they have recovered three religiously themed paintings looted by Nazi troops from a Tuscan villa in Camaiore owned by Prince Felix, husband of Grand Duchess Charlotte, over 70 years ago. They had since been missing. The paintings, part of the collection of the House of Bourbon-Parma, were seized in two private homes in Milan last July and are now exhibited at the Pinacoteca di Brera art museum in Milan. The paintings will not be returned to the Grand Ducal Family as compensation had already been paid for the loss, police said. 

More information at Haaretz.

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Guillaume in California: Mission Round-Up

Photo: MFIN
After not one but two rather sketchy posts on our part about Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume's trip to the United States earlier this week, here's a bit more information of what actually went on. Tthe Hereditary Grand Duke and Minister of Finance Pierre Gramegna, accompanied by a Luxembourg delegation, were in San Francisco, San José, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto between April 11 and 13 visiting several companies to promote Luxemourg as a European reference hub in the field of Fintech and to learn about the latest trends and technological developments.

First up (and covered in our first post) was a visit to the Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, where Luxembourg delegation met several startups and encouraged them to consider the Grand Duchy as the headquarters for their future European activities. Up next (and kinda covered in our second post) was the Baypay Forum, during which the Minister of Finance promoted Luxembbourg as a region of openness, dynamism and reliability, as well as its long tradition of financial innovation. The visit was rounded of by meetings with PayPal, Ebay affiliate Stubhub! and other Fintech companies already established or (possibly) planning to so in Luxembourg.

More information on the website of the government.

Marie-Astrid and Family Celebrate "Marie-Astrid"

Photos: Patrick Frieden & Jean Walté / RTL / RTL.lu
Royals have many things named after them, Luxembourg's Princess Marie-Astrid has a ship. The "MS Princesse Marie-Astrid" is a passenger ship on the Moselle river and the site of European history. It was aboard the ship that the Schengen Agreement on a borderless Europe was signed between France, Germany and the Benelux countries in 1985. The very first of actually five ships by the same name was baptised on May 28, 1966, which means that this year is the Moselle ships 50th birthday. 

On hand to celebrate today was the woman who gave her name to and baptised all five of the ships, Princess (or Archduchess) Marie-Astrid, older sister of the Grand Duke. She was accompanied by her husband Archduke Carl-Christian as well as her son Archduke Imre, his wife Kathleen and their two adorable daughters, Maria-Stella and Magdalena. Heaps of pictures of them all are available at RTL and Le Quotidien.

Interestingly, it is not exactly known why the ship was named after Princess Marie-Astrid, according to the president of the Entente touristique de la Moselle. What is known is that today's "Princesse Marie-Astrid" is the fifth ship of its kind. The first ship was used between 1966 and 1984, the second one - aboard which the Schengen Agreement was signed - until 1992. The newest "Princesse Marie-Astrid" has been in use since 2010. Journal has a few pictures from over the years. Interestingly, we covered the latest baptism in 2010 on this very blog - yes, we're getting old - and also a family occasion celebrated aboard since.

Henri and Félix Celebrate 50 Years of Domaines Vinsmoselle

Photo: Christophe Olinger / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu
On Friday evening, Grand Duke Henri and Prince Félix were in Grevenmacher to attend an academic session celebrating the 50th anniversary of Domaines Vinsmoselle. The winery, which is one of the best known in Luxembourg, produces an average of 11 million bottles of wine each year.

Prime Minister Xavier Bettel was also in attendance, along with the Fernand Etgen, the Minister of Agriculture, Viticulture and the Protection of Consumers, and the current President of the Chambre des Députés, Mars di Bartolomeo.

More photos, as well as more information about Domaines Vinsmoselle, at Wort and Le Quotidien.

Saturday, April 16, 2016

New Ambassadors from Great Britain, Haiti, Congo and Kyrgyzstan

Turns out the United States ambassador isn't the only new one to the Grand Duchy: Asein Isaev of Kyrgyzstan and John Marshall of Great Britain also presented their letters of credence to Grand Duke Henri on April 14. In addition, there were also new non-resident ambassadors from Haiti and Congo who did the same. New British ambassador Marshall said "This morning I had the great privilege to present to HRH the Grand Duke, the Letters of Credence from Her Majesty The Queen appointing me British Ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It was a most memorable and enjoyable occasion. I am delighted to be here in Luxembourg and very grateful to all those who have given me such a warm welcome and helped me to settle in. I know I will enjoy working and living in this very special country."

Grand Dukes Meets Chinese State Councilor

Photo: Cour grand-ducale
On Friday, Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi was on a working visit to Luxembourg where he met the Grand Duchy's leaders to discuss how to broaden cooperation between the two countries in new industries and traditional areas. Naturally, he was also granted an audience by Grand Duke Henri. During the meetings, Yang said that Luxembourg is one of China's key partners within the European Union, something represented by the fact that we will soon also see the third trip to China of the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess since their wedding.

Friday, April 15, 2016

Maria Teresa Attends Awards Presentation in Paris


On Wednesday, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa was in Paris to attend the presentation of 2016 Prix des Princes at The Peninsula Paris. This award, which honors literary contributions, was created in 2015 by Point de Vue to recognize that magazine's 70th anniversary. This year's award went to Sylvie Yvert for her novel Mousseline la Sérieuse. Grand Duchess Maria Teresa was on the jury for the 2016 awards, along with Princess Adelaide of Orleans, Prince Louis Albert de Broglie, and Prince Charles-Henri de Lobkowicz, among others.

A little more information on Facebook, and a little more about the Prix des Princes here.

Prince Felix Meets with Ladies of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc

Photo: I.B. via Var-Matin
Prince Felix and his lovely daughter Princess Amalia met up with Anne-Charlotte Dallee-Combs and Yousra Caulstres after their completion of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc. You may remember that Château les Crostes sponsored their team for the race.

Château les Crostes is the home and business interest of Prince Felix and Princess Claire.

Grand Duke Henri Gives Audience to Outgoing FEDIL Leader

Photo: Racing

Sometime in the recent past, Grand Duke Henri held an audience for Robert Dennewald. Mr. Dennewald is the outgoing president of the FEDIL - Business Federation Luxembourg. He served the organization in various capacities since 1997. 

New US Ambassador Presents Credentials


Late last year, President Barack Obama nominated David McKean to be the new United States Ambassador to Luxembourg. Ambassador McKean was sworn in back in March and yesterday presented his credentials to The Grand Duke. The new ambassador has an extensive background in public policy. He is fluent in English and French and, interestingly, is also a scholar and author. He is the 22nd United States Ambassador to Luxembourg.

Photos have yet to be released. 

A Reception for Princess Marie's Birthday

Photo: Michael Zanghellini / Volksblatt / Volksblatt.li

Happy birthday, Princess Marie!

On April 14th, Princess Marie turned 76, and a number of well-wishers made their way to Schloss Vaduz to celebrate the occasion. These included Deputy Prime Minister Thomas Zwiefelhofer, Parliament Vice-President Violanda Lanter-Koller, and Mayor of Vaduz Ewald Ospelt.

A birthday greeting from Vaterland and more photos of the reception at Volksblatt.

Alois Meets with the Norwegian Minister for European Affairs

Photo: Brigitt Risch / Vaterland / Vaterland.li
On Thursday, Hereditary Prince Alois welcomed Elisabeth Aspaker, the Norwegian Minister for European Affairs, to Vaduz Castle. Aspaker is in Liechtenstein as a reflection of the close ties between the two countries, in particular their common membership in EEA and EFTA

Aspaker also met with Prime Minister Adrian Hasler and Councillor Aurelia Frick to discuss financial services regulations, as well as the importance of sharing necessary information. As Minister Aspaker assumed the role in December of 2015, this is her first visit to Liechtenstein in the capacity of Norwegian Minister for European Affairs.

A little more information at Vaterland.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

New Staffer for the Grand Duchess

PaperJam announced today that journalist Véronique Poujol will put her job on hold to become an advisor to Grand Duchess Maria Teresa. Poujol has worked for weekly d'Lëtzebuerger Land, French news agency AFP and business magazine PaperJam. In her new role, she will supervise humanitarian and social projects, primarily in the fields of women's rights and microcredit, for the Grand Duchess. Just last month, Poujol interviewed her new boss for AFP - I guessed they must have liked each other!

Guillaume Does Something Else in California

Time to continue our exhaustingly informative coverage of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume's travels to California. After doing something hosted by Plug and Play, he did something else after that. In fact, I guess it was the only bit of information actually released in advance, "on Tuesday, April 12, Finance Minister Gramegna will be a guest of the Baypay Forum at a Thought Leadership Series event discussing Europe's handling of payments developments. Minister Gramegna will speak about what US companies should be aware of when looking into conducting business in Europe, using Luxembourg's experience as one of the first countries to have issued a license to a Bitcoin company on the continent." Everyone's favourite Hereditary Grand Duke probably listened. If he did anything else, we will check back with him in the coming days.


Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Hereditary Prince Receives Bulgarian Delegation, Again

Photo: Paul Trummer / Liechtensteiner Volksblatt / Volksblatt.li
Here we were complaing about the lack of news regarding both the Luxembourg and especially the Liechtenstein royals. Turns out, however, that we missed on bit of news back in March. On Thursday, March 17, Hereditary Prince Alois met with Bulgaria's President of Parliament, Tsetska Tsacheva, and her accompanying delegation. Please excuse our lack of coverage which was likely due to a bit of confusion because just days earlier, the Hereditary Prince also met with Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister - quite some Bulgarian days they had in Liechtenstein!

For more on the second visit, check out Volksblatt.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Guillaume and Sibilla View Art (Twice)

Photo: MNHA
Turns out Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla at a bit of an artsy month of March (which I'm pretty sure they have quite regularly, not just in March): On March 8, the younger brother of the Grand Duke and his wife attended the opening of the exhibition "H. Craig Hanna. Peintures et dessins" at the Musée national d'histoire et d'art Luxembourg (MNHA) alongside Prime Minister Xavier Bettel. In addition, on March 19, the Musée de la Piscine in Roubaix posted a picture on Twitter of the couple posing in front of paintings of Princess Sibilla's grandparents.

Hereditary Grand Duke Visits California

Luxembourgish royal watching for beginners: Be happy with anything at all you see of a finance or trade mission within reasonable amount of time. So by this definition, let's rejoice! Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume indeed made it to the United States for a visit to California. Today he and Minister of Finance Pierre Gramenga were seen doing something hosted by Plug and Play, a global innovation platform. Considering that the aim of the mission is to "promote the Grand Duchy as a European Fintech hub to professionals in Silicon Valley", I guess they did exactly that.

Saturday, April 9, 2016

Princess Tessy Supports UNAIDS

On Friday, Princess Tessy met with Michel Sidibé, the Executive Director of UNAIDS in Geneva, in support of the organization's activities. Tessy is a Global Advocate for Young Women & Adolescent Girls, on behalf of UNAIDS.

Back in March, Princess Tessy also attended the performance “A pledge for gender parity,” by the Rudra Béjart School of Dance in Geneva, in support of International Women's Day.

Czech Award for Grand Duke Henri

You might recall that Grand Duke Henri will head to the Czech Republic this May to mark the 700th birthday of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. As it turns out, there will also be some Liechtenstein attendance for the event so either keep your eyes open or make sure to check back at Luxarazzi when the time comes around. In addition, Grand Duke Henri will be receiving an award by the city of Prague and the Charles University in Prague its rector Tomáš Zima announced. With the award dedicated to Charles VI the city and university honour personalities from the worlds of culture, science and politics. It hasn't been awarded in 14 years. The Grand Duke will be given the award to honour the the historical ties between Luxembourg and Bohemia.

Guillaume Heads to the U.S.

Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume will be heading to the United States this weekend for a financial mission. Accompanied by Minister of Finance Pierre Gramegna, he will visit California between April 10 and 13. The aim of the visit is "to promote the Grand Duchy as a European Fintech hub to professionals in Silicon Valley". More at Chronicle.lu.

Guillaume and Stéphanie to Travel to China

A trade delegation from the Grand Duchy will be visiting China between May 1 to 6, 2016. The "delegation is headed by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in presence of Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess and led by H.E. Mr. Étienne Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy". Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie and their accompanying delegations will head to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. More info.

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Keeping Up With the Liechtensteins...

...isn't always easy. We often see little of the lesser known members of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein - time to catch up on some of their events over the past year or so we uncovered only over the last few weeks.

The always globetrotting Princess Anunciata, who is one of the few people in the world who can call two uncles heads of state, was in Florida last December were she attended the opening of the Per Kirkeby Echo of the Light exhibition at the Gallery at Windsor, Vero Moda. See a picture.

We occasionally see either of them with their daughter Theodora, last July Prince Alexander and Princess Astrid, son and daughter-in-law of Prince Philipp and Princess Isabelle, attended the The Mercer N.Y. & InStyle presentation of the Capsule Collection in Munich. See a picture.

Princess Anunciata also globetrotted to Milan, Italy, in June to attend the "Summer Shimmers Don't Be Shy" something. See a picture.

Even longer ago, Prince Max and his wife Princess Angela were in Kitzbühel, Austria, for the legendary Hahnenkamp race of the alpine skiing world cup. See a picture.


Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Guillaume and Stéphanie at National Selection Conference

Earlier tonight, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie assisted at the opening ceremony of the 3rd National Selection Conference of the European Youth Parliament Luxembourg at the Cercle Cité. Already "since 1987, the European Youth Parliament supports the development of young people into politically aware and responsible citizens by involving them in European political thinking and promoting intercultural understanding", according to their website.

As always, we will add pictures if any become available. Check out Twitter for at least one visual.

Princess Anunciata at Event for Etel Adnan

Photo: Tory Burch
On March 23, Princess Anunciata, daughter of Prince Nikolaus and Princess Margaretha, was among the guests for an event in honour of writer and artist Etel Adnan at VNH Gallery as well as Caviar Kaspia in Paris. The event, which included a lecture and cocktails, was hosted by Tory Burch, whose prefall 2016 collection was inspired by Adnan's "use of color and sense of line that Burch named as a starting point for her latest spin on 1970s-minded sportswear" (according to Vogue). Princess Anunciata, who wore a Tory Bruch dress, was pictured together with German Countess Annina of Pfuel.

More pictures of the event at L'Officiel.

Prince Max at the Finance Forum Liechtenstein

On March 23rd, Prince Max was a speaker at the second Finance Forum Liechtenstein, in his capacity as CEO of LGT Group. The event focused, in part, on the changes in the financial industry and long-term goals and strategies. Other speakers included Prime Minister Adrian Hasler and former Finance Minister Luc Frieden.

Friday, April 1, 2016

Guillaume, Stéphanie and Working Health and Safety

Photo: Isabella Finzi / Tageblatt / Tageblatt.lu
Turns out, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie had another engagement last week that we haven't covered this far. (Thanks Avery for sending the link!) The Hereditary Grand Duke and the Hereditary Grand Duchess attended an academic session marking the end of the 10th Forum de la sécurité et de la santé au travail on safety and health at work. One of the speakers of the event was Helmut Ehnes, general secretary of the International Social Security Association (ISSA). 

More pictures and information at Tageblatt.