Guillaume and Stéphanie at Evening Art Event in Paris

Photo: © Henri Tullio / tous droits réservés

On the evening of May 5th, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie attended an evening event to support the Luxembourg artists who are featured in the exhibition Révélations. As with the exhibition, this event was also held at the Grand-Palais; Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie delivered a speech.

Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Minister of Culture Guy Arendt, and the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Francine Closener, were in attendance at the evening event to meet with the featured artists.

More information and photos from RTL.

Grand Duke Henri Receives Five New Ambassadors

Photo: Cour grand-ducale /
Grand Duke Henri with Basu Sangqu of the Republic of South Africa

On the 4th, Grand Duke Henri received in audience five new ambassadors: Basu Sangqu (Republic of South Africa), Erkinchon Rahmatullozoda (Republic of Tajikistan), Ousmane Alhassane Abba (Republic of Niger), Lok Bahadur Thapa (Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal), and Bernard Nikaj (Republic of Kosovo).

More photos of the audiences from the Cour.

Princely Family at Birthday Celebrations of Dutch King

Remember the birthday celebrations of King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands this past weekend (of which we sadly never got good pictures of)? Turns out, not only the Grand Ducal Family was in attendance. Dutch magazine Royalty reports in this week's issue and apparently also has pictures of Hereditary Prince Alois and Hereditary Princess Sophie as well as Prince Max and Princess Angela attending the celebrations. They were spotted at a brunch at Villa Eikenhorst.

Guillaume and Stéphanie Attend Exhibition Opening in Paris

#Chile en la bienal #REVELATIONS con el ministro #Ottone y la #princesa de #Luxemburgo #Paris #GrandPalais pic.twitter.com/kk3hj60ogD

— Gabriela Bravo (@GabyotaBravo) May 3, 2017

On the 3rd, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie were in Paris to attend the opening of the exhibition "Révélations" at the Grand Palais. The event, which runs through May 8th, highlights the work of over 400 artists, craftsmen, designers, and manufacturers. Additionally, the exhibition features a number of artists from Luxembourg: Feyrouz Ashoura (styling), Tom Flick (stone), Anne Claude Jeitz and Alain Calliste (glass), Tine Krumhorn (furniture), Pascale Carine Mertes Seil (glass), Wouter van der Vlugt (sculpting), and Ellen van der Woude (ceramics).

This event follows on the Hereditary Grand Ducal couple's attendance at the arts and crafts exhibition De Mains de Maîtres in December. Guy Arendt, the Secretary of State for Culture, accompanied Guillaume and Stéphanie to Paris.

Photos available from the Cour.

Grand Ducal Couple Hosts Government

Photo: Anouk Antony / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu

This evening, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa hosted their country's government and its members respective partners for a dinner at the Château de Berg. These institutional dinners take place a few times a year. They take place to give the members of the Grand Ducal Family and their country's highest politicians a chance to catch up and for an exchange of views. The members of government were welcomed in the Salle «Je Maintiendrai» before proceeding to the dining room for - exactly - the dinner.

Wort has more pictures of the event.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa Meets Dr. Denis Mukwege

Photo: Claude Piscitelli

Earlier today, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa received Dr. Denis Mukwege and Esther Dingemans, Director of the Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation, for an audience at the palais grand-ducal. Dr. Mukwege is a Congolese gynecologist who specialises in the treatment of women who have been gang-raped or suffered other wartime sexual assault during the ongoing violent conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We have extensively written about Dr. Mukwege's very important work when he previously visited the Grand Duchy in October of last year. The cour also offers some additional information.

Grand Duke Visits Military Centre

Photo: EMA

Grand Duke Henri visited the Military Centre in Diekirch today to tour the logistics hall and its workshops. During the visit, the Grand Duke, who is the head of Luxembourg's armed forces, was also briefed on the army's satellite capabilities and saw a drone demonstration. He was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Etienne Schneider, who gave Grand Duke Henri a briefing on the development of Luxembourg’s defence policy for 2025 and beyond. 

More pictures at the cour and Wort.

That Visit, a State Visit, More Visits

The Duchess of Cambridge will pay a visit to Luxembourg for the commemoration of the Treaty of London, which confirmed Luxembourg’s independence and neutrality in 1867. Catherine will be in the Grand Duchy on May 11. One of the items on her agenda is a meeting with Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa at the palais. As she is also scheduled to visit the Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, she may also meet with Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie, who is the President of the MUDAM. 

The President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will visit Luxembourg on May 23 and 24. He will be hosted by the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess and his visits will include political, economic, cultural and social encounters in Luxembourg city, Betzdorf and Esch-Belval. The President will privately extend his visit to the Grand Duchy to May 25 for the annual pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Wiltz.

In July, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa will pay a visit to the small German city of Weilburg for the opening of an exhibition called "The Luxembourg-Nassau Dynasty". Weilburg, of course, is the ancestral home of the branch of the House of Nassau which reigns Luxembourg. The Grand Ducal Family maintains strong ties to the city near Frankfurt with the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess visiting in 2012, the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess in 2013, and the Hereditary Grand Duke again last year.

Alois Celebrates May 1st with Employee Association

Photo: Volksblatt / volksblatt.li

On May 1st, Hereditary Prince Alois was in Triesen to attend an event hosted by Liechtensteinischen ArbeitnehmerInnenverbands (LANV, or the Liechtenstein Association of Employees). The President of the organization, Sigi Langenbahn, spoke about the goal of strong minimum wage for all employees and commented positively on how the Liechtenstein government has worked with LANV and other employee associations to support labor agreements. He also spoke about his optimism about the new government's ongoing support for labor laws that protect workers as well as promote business.

A little more here.

Imre and Katie at Conference in Vienna

Photo: Napa Institute

Archduke Imre, oldest son of Princess Marie-Astrid and husband Archduke Carl-Christian of Austria, and his wife Archduchess Kathleen were in Vienna the other weekend. The duo attended a conference entitled "Catholicism in Our Modern World" organised by the Napa Institute together with Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, the Archbishop of Vienna, and the International Theological Institute in Vienna. 

The conference took place at the Ritz-Carlton with many detours at famous landmarks of the Austrian captial, including Schloss Schönbrunn, former (summer) residence of the Habsburgs. At the palace of his ancestors during one of the conference's events Archduke Imre gave a talk on his great-grandparents Blessed Emperor Karl and Empress Zita, the last Habsburgs on the Danube monarchy's thrones.

More pictures of the event on the Facebook page of the Napa Institute.