Friday, June 29, 2018

Grand Ducal Family Members Hold Second Garden Party

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli / tous droits réservés
On the 28th, members of the Grand Ducal family were present for the second garden party at Château de Berg. Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, along with Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie, were on hand to welcome and chat with the guests.
Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli / tous droits réservés
Information from the Cour website, as well as a link with a lot more photos.

Guillaume Attends English Touring Opera Performance

Photo: © Alfonso Salgueiro / Cour grand-ducale
On the 27th, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume attended a performance of "This is my bed," from the English Touring Opera. This is the opera company's sixth time in the Grand Duchy. The performance of "This is my bed" is especially designed as a multi-sensory experience that engages the audience at different levels.

Information and further performance photos available from the Cour website.

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

First Garden Party at Château de Berg

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli / tous droits réservés 
On the 26th, Grand Duke Henri, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie welcomed guests to the first of two annual garden parties at Château de Berg.
Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli / tous droits réservés
This particular event saw guests that included the forces vives of the Grand Duchy (or those working in industry, trade, finance, insurance, etc.), in addition to the leaders of trade unions, the heads of professional organizations, those working in charitable organizations, members of institutions of the European Union, members of the Army, members of the Grand Ducal Police, and senior ministerial officials, among others.
Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli / tous droits réservés
Information and more photos from the Cour website and RTL.

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Grand Duchess Supports #NotATarget

Photo: Croix-Rouge luxembourgeoise
Yesterday, the Grand Duchess officially lend her support to the #NotATarget campaign, introduced by the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, last year to protect health workers and volunteers in crisis areas. In pictures shared by both the Red Cross and the cour, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, who is the President of the Luxembourgish branch of the organisation, stands in front of a bullet-riddled ambulance, holding a placard that reads #notatarget. The damaged ambulance will tour the Grand Duchy in the days to come to raise much needed awareness.

Henri and Maria Teresa Celebrate 60th Anniversary of NSPA

Photo: NSPA / Alain Huberty
Fresh off the National Day celebrations, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa were on hand yesterday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of NSPA, NATO's Support and Procurement Agency, that has been located in Luxembourg for 50 years. 

The NSPA's website tells us that "the mission of the NATO Support and Procurement Organisation is to provide responsive, effective and cost-efficient acquisition, including armaments procurement; logistics; operational and systems support and services to the Allies, NATO Military Authorities and partner nations, individually and collectively, in time of peace, crisis and war, in order to maximize the ability and flexibility of their armed forces, contingents, and other relevant organisations, within the guidance provided by the North Atlantic Council, to execute their core missions."

An additional picture is available at the cour.

Monday, June 25, 2018

Henri and Maria Teresa Welcome the Swiss President

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / tous droits réservés
On the 25th, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa received Alain Berset, the President of the Swiss Confederation, for a private lunch. His wife, Muriel Zeender Berset, was also present for the event. President Berset is in the Grand Duchy for a working visit.

Information and photo from the Cour website.

Fashion Focus: National Day Edition

This edition of Fashion Focus will be a special National Day edition - with a lot to talk about considering the whole family was there- but first, let's talk about some new/old finds.


Georges Rech confirmed that Grand Duchess Maria Teresa wore one of their dresses on June 4th when she and Grand Duke Henri hosted an institutional dinner for the Chamber of Deputies (With thanks to Sarah for the suggestion!) Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie wore a Georges Rech dress to the Te Deum on last year's National Day so it seems the brand is slowly making its way to their closets.
Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli
Photo: Georges Rech
A photographer posted this photo of Princess Claire celebrating Princess Amalia's birthday and I recognized Claire's dress immediately. It is the same Zara dress Princess Sibilla wore while visiting an exhibition in Brussels a few months ago!

Photo: Anne Du Chastel

Photo: Zara
Another find for Princess Claire! Earlier this month, she and Prince Félix attended a wedding in Germany and she wore the dress she first wore at Prince Sébastien's Sandhurst graduation ceremony. It turns out this dress is from Ted Baker, one of Princess Claire's favorite brands.

Photo: Bunte

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Lola Velasco

Photo: Ted Baker

On June 17th, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa attended the ceremony commemorating 75 years of the last deportation train leaving Luxembourg. Maria Teresa wore another Yves Dooms custom-made outfit with her Prada pumps.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli

Photo: Lyst

On June 20th, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie visited a glass bowing workshop. Stéphanie wore an old UFO blazer with a printed top and her favorite Castaner wedges.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Luxpress

Photo: Castaner

Also on June 20th, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa were in Colmar-Berg to view a farmhouse renovation. Maria Teresa wore her Etro pants with a new printed tote bag.

Photo: Cour Grand-Ducale

Photo: Lyst


Now, onto the National Day outfits! Last year, only the Grand Ducal couple and the Hereditary Grand Ducal couple attended which lowered the number of outfits we had to look for. This year - and to our great pleasure- the whole family attended so we have a lot to talk about!

On the day before the National Day, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa visited Larochette. Maria Teresa wore a Prada coat with Yves Dooms pants (confirmed by the Cour), her Sergio Rossi pumps and a Bottega Veneta clutch.

Photo: Guy Wolff / Luxemburger Wort / wort.lu

Photo: Livingly
Photo: Farfetch

Photo: Bottega Veneta

She kept the same outfit for the torchlight parade in the evening except for the shoes as she wore the Prada pumps she first wore during the State Visit from The Netherlands last month.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli

Photo: Prada

Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie visited Esch-sur-Alzette in the afternoon. Stéphanie wore an old coat that was first worn by Princess Alexandra. As you can see here, the front and the back of the coat have the same design which makes the whole coat very weird in my opinion.

Photo: SIP / Emmanuel Claude
At the torchlight parade, Princess Claire wore an all-black outfit and the lack of good photos makes it very hard to ID her outfit. I believe her trousers might be from Zara but it is impossible to confirm.

Photo: Zara
Princess Alexandra also wore a black outfit but she added a colorful, printed jacket and nude sandals to break it up. I sadly have no IDs yet for the jacket and the sandals but she wore a Chanel bag.

Photo: Lyst


For the official ceremony at the Philharmonie, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa decided to recycle an outfit! It is indeed the third time she wore this Armani dress and jacket since 2014. This time, she added an Armani clutch with her Prada pumps.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli
Photo: Armani

Photo: Lyst

Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie wore a new white dress with a new embellished clutch and her grey Natan pumps. We have spent hours looking for this dress but so far we haven't been able to find it but I think it was a very good choice for Stéphanie!

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli
Photo: Natan
Princess Claire decided to wear the Vilshenko dress she first wore the last time she attended the National Day celebrations in 2016 with new pumps. I believe they could be from Sergio Rossi (picutred below in a different color) but this can't be confirmed without better photos of the shoes.
Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli
Photo: ModaOperandi


Photo: Lyst

Princess Alexandra wore a new polka dot dress by Sézane (with thanks to Royal Fashion Blog for the find!) with nude pumps and her gold Dior clutch.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli

Photo: Sézane

Photo: Dior

For the Te Deum, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa added an Armani fascinator to her outfit and changed clutch and jewels while Princess Claire and Princess Alexandra only added a flower hairpiece to their outfits.
Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli
Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie decided to change her outfit completely. She wore a new dress with a green Jimmy Choo bag and old pumps. Her hat is new and it was made by Sylvia Martinez for Les Folies Bibis.
Photo: Jimmy Choo



Photo: Sylvia Martinez

The most exciting part of the National Day celebrations was the evening gala dinner of course with new gowns for everyone!

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli


Grand Duchess Maria Teresa wore a new navy blue cape gown by Elie Saab with an embellished neckline. I thought both the design and the color were a great choice for the Grand Duchess.


Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie wore a new gown but sadly we still haven't been able to find it. I'm happy it wasn't a repeat from one of Grand Duchess Maria Teresa's gowns though as I usually don't find these repeats successful.

Princess Claire looked stunning wearing an off the shoulder white gown by Alexander McQueen. It was great to see her in a gown and a tiara after so long. Let's hope she and Prince Félix will attend next year's National Day celebrations!


Photo: Farfetch

Princess Alexandra followed her mother's fashion footsteps and wore a colorful Elie Saab gown. I thought this was a very nice choice for Alexandra although I don't like the shawl.

Photo: ModaOperandi

What did you think of this year's National Day fashion? What is your favorite outfit? Don't hesitate to share your opinions!

Sunday, June 24, 2018

National Day Observations and Leftovers

To end our National Day coverage (sort of, there are still the garden parties which will take place next week to go, plus the Fashion Focus), here some light-hearted observations of the past two days...

Girl sure knows her angles
Photo: Guy Jallay / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu
Princess Alexandra sure has a commitment to the perfect picture. During the Official Ceremony she was at it again and once again refused to face the cameras straight instead turning slightly to her right, even if it meant turning her back to little brother Sébastien. Remember the time she did it when the Duchess of Cambridge came to Luxembourg? It was even more obvious. Girl sure knows her angles better than any of them.

To salute or not to salute
Photo: Screenshot RTL
...that is the question. Prince Sébastien joined the Military Parade this year and was seated in a row behind his parents, brother and sister-in-law. During De Wilhelmus (the grand ducal anthem), he saluted alongside the members of the military and police seated next to him. Grand Duke Henri and Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume didn't. I don't actually know what's the protocoll here, so Sébastien and me could probably open a club together - or Guillaume and me, depending on who did the right thing. (FYI, during the Heemecht (the national anthem), the Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duke saluted, too.)

National Day giggles
Photo: Screenshot RTL
Towards the end of the Military Parade, the Grand Duchess got the giggles. As the European Anthem was playing, she at one point started to giggle. I would have loved to know what she was looking at! Soon after the end of the anthem, she leaned over to the other members of her family and they also started laughing.

A coat with two faces
Photo: Lex Kleren / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu
I know that both Stéphanie and Alexandra seem to love this coat as they have worn it on multiple occasions. Personally, I have never been a fan - even less so after seeing it from different angles than usual. It's like a two-faced piece of clothing... A coat that you can put an front- and backwards without it looking any different? It not only has buttons on the back, even the pockets are mirrored!

I know that hat...
Photo: Screenshots RTL
Looks like we had another had sharing moment at our hands this National Day! Mind you, Princess Claire and Princess Alexandra didn't wear the very same hat this weekend but it looks like Alexandra wore her sister-in-law's hat from a few years ago. Interestingly, Claire also repeated something this year from National Day 2016: The Vilshenko dress.

Is she or isn't she
Photo: Screenshot RTL
No, not what you think. Princess Claire did not become a Luxembourgish citizen upon her marriage (as that would have needed an act of parliament like it was the case for the Hereditary Grand Duchess). We have long wondered whether this has since changed as she can apply for Luxembourgish citizenship after three years of marriage to a Luxembourgish citizen. (Check) She would then have to prove her language skills and knowledge of the country. When I noticed during the Official Ceremony that Claire did not sing the national anthem, I thought that she isn't. However, she did sing the Heemecht during the Te Deum. So no clearing of this confusion (though singing of a national anthem, of course, never is a sign of being a citizen or not but a personal choice).