Prince Constantin and Princess Tatjana at Liechtenstein Reception in Vienna

Photo: IKR

Liechtenstein's ambassador to Austria, Princess Maria-Pia, hosted the traditional Liechtenstein reception at the Gartenpalais in Vienna in mid-September. Among its guests were Prime Minister Adrian Hasler as well as Prince Constantin and his sister Princess Tatjana. The Principality and its eastern neighbour share numerous diplomatic and contractual ties. So it's entirely possible that other Austria-based members of the Princely Family were also present for the event.

Prince Max Meets Principality's Government

Photo: IKR

In his capacity of CEO of the LGT Group, Prince Max is a member of the board of the Principality's Industrial and Commercial Chamber. Earlier this week, he and his fellow members of the chamber met with Liechtenstein's government to discuss economically relevant topics. These kind of meetings take place twice a year.

Constantin at Football Is More Conference

Photo: Liverpool Echo

Prince Constantin, earlier this week, participated in the sixth CSR Forum of the Football Is More Foundation in Switzerland. Around 150 representatives of football clubs, non-governmental organisations, associations, foundations, companies, politics and universities from all over the world came together at the conferencce to discuss the facetious wealth of corporate social responsibility and social commitment. 

Prince Constantin, who is the patron of the Football Is More Foundation, also took part in the "Role Model Awards & Gala Dinner 2017" at which he was pictured with Prof. Denise Barrett-Baxendale (middle) who was honoured for her work in the foundation “Everton in the community”.

More from the Liverpool Echo.

Grand Duke Henri Visits Phil@poste in France

Signature du livre d'or par le Grand-Duc de #Luxembourg à l'occasion de l'impression de 3 #timbres #LaPoste #Philaposte #Stamps #Philatélie pic.twitter.com/NATfOlIpT2

— ToutSurLeTimbre (@toutsurletimbre) October 5, 2017

On the 5th, Grand Duke Henri was in Boulazac, France, to visit Phil@poste, which holds the commission from POST Luxembourg for the annual issue of stamps. For 2017, they are producing the series Décorations honorifiques nationales that highlights three different Luxembourg orders: the Order of Civil and Military Merit of Adolph of Nassau, the Order of the Oak Crown, and the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

The visit included a tour of the printing process, as well as a chance to see the finished stamps.

A little further information from the Cour website.

Guillaume Honors 15th Anniversary of CDEC Group

Photo: ©Marie De Decker / Cour grand-ducale

On the 4th, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume attended an academic session in honor of the 15th anniversary of the CDEC group (Conseil pour le Développement Economique de la Construction). The CDEC group was formed from a collaboration of IFSB (Institut de formation sectorielle du bâtiment), COCERT, NEOBUILD, and IMSIM, all of which explore innovative building techniques and the integration of technology into construction.

After the academic session, the Hereditary Grand Duke attended the opening of the CDEC group's innovation event. Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and Chambre des députés President Mars di Bartolomeo were also present.

A little more from the Cour website.

Guillaume and Stéphanie Watch Documentary About Clerveaux Castle

Photo: Nico Patz

Last night, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie were on hand to watch the preview of the documentary film "1000 Joer Buerg Clierf". The documentary, produced by Ernest Koener, chronicles one thousand years of the history of Château de Clerveaux, which, fun fact, was once owned by the family of the Hereditary Grand Duchess, the Lannoys. Another picture is available at the cour.

Royal Recycling and Clothes Sharing: The Wish List

The other week, we had our tenth post on the clothes sharing love of the lovely ladies of Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. (Check it out >>right here<< in case you missed it.) To mark the jubilee, we thought it would be fun to ask some fellow fashion bloggers which clothes they would like to see get the same treatment - and so we asked our own Heaven, you may also know from UFO No More and some other ventures, Order of Splendor and Rebecca of Royal Hats to each name three pieces - here's what they picked...

Heaven would like to see these three dresses reused:

I would like Princess Alexandra to wear the Elie Saab dress Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie wore for her pre-wedding dinner because it was truly stunning and totally deserve another outing. I also hope either Stéphanie or Alexandra will wear this Elie Saab gown worn by the Grand Duchess in 2012 because it's one of my favorite Saab gowns worn by Grand Duchess Maria Teresa and it is simple enough to suit both of them while still being stunning. And finally this outfit too because it's Elie Saab and burgundy is my favorite color and it looked so good on the Grand Duchess that I'd like Princess Claire to wear it too, I think it would suit her.

Somehow the picks by Order of Splendor also ended up being a bit of a Saab fest:

I would like to see Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie take on the pale blue/aqua Elie Saab gown worn by Grand Duchess Maria Teresa to Crown Princess Victoria’s wedding, because that color looks great on blondes. I’d also like to see the two Elie Saab dresses worn by the Grand Duchess and Hereditary Grand Duchess for the pre-wedding dinner for Guillaume and Stéphanie worn by anyone else in the family, because you can’t go wrong with more Saab. And lastly, I wish Princess Alexandra would take Princess Claire’s red polka dot Dolce & Gabbana dress for spin. It’s fun and youthful and a bit retro, a vibe that could really work for her.

And finally some hat-picks by Rebecca:

Members of the Grand Ducal Family don't wear many hats. We see family members in hats for major events (Octave of Our Lady of Luxembourg, Luxembourg National Day, family weddings) and while the Grand Duchess wears a handful more for official royal or state visits, the total is still very low. It's difficult to find pieces to share with such low numbers so I'm going to cast my net a little further and look to the family's Belgian cousins for some much needed millinery inspiration. There are three hats worn by Queen Mathilde that I think would be excellent to share with her Luxembourg cousins.

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Hat #1: Since beginning her royal life in 2012, Princess Stéphanie has chosen either large brimmed hats (which often overwhelm her) or smaller percher cocktail designs. She is well suited to these smaller hats and their current popularity make them a very fashionable choice. I'd love to see her in this Fabienne Delvgine rimmed felt saucer with large multi-looped bow. The colour would be beautiful on Stéphanie and if she placed it as Queen Mathilde has here- over her right eyebrow on the side of her head, it would be a fantastic look for her.

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Hat #2: The Grand Duchess wears bright colours very well so my pick for her is a red straw pyramid saucer hat with feather trim, made by one of he go-to milliners, Fabienne Delvigne. I think Maria Teresa looks best in brimmed hats - the scale of this one would be great on her and this shape would provide gentler vertical uplift than the more severe upswept 'slice' brim hats she sometimes wears. We've see the Grand Duchess in many bright shades of pink, I'd love to see her try something in red.

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at #3: Princess Claire carries larger scale hats very well and I'd love to see her experiment more with less traditional shapes. This Philip Treacy gently curved grey saucer with long straw twists is a decidedly modern design that I think would be great on her. Looking over my trio of suggestions, I now realise I have chosen three different saucer hats! This is a shape we don't often see on the Grand Ducal ladies- a shape that I think could be a great one, in different variations, for each of them.

And now it is up to you: Which outfits would you like to see on a different family member?

Prince Philipp Honours Jubilarians

Photo: lie:zeit

Yup, it's that time of the years again. Like he does twice a year, Prince Philipp took the LGT's jubilarians of the second half of 2017 to visit another company in the Principality, this time around it was an (admittedly fancy looking) carpenter's workshop. The 72 employees he took have worked for the Princely Family's wealth and asset management group for a total of 1125 years. More information at Lie:Zeit.

Grand Dukes Offers Condolences After Las Vegas Shooting

The Grand Duke has sent a letter of condolence to U.S. President Donald Trump after the attack in Las Vegas, which took place on Sunday night. 

Dear Mr. President, 

Shocked by the tragic shooting in Las Vegas, the Grand Duchess and I, together with the people of Luxembourg, would like to express our condolences to you, to the families and to the American people in this time of suffering.

Our thoughts are with the many victims, their families and friends, and with all those affected by this horrible attack. 

You Go, Girl: (Kinda) In Defense of (Princess) Tessy

You know, when I first thought about writing a post, it all sounded very different in my head to what I will likely put on paper in the paragraphs to come. Somehow, the issue discussed seemed small in comparison to what feels more important – to me anyway.

For those not familiar: Over the past few days there has been a discussion over on Twitter on the titles of the woman who is or was Princess Tessy of Luxembourg, a discussion fueled by a (not so) private Instagram post of her's that we were asked about over on Twitter. Concerning her name and title: Neither of us royal watchers knows for sure what her current name is as there has never been an official announcement about her divorce from Prince Louis being finalised. For the record: If she still is Princess Tessy of Luxembourg, it means that her divorce from Prince Louis hasn’t been finalised yet. If it has been finalised, she does not have a title based on the Bylaws concerning the House Law of the Grand Ducal Family. It is not a matter of my opinion, but a matter of facts. The House Law clearly states, "In case of a legal separation, a divorce or remarriage after death, the wives lose the style and title conferred upon them."

As Tessy's road to princesshood wasn't the traditional path, we asked the cour back in February about the matter and they agreed with us replying that Tessy does in fact fall under the ordinary rules "following the grand-ducal decree from June 18, 2012, [...] a spouse (by marriage) loses, in case of divorce, her titles and predicates [style]". The cour also stated in a later reply that they were not able to comment on her name post-divorce yet (and we stood corrected about the moment the change came into effect). You know, if you are a regular reader here, you will already now: I - and I think I say that I can speak for my co-bloggers, so we aren't actually much of gossip girls but more factual Fräuleins. 

I'm just a stickler for facts and the little things. You know, royal news and weddings and births and clothes and tiaras - they are all interesting and I enjoy them, but they are not what has kept interested in royalty for all these years. They are a gateway to something much more interesting: History and the big and small mechanisms that have made monarchy work over all these years into the 21st century. 

One thing that has always bothered me about royal past and present though is how a woman is often defined by who she is married to. We know way less about your average or even stellar woman in world history than we know about the men. And to this day, there are still a few monarchies who won't even call a woman by her own name in her title. Princess Michael of Kent. Lady Nicholas Windsor. Seriously? Can't you frigging call a woman by her own name, Great Britain? And don't get me started on the Archiduc et Archiduchesse Carl-Christian d'Autriche in French. I know it's tradition and I'm not the kind of person who says that a woman shouldn't take her husband's name because it is a sign of a patriarchal society and it makes her lose her own identity but not even her first name? Come on!

And somehow the whole discussion around Princess Tessy's titles reminded me of that. Tessy was 20 when she married Louis and her whole adult life, she was defined by being her husband's wife, not least by the handling of the cour. Heck, it took them seven - I repeat: seven - years to finally introduce an own biography section of her's on their website (and only after Félix and Claire married). I wouldn't blame Tessy if she even started to define herself by that. She entered the family in an unconventional way and she was suddenly thrust into a limelight and a lifestyle she wasn't used to. At 20, we are still trying to figure us out and most people who knew at that age have no clue what to do with their lives at that time. Even though I didn't (and still don't) always agree with what she did/does, said/says and handled/handles things, I always rooted for Tessy and Louis. I always wanted them to prove the naysayers wrong and those who said they were doomed from the start. I do not believe that a marriage is a failure because you decide to divorce. Sometimes putting an end is even the more difficult step than to just go on. 

For better or worse, Louis and Tessy decided to pull the plug and whatever the future may hold for them, it seems to be working out for them right now from the little we know. And it shouldn't matter, what name or title Tessy has now or after her divorce. Yes, being married to Louis is why we know her and why she is featured on this blog, but that doesn't mean that we must define her by it for all eternity. She was 18 when she joined the army and served in the KFOR peacekeeping mission in Kosovo as the only woman in her draft. She has spoken about the tough times she had there but it goes to show that she must have been one heck of a strong woman to begin with. She is raising two beautiful boys, got two university degrees and founded her own charity. She champions various causes including being an UNAIDS Global Advocate for Young Women and Adolescent Girls. Can we please start define her by the amazing work she is doing and not by the fact that she was or maybe still is married to a guy with a title? This may be news to some, but simply having a fancy name and a style and title to go along with it is not a merit and doesn't make anyone a better person. Yes, her marriage to Louis gave Tessy lots of great opportunities, but want to know what is even greater? That she took them and built something not just for herself but to benefit others who are less fortunate.