Tuesday, May 23, 2017

State Visit From Portugal, Day 1: Pub Crawls, a Beautiful Balcony and More

Photo: SIP / Charles Caratini
Today was the first day of the state visit of the President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to Luxembourg. The President already arrived to the Grand Duchy last night and Grand Duke Henri took him out for a few beers. Tageblatt has a video of the pub crawl. It's probably no surprise that the Portuguese President felt right at home in Luxembourg: An estimated 120,000 of the 550,000 people living in the Grand Duchy were either born in Portugal or are of Portuguese ancestry - and I guess the Grand Duke himself doesn't actually count into the statistic but he, of course, has two Portuguese great-grandmothers as well.
Photo: SIP / Jean-Christophe Verhaegen
The official part of the state visit started with the official welcome of President Rebelo de Sousa by Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa in front of the palais in the morning. This was followed by military honours, national anthems, a review of troops and the presentation of the respective delegations. Inside the palais, the guest from Portugal and his hosts were joined by Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie for a photo opportunity and the traditional exchange of gifts. 
Photo: SIP / Jean-Christophe Verhaegen
Subsequently, President Rebelo de Sousa and his delegation went solo for a while to lay a wreath of flowers and hold several meetings. He was afterwards joined by the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess for a visit to the Corniche, a.k.a. "the most beautiful balcony of Europe". Next on the agenda was a private luncheon attended by the President and the four members of the Grand Ducal Family previously mentioned. Together with Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, the Portuguese guest also visited the Hôtel de Ville of Luxembourg City, where they were greeted by mayor Lydie Polfer, for an academic session.
Photo: RTL / RTL.lu
Also on the agenda for this evening is the gala dinner. Keep your fingers crossed for some major tiara sparkle. On the fashion front, I can already tell you that Grand Duchess Maria Teresa wore Belgian couturier Yves Dooms for the day (both outfits). To keep yourself entertained until gala dinner pictures are in, have a look at the government website, Wort and RTL.

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