Weekly Roundup: Audiences, Tennis, and a Statement

June 29 to July 5, 2019

Photo: Luxembourger Wort / wort.lu

On Tuesday, July 2nd, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume was at Wimbledon to cheer on Luxembourg athlete Mandy Minella in her match against Kiki Bertens.

Photo: llv.li

On the 3rd, Hereditary Prince Alois received the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Titov, who paid a courtesy visit to Schloss Vaduz. While in Liechtenstein, the Deputy Minister highlighted the 25 years of diplomatic relations between the countries, and both sides agreed about the importance of continued diplomacy.

Additionally, in light of the recent political scandal in Liechtenstein, with the dismissal of Councillor  (and former Foreign Minister) Aurelia Frick, Hereditary Prince Alois commented on the potential for further fallout. He noted that he wasn't concerned about significant impact, particularly from an international perspective.

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Sophie Margue

On the 5th, Grand Duke Henri received in audience the Assemblée Parlementaire de l’Organisation pour la Sécurité et la Coopération en Europe (OSCE). The organization's 28th annual session is being held this year in Luxembourg, from July 4th through July 8th.

Tiara Galore and Dashing Gentlemen: National Day Gala

All photos: Sophie Margue / Cour grand-ducale

Today is Luxembourg's National Day and, saving the best for last, the Grand Ducal Family rounded off the day with the traditional gala events a.k.a. the only sure time of the year we get to see the grand ducal ladies in tiaras - and today was no different. Everyone who attended the day's events minus Prince Félix, who probably had to head back to wife and kids, was present for the evening event as well.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa sported one of her go-to tiaras, the Belgian Scroll Tiara, together with pearl earrings that we believe date back to the days of Grand Duchess Adelheid-Marie.

Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie adorned her red gown with the Nassau Floral Tiara and one of the Nassau Rose Brooches as well as some mystery ruby earrings she previously sported in Cannes. Fun fact: I believe this is actually a tiara premiere for the Hereditary Grand Duchess. If my memory serves me right, she has not worn this tiara before.

Princess Alexandra topped of her dress that is older than this lovely lady herself (well, part of it at least) with the Turquoise Tiara, necklace and earrings as well as a major diamond ring.

Of course the gentlemen of the Grand Ducal Family also were their dashing selves this evening. While Grand Duke Henri, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Prince Sébastien sported their military uniforms, Prince Louis was in white tie.

Among the invitees for tonight's gala were 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 - and they all looked to have a jolly good time!

Weekly Roundup: A Wedding, an Election, and the Octave

May 25th-31st

Photo: Facebook Page of Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia

On May 25th, Prince Dushan of Yugoslavia and his wife Valerie De Muzio had their religious wedding at the Church of St. George in Oplenac, Serbia. He is the son of Princess Barbara of Liechtenstein and the late Prince Alexandra of Yugoslavia. Among the guests of the wedding were Prince Alexander and Prince Rudolf, sons of Prince Philipp, as well as several other members of the extended Liechtenstein family.

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Sophie Margue

On the 26th, members of the Grand Ducal family attended the Pontifical Mass as part of the Octave at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Luxembourg, and then participated in the closing procession for the event. Included were the Grand Ducal couple, the Hereditary Grand Ducal couple, and Prince Félix and Princess Claire. (As part of the six-week mourning for Grand Duke Jean, they did not make a balcony appearance.)

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli

Also on the 26th, the Hereditary Grand Duke, the Hereditary Grand Duchess, and Prince Félix were at the "Ratskeller" electoral office to cast their ballots in the 2019 European Elections.

Photo: © COSL / Cour grand-ducale

On May 27th, Princess Alexandra joined members of the Luxemburg Olympic and Sports Committee in Montenegro for the Games of the Small States of Europe. You'll also notice Princess Nora and Anunciata there, supporting the athletes from Liechtenstein. The event runs from May 27th through June 1st.

On the 27th and 28th, a delegation from the Austrian Constitutional Court, headed by now-appointed Chancellor Brigitte Bierlein (as of May 30th), was in Liechtenstein. During their visit, they were received by Hereditary Prince Alois. No photos of the delegation with the Hereditary Prince just yet.

Weekly Roundup: A Wedding, Exhibitions and Celebrations

May 18 to May 24, 2019

On Friday last week, the new mayors (sort of, whatever Vorsteher exactly means in English, it's literally a "presider") of the municipalities of Liechtenstein took their oath at the government building. Afterwards, they were received by Hereditary Prince Alois for a meeting at Schloss Vaduz though no pictures seem to be available.

Screenshot via Hello

On Saturday, Prince Philipp and Princess Isabelle attended the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Tom Kingston at Windsor Castle. The bride is a daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and thus a member of the extended British royal family. 

Photo: IKR

On Monday, the Liechtenstein embassy in Vienna together with the Art Museum Liechtenstein and the Hilti Foundation hosted a reception for the Austrian art scene at the Albertina, where parts of the Princely Collection of the House of Liechtenstein is currently on display to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Principality. Prince Constantin and Princess Maria-Pia, who is the Liechtenstein ambassador to Austria, were on hand for the occasion. More information at Vaterland.

Photo: Marktgemeinde Maria Enzersdorf

A day later, Prince Constantin attended another event to mark the 300th anniversary of the Principality. At Burg Liechtenstein, the family's ancestral seat south of Vienna, he opened a new treasure chamber which also includes a replica of the Ducal Hat of Liechtenstein.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli

Meanwhile in Luxembourg, Grand Duke Henri received Chief Raoni Metuktire for an audience on Monday. He is a chief of the Kayapo people, a Brazilian Indigenous group from the plain lands of the Mato Grosso and Pará in Brazil. Chief Raoni is internationally famous as a living symbol of the fight for the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and indigenous culture and is currently on a tour of Europe to fight for his causes.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli

Later that same day, Grand Duke Henri, who was joined by Princess Alexandra, hosted a reception for Luxembourg's highest ranking diplomats who had travelled back to the Grand Duchy for the annual diplomatic conference. More pictures at the cour.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli

On Wednesday, Princess Alexandra made on of her few solo appearances of the year as she attended a conference to celebrate 100 years of woman suffrage in the Grand Duchy. More visuals of the event at the cour.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Sophie Margue

That same day in Paris, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, joined by Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie and Prince Louis, opened the  4th edition of the exhibition "Révélations" at the Grand Palais. Luxembourg is this year's country of honour of the exhibition featuring the work of over 400 artists, craftsmen, designers, and manufacturers. The Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess are the patrons of the Luxembourgish exhibitions of "Révélations". More photos.

Photo: L'Est Republicain

Also on Wednesday, Archduke Carl-Christian, husband of Luxembourg's Princess Marie-Astrid, paid a visit to Bar-le-Duc, a town in the north-east of France once part of the old Duchy of Lorraine. Archduke Carl-Christian's grandmother, Empress Zita, used the title of Duchess of Bar for official documents. A day earlier, he had participated in a conference in nearby Nancy though I haven't yet found any more details about that. More about the visit to Bar-le-Duc at L'Est Republicain.

The Last "Äddi": Grand Duke Jean Laid to Rest

Photo: Cour grand-ducale

It was shortly before half-past eleven this morning when Grand Duke Jean left the palais grand-ducal for the very last time. Representatives of eleven reigning monarchies, countless non-reigning and noble houses, former presidents of Germany, France and Portugal, national and international dignitaries had already taken their place at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Luxembourg, when Luxembourg's former Grand Duke, who died almost two weeks ago aged 98, made his final journey through the streets of Luxembourg towards the Cathedral. 

Photo: Cour grand-ducale

The coffin of Grand Duke Jean was draped in a flag based on the Grand Duchy's coat-of-arms prominently displaying the Red Lion. The Grand Duke's mortal remains were carried on a howitzer gun mount, once gifted to Grand Duke Jean by the Irish Guards, towed by a military vehicle of the Luxembourg Army. As 21 canon salutes were fired, the funeral procession including the members of the Grand Ducal Family, military and police delegations, the highest ranking political and other dignitaries, slowly made their way to the Cathedral. It was interesting to note that the three oldest of Grand Duke Jean's great-grandchildren, namely Princes Gabriel and Noah and Count Léopold de Limburg-Stirum, also attended the service. 

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Sophie Margue

Grand Duke Jean's coffin was carried into the Cathedral to the sounds of De Wilhelmus, Luxembourg's grand ducal anthem, the lyrics of which are actually about (the love of) Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Felix, the late Grand Duke's parents. The funeral mass was presided over by Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich and his concelebrants included former Archbishop Fernand Franck and Augustine Kasujja, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Grand Duchy. The Grand Ducal Family was heavily involved in the service with both Archduchess Marie-Astrid and Prince Guillaume giving the readings in French and Luxembourgish respectively. Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume (in Luxembourgish), Princess Marie-Gabrielle (in French), Princess Anunciata (in English), Prince Paul-Louis (in Luxembourgish) and Archduchess Marie-Christine (in French) read the intercessions, which they wrote themselves.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Samuel Kirszenbaum

The mass ended with the Sonnerie Nationale and the singing of the national anthem Ons Heemecht. Then came the perhaps most moving part: Grand Duke Jean's coffin was carried out of the Cathedral to the sounds of Highland Cathedral played by bagpipers of the Irish Guards together with the Military Music. It is a song that it very moving in itself and was probably the emotional highpoint of a generally very emotional day. Grand Duke Jean was then privately laid to rest at the Cathedral's crypt alongside his wife, parents, brother and further relatives.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale

If you wish, you can (re)watch the funeral service over at RTL. You can find more pictures in our posts here and here and all over the Luxembourgish media, just go on their websites and you will find easily find them. Our "field reporter" Arjan was in Luxembourg today and he will share experiences in the coming days, so make sure to come back. As we noticed that some attendees were missing on the guest list published in advance, we may also come up with a more comprehensive one sometime next week.

Hereditary Grand Duke Remembers Late Grandfather in Parliament

Photo: SIP

Ahead of the state funeral tomorrow, the Chamber of Deputies held a solemn commemoration in honour of Grand Duke Jean earlier today. Both Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and the President of Parliament Fernand Etgen held speeches in honour of the late Grand Duke. It was Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume who represented the Grand Ducal Family at the event. The whole ceremony can be watched over at RTL with pictures available on the website of the Chamber of Deputies.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa and Family "Stand Speak Rise Up!"

Photo: Stand Speak Rise Up

The much anticipated "Stand Speak Rise Up!" conference took place in Luxembourg this week. The international conference committed to ending sexual violence in fragile environments was initiated by the Grand Duchess together with the Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation and We are NOT Weapons of War (WWoW), supported by the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society and the Luxembourg Government.

Photo: Stand Speak Rise Up

The aim of the conference was to raise awareness of sexual violence in conflict zones, particularly rape as a weapon of war. Sadly both have experienced in upsurge in today's conflicts yet are rarely talked about. While sexual violence is a deep-rooted global phenomenon affecting every human being, women are oftentimes the most vulnerable. Fragile environments, such as war and guerilla zones, displaced communities, detention centres, isolated rural villages and areas ravaged by natural disasters, are fertile grounds for these heinous crimes that have become part of military strategy and a weapon of war.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Sophie Margue

Already on Saturday, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa celebrated her birthday with a party together with 50 survivors of sexual violence in conflict zones who had already travelled to the Grand Duchy for the conference that took place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli

On Monday, the Grand Duke welcomed two of the conference's attendees, Atifete Jahjaga, former President of Kosovo, and Pramila Patten, United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, for audiences at the palais.

Photo: Stand Speak Rise Up

The actual conference took place on Tuesday and Wednesday with a concert at the Philharmonie rounding off the event. It was great to see so many family members coming out to support such an important cause. Among those who attended the various events related to the conference were, of course, Grand Duke Henri, Grand Duke Jean, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, Prince Félix and Princess Claire, Princess Alexandra, as well as Archduchess Marie-Astrid and Princess Anunciata and Princess Charlotte (daughter of Guillaume and Sibilla).

Pictures of the conference are available on Flickr as well as at the cour here and here. RTL has several news reports about the events, here and here for example, as well as a lengthy interview with the Grand Duchess.

Weekly Roundup: Interviews, Lots of "De Mains de Maîtres" and More

November 24 to 30, 2018

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Cyril Moreau

On Monday, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa and Princess Alexandra were on hand for the screening of the movie "Moi Nojoom, 10 ans, divorcée" in Paris. The movie, which has already won several awards, deals with the topic of forced child marriage: "A little girl enters a courtroom, looks at the judge straight in the eye and says, “I want to divorce.” Her name is Nojoom, she is ten years old, she was forcibly married to a man who is 20 years older than her, and she escaped. But in Yemen, there is no legal age to marry." Watch the trailer here, more pictures of the screening here.

Photo: Council of Europe

Hereditary Prince Alois and Hereditary Princess Sophie were in Strasbourg on Tuesday to pay a visit to the Council of Europe including the European Court of Human Rights. The visit marked the 40th anniversary of the Principality's addition to the Council of Europe. In case you are not up to all the details of all the European institutions, don't be fooled: Despite the similar flags, the Council of Europe has nothing to do with the European Union and its European Council. The Council of Europe has 47 member states and its aim is to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Sophie Margue

On Wednesday, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa attended the froum "From words to action: repairing the wounds of wartime sexual violence" organised by the Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation alongside Dr. Mukwege himself and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands in The Hague. More pictures at the cour, the speech given by the Grand Duchess (in English) here.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Charles Caratini

This week was also very much influenced by this year's De Main De Maîtres exhibition - and it even brought out a surprising number of family members! Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie brought along Grand Duke Henri, Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla as well as their daughter Princess Charlotte for an informal visit to the exhibition on Wednesday prior to its opening. More visuals at the cour.

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Charles Caratini

Later that same time Guillaume continued to make us feel like it's 2009 all over again (#TeamBeard) as he and Stéphanie also visited additional exhibition spaces of De Main De Maîtres, including the workshop of Ezri Kahn. Et mais oui, I totally want Stéphanie to wear that yellow dress! And by the way in case you haven't been a long-time follower of the Grand Ducal Family and are a bit lost right now: The exhibition De Mains de Maîtres (Of Master's Hands) was first initiated by the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess together with the Chamber of Trade and the Ministries of Economy and Culture back in 2016 with the first exhibition taking place in December of that year in Luxembourg to showcase the country's talent in the fields of art, craftsmanship and design. It was a resounding success, has become a regular thing in Luxembourg and has also since been moved abroad. (More visuals.)

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Charles Caratini

Naturally, the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess were also on hand for the official opening of this year's exhibition called "Gestes et Merveilles" (Gestures and Wonders) on Wednesday night. Stéphanie gave the opening speech of the event at 19 Liberté.

Photo: Screenshot RTL

To mark the exhibition, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume also gave an interview to RTL, you can watch it here. Guillaume talks about how he surprised he and his wife were about the continued success of De Mains de Maîtres and how much they enjoyed bringing the exhibition to other countries hoping that there will be many more to come.

Photo: SOS Faim / S. Becker

Grand Duke Henri meanwhile attended an academic session to mark the 25th anniversary of SOS Faim. Founded in Luxembourg in 1993, SOS Faim supports sustainable agriculture, in particular by means of inclusive rural financing, to guarantee food sovereignty everywhere and for all. More...

Photo: Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli

To round off this week's activities, Grand Duke Henri attended the closing ceremony of Expogast, the International Trade Show for Gastronomy, taking place in Luxembourg every year earlier today (Friday, that is). More at the cour.

You caught something else this week we missed? Let us know in the comment section below.