A Load of Pictures of Guillaume and Stéphanie in Venice

This past weekend Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie visited Venice for this year's Biennale exhibition. They paid visits to the Luxembourgish, Belgian and Scottish pavilions on Friday as well as the official exhibition "Viva Arte Viva" on Saturday. Today, the cour released 23 pictures of both days - enjoy! For more information on all the events related to the Biennale, have a look at our previous post.

All photos: Cour grand-ducale / Segantin Zambon / tous droits réservés

Civil Wedding of Princess Marie-Gabrielle and Antonius Willms

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli / tous droits réservés

Princess Marie-Gabrielle, oldest child and only daughter of Prince Jean and his former wife Hélène Vestur, civilly married Antonius Willms in Luxembourg today. Antonius is the son of Hayo Willms and Countess Maria Theresia von Goëss. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Antonius and his family lived in Luxembourg for several years where his father worked in finance. Marie-Gabrielle was born in Paris. The couple now lives in Germany.

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli / tous droits réservés

Princess Marie-Gabrielle of Nassau and Antonius Willms were married by Lydie Polfer, mayor of Luxembourg city, at the city's town hall. The religious wedding will take place near Marbella, Spain, later this year on a property owned by the in-laws of Antonius' sister Marie-Caroline.

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli / tous droits réservés

While Princess Marie-Gabrielle chose her brother Prince Constantin as her witness, Antonius Willms chose his brother Johannes. They chose the 60th birthday of Marie-Gabrielle's father, Prince Jean, as the date of their civil wedding. 

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli / tous droits réservés

Also in attendance for the civil ceremony were other members of the Grand Ducal Family: Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie, Prince Louis as well as Princess Alexandra; Prince Jean as well as his sons Prince Constantin, Prince Wenceslas and Prince Carl; Princess Margaretha as well as her children Princess Anunciata, Princess Astrid and Prince Josef. In addition, Hélène Vestur, Marie-Gabrielle's mother was present. As were Antonius' parents and his siblings Johannes, Anna and Marie-Caroline with her husband Alejandro Gamazo Hohenlohe.

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli / tous droits réservés

After the civil wedding, the new husband and wife as well as their guests made their way to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame where Princess Marie-Gabrielle - who will keep her title - offered her bridal flowers to Our Lady of Luxembourg.

Photo: © Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli / tous droits réservés

Wort has additional pictures from outside of the town hall as well.

Guillaume and Stéphanie Visit Venice for Biennale

Continuing their commitment to Luxembourgish arts and crafts, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie made their way to Venice for the 57th Biennale, the famous contemporary visual art exhibition, yesterday. Accompanied by Guy Arendt, Secretary of State for Culture, the grand ducal duo visited the pavilions of Luxembourg, Belgium and Scotland. To round off their visit, the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess also visited the official exhibition "Viva Arte Viva" earlier today.

At this year's Biennale, the Grand Duchy is represented by Mike Bourscheid with his body of work titled ‘Thank you so much for the flowers’. Bourscheid’s practice includes the use of performance and sculpture to intertwine and connect the stereotypes of what are perceived to be masculine and feminine labour. The Belgium pavilion shows the work of Dirk Braeckman and the Scottish pavilion art by Rachel Maclean.

General random royal fact of the day: Did you know that the famous Biennale was introduced by a resolution of Venice's city council 1893 proposing the founding of a "biennial national artistic exhibition" to take place in the following year to celebrate the silver anniversary of King Umberto and Margherita of Savoy?! Also: Photos of Guillaume and Stéphane venturing through Venice at Tageblatt.

Fashion Friday : April 29 - May 12

We have a very busy fashion friday post today! The Lux Ladies attended a lot of events these past two weeks and I have been able to identify more of their clothes than usual!

On April 30th, Henri, Maria-Teresa, Guillaume and Stéphanie were in the Netherlands to celebrate King Willem-Alexander's 50th birthday.

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I think Maria-Teresa might have been wearing the Natan outfit she wore to Guillaume and Stéphanie's wedding but I'm not sure.

© SIP / Nicolas Bouvy / tous droits réservés

Stephanie wore her yellow Massimo Dutti jacket, which she first wore during the US economic mission a few weeks ago and that I identified this week.

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On May 3rd, Maria-Teresa held an audience wearing her old Weill coat. I think her necklace is from Marni but I don't have confirmation. She then attended a diplomatic reception with Henri. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about her outfit.

© Cour grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli / Tous droits réservés

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From May 3rd to May 5th, Guillaume and Stéphanie were in Paris for the 'Revelation' exhibit at the Grand Palais. On May 3rd, Stephanie wore an old coat, with Paule Ka dress, shoes and clutch. You can see the dress better in this interview they gave to Place Royale.

© PhotoProEvent / Geoffroy Lasne / tous droits réservés

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On May 5th, for a reception, Stephanie wore a new Tara Jarmon red dress with a new coat that I wasn't able to identify.

Photo: © Henri Tullio / tous droits réservés

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On May 9th, celebrations for King Harald and Queen Sonja's 80th birthdays started in Oslo. Henri, Maria-Teresa, Guillaume and Stephanie were there. For the gala dinner, Maria-Teresa wore an old YSL coat from the Spring 2001 couture collection. Fun fact: she first wore that coat at Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway's wedding. (The photo won't embed, but it's available at the earlier Luxarazzi post.)

Stephanie wore a new gown that I wasn't able to identify but I can tell she wore her white Sergio Rossi peep-toes shoes.

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The celebrations continued on May 10th with a cruise and a dinner hosted by the Norwegian government. For the cruise, both Maria-Teresa and Stephanie wore old outfits. Maria-Teresa's bag is by Caroline Dechamby (ID from VK.com). Update May 17th: Stephanie's clutch is the Amber clutch by Sophie Habsburg ( with thanks to Sarah).

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For the dinner, Maria-Teresa wore an old green gown first worn during the National Day in Gala in 2015.

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Stephanie wore a new blue gown by Paule Ka.

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On May 11th, the Duchess of Cambridge made a visit to Luxembourg! She was with Stephanie during most of the visit. She then met Henri, Maria-Teresa and Alexandra at the Palace.

Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu

Maria-Teresa and Alexandra both wore old outfits but Stéphanie wore a new outfit. She wore a dress by Paule Ka and Sergio Rossi shoes. I have no info about her clutch so far but I'm still looking for it!

Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu

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As always, the next fashion friday post will be in two weeks, with hopefully info about Stephanie's outfits in Venice.

Hereditary Princess Attends Red Cross General Assembly

Photo: Volksblatt / volksblatt.li

On May 11th, Hereditary Princess Sophie was in attendance in her role as President for the General Assembly of the Liechtenstein Red Cross (LRK). Princess Marie was also there, as the Honorary President, although there aren't yet any photos of her at the event.

The LRK has embraced a new focus, "Menschen.Retten.Leben," with an increased online presence and plans for a more active Facebook page. In her opening speech, Sophie mentioned the need to expand opportunities for outreach and to continue raising awareness about the work that the LRK does. There was also discussion about the plans for the new building to be completed in 2020, which reflects the increasing need for the LRK's work throughout Liechtenstein.

More information from Volksblatt.

Tessy Gives Interview About UNAIDS Work

A long-time supporter of and Global Advocate for UNAIDS and its work with women, Tessy has given an interview about the upcoming event "Joyful Change," which aims to raise funds for the "education, rights, and health" of women. The event, to be held on May 20th in Geneva, will include a performance from the Rudra Béjart School of Dance, along with a cocktail reception and charity auction. (Tessy also supported a performance by the school last year in honor of International Women's Day.)

Tessy is still referred to as Princess Tessy of Luxembourg in this interview; we haven't received any information about the status of the divorce finalization.

The link to the interview at WRS, along with more information about the event. The interview with Tessy begins around the 3:00 mark.

Hereditary Prince Alois Receives EFTA Surveillance Authority

On the 11th, Hereditary Prince Alois held a reception for members of the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) for what is known as the annual "package meeting" in Liechtenstein. EFTA comprises four states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland; participants from the countries were in attendance for this year's discussions about ongoing processes and procedures.

Participants also met with Prime Minister Adrian Hasler, Deputy Prime Minister Daniel Risch, and the President of the Landtag. This year's meeting will run from the 11th to the 12th.

More information at Volksblatt. No photos of the reception just yet, but they'll be added if they're made available.

Grand Duke Henri Receives Czech Prime Minister

Photo: Claude Piscitelli / Cour grand-ducale

On the 11th, Grand Duke Henri received in audience Bohuslav Sobotka, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic. Prime Minister Sobotka is visiting the Grand Duchy on an official visit. He assumed his current office in January of 2014; he previously served as the Minister of Finance and briefly (until a new appointment was made) as the Minister of Industry and Trade in 2017.

Info from the Cour.

The Duchess of Cambridge Visits Luxembourg

All photos: Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu

The Duchess of Cambridge paid a visit to Luxembourg today with the usual fanfare of a British royal going anywhere - and members of the Grand Ducal Family were along for the ride. The visit took place at the request of the British government with the official reason being the commemoration of the 1867 Treaty of London and to celebrate the cultural and historic ties between the United Kingdom and Luxembourg.

The Duchess arrived in Luxembourg in the early afternoon and the first item on her agenda was a visit to the Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (MUDAM). She was accompanied by Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie in her function as president of the MUDAM. Together the royal ladies viewed the current exhibition featuring works by British artists Tony Cragg & Darren Almond. 

After a solo visit to the Place Clairefontaine where she attended a cycling themed festival and met Luxembourgish cycling heroes of the past, more recent past and possibly future, the Duchess of Cambridge was received by Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie as well as Princess Alexandra at the palais for a short exchange.

Then came the reason for Catherine's visit: The official commemoration of the 1867 Treaty of London, which confirmed Luxembourg’s independence and neutrality. After the audience at the Grand Duke's official residence, the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess and their the royal guest made their way to the Lëtzebuerg City Museum, where a new collection was unveiled. Together they were given a guided tour of "The Luxembourg Story" about the thousand-year history of the city. They were also joined by delegates from other countries who signed the 1867 Treaty of London for the visit

After stopping at the Chemin de la Corniche to get a stunning view of the Alzette valley from "the most beautiful balcony of Europe", the royal trio made their way to the Musée Dräi Eechelen for the main event of the day. The museum is housed at Fort Thüngen, most of which was demolished after the 1867 Treaty apart from its foundations and three towers. (Fun fact: Dräi Eechelen means “The Three Acorns” and refers to the acorn-shaped sculptures on each tower.) Together with Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, the Duchess of Cambridge and the hereditary grand ducal couple toured the exhibition "'Luxembourg 1867 – Open City", which gives an insight into how the dismantling of Luxembourg’s fortifications laid the foundation for the transformation of Luxembourg into an open and outward-looking country.

For more pictures and videos, simply have a look at any Luxembourgish or British media website, like Wort, Tageblatt or RTL.

The Last Act: Norwegian Birthday Celebrations at the Opera

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Rounding off this week's royal birthday celebrations in Norway, which saw a tiara parade last night and a royal boat trip earlier today, there was a visit to the Oslo Opera House, where the Norwegian government hosted a dinner for the King and Queen. Naturally, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa as well as Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie were on hand for this last part of the celebrations as well.

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On the jewellery front, we saw Grand Duchess Maria Teresa wearing Queen Astrid's Emerald Bracelet Choker as a necklace. Queen Astrid (of Belgium) was, of course, the mother of Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte and younger sister of Crown Princess Märtha of Norway, mother of King Harald V. (That's royal relations for you!) Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie, in the meantime, debuted the necklace, earrings and bracelet of the Aquamarine Parure. Oh how I wish this would have been a second tiara event after last night! Alas, we will have to be patient until the state visit later this month - and national day next month. Good news though, the next sparkling events aren't far away - and to get you over the wait, let's have another look at these gorgeous aquamarines!

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Until then, the Grand Ducal Family will make a quick return back to Luxembourg either later this evening and early tomorrow morning to meet the Duchess of Cambridge. For the day's agenda, have a look here. In addition, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie will travel to Italy where they will visit the Biennale in Venice on Friday and Saturday. Busy days ahead, so stay tuned - we will bring you everything you need to know. In the meantime, check out this video of the royal guests arriving to the Opera House.