The Grand Duke meets with Secretary General

The Secretary General of NATO was received by The Grand Duke as part of his working visit to Luxembourg.

While in Luxembourg The Secretary General also met with Premier Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, Jean Asselborn the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Jean-Marie Halsdorf the Minister of Defense. Additionally, he also met members of the Parliament and Foreign Affairs Committee. The focus of the working visit was the continued reform of NATO.

National Day pt 3 *******

RTL Live Stream of National Day will re-air at 7pm Luxembourg time. There is a brief but interesting program between the Te Deum and the Parade. It features old footage of The Family.

The National Day gala is tonight. I hope that we see 3 sets of glittering jewels in the pictures! There should also be a garden party at Chateau de Berg within the next few days.

A big double sided kiss on the cheeks to Premier Minster Juncker for being the only person to publicly Vive le Grand-Duc Jean! Happy Un-Birthday Henri.

Guillaume has not appeared to be a very happy camper today. I imagine the event is very stressful for him and his recent schedule of duties has been exhaustingly packed. I really enjoyed his attempts to clap on his leg then the arm of the chair at the closing of the parade. :) Guillaume, Sebastien and Tessy all looked tired (I noticed all that yawning :)). I hope they all get a nap before the gala. Guillaume you need an extra week at Cabasson! Take Minister Krecké with you...he also needs a rest.

I managed to get a few screen captures from the live feed during the Te Deum. I'll try capture more off of the video that OPM recorded. GuiGui looked fantastic in his beard with the green. His beard was definitely made for uniforms. As everyone who knows me knows, I am not really a huge Tessy fan. However, I have to say that conversion is underway. Tessy looked better than ever! I dare say that black dress and that nest of sticks she wore in her hair are to her what Guillaume's beard is for the uniform. Tessy, you looked great! As I said at the Military Tattoo, darker hair is definitely better for you.

Prince Sébastien wears the Ordre du Lion d'Or de la Maison de Nassau in public for the first time. He received the right to wear the order on 16 April 2010 (his 18th birthday). He is wearing the miniature version of the order on his lapel.

For wonderful photographs, view these National Day related galleries.

Tom Wagner

Wort 1

Wort 2

Wort 3

RTL 1

Getty

PPE 1

PPE 2

Zimbio

DayLife

Tageblatt 1

Tageblatt 2

Cour Grand-Ducal 1

Cour Grand-Ducal 2

Cour Grand-Ducal 3

National Day pt 2 ****

The celebrations for today (June 22) are nearly over and photographs are starting to appear. Getty has the first images. Tom Wagner has started his gallery for National Day. All of the children of Henri are present except Félix. Wort has an article with some nice pictures of the fireworks. PPE has a new gallery started. Wort has a new gallery with some really great pictures. Additionally, Wort has another gallery featuring part of the events from today. Zimbio has a repeat of the Getty pictures from Diekirch (without watermarks). Daylife has a similar gallery with some additional photos.

Alexandra looks great in vibrant colors. I don't normally like Guillaume in his other yellow ties (I have a passionate hate for one of them) but this color really complimented him well. Maria Teresa and Henri were particularly elegant.

For a more detailed schedule of events view the post below and check the government website.

There is a video recorded from RTL by one of our wonderful readers. The family will appear at 2.21.

*Note: Lux-lovers planning to tune in for the live broadcasts today might want to set their timers for 30 minutes ahead of the Te Deum and check into RTL.lu (or the actual channel, of course) for a National Day special being aired/streamed at 10am (Luxembourg time). The RTL show "De Magazin" will also be airing its own National Day special between the Te Deum and Military Parade, and for those who went off for a snack or cat-nap between events, an additional airing at 7:00pm. Happy viewing everyone - and Happy Nationalfeierdag!

Thanks, OPM and Liann

National Day!

National Day celebrations are beginning! RTL typically offers a live stream of the Te Deum. When that link becomes available I will provide it. A PDF schedule of the concerts and activities in Luxembourg City is available. I have listed the location and time of the arrival of members of The Family. The government has also provided a brief schedule of some events. Wort has a little article with some history of National Day and the continued importance of it. The army and police have had their final rehearsal for the parade and all the arrangements have been made.

My friends and I are making bets on whether Guillaume will wear his beard or shave. Will he or won't he? I say he will. HGDss says he won't. You?

Prince Sébastien turned 18 on April 16th. At this time he received his insignia in The Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau and The Order of Civil and Military Merit of Adolph of Nassau. There is likely to be some mention of this.

I have deleted the long schedule of events that I had previously posted.

Guillaume Congratulates 1, 2, 3

Well, it's official - our favorite Hereditary Grand Duke is either cloned, or truly never sleeps. Case in point: One day before leaving to witness the happiest day of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden's life, GuiGui and his usual partner-in-crime, Luxembourg's Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Jeannot Krecké, were on hand for another celebration - the 10th anniversary of 1, 2, 3, GO, a business initiative aimed at supporting worthy projects within the Duchy with both financial means and know-how. Featured at the event was a presentation spotlighting 10 of the organization's success stories within the past decade. Wort has a full article on the event (picture included), while the monarchy's official website features a small mention.

Princess Marie-Astrid Opens Bazaar

On 12 June, Princess Marie-Astrid opened a charity bazaar in Brussels, Belgium. The bazaar is organized by the Asia-Pacific Women's Association in Belgium.

The funds raised will be used to aid less fortunate persons in Sri Lanka and Samao. Donations will also be made to the Damian Foundation

Oh, what a wonderful day...

The wedding of Crown Princess Victoria was a beautiful event. The bride was a vision and the groom was beaming. I throughly enjoyed watching all of the coverage while chatting with fellow royal watchers. The bit about the 30 letters in Daniel's speech really got to me. I needed tissues after that. I think I have fallen a little in love with The Crown Princess Couple. I hope they continue to have a wonderful life together and that it is filled with joyous joyness. ;) The videos of the wedding events are still available at the link above.

I am disappointed that 3 of the biggest news/picture agencies in the world boycotted coverage of the actual wedding. I know that there weren't many pictures of our fabulous Family. You knew you could count on us didn't you ;) There is a wonderful gallery of Luxembourg related pictures culled from various sources here. Trust me, it is worth the click, and she has updated it several times since I first looked. The photograph of Henri and Maria Teresa below is a link to a gallery of Luxembourg related pictures. I have purposely made the photographs smaller. Just click them for the full size version. In case you hadn't noticed my layout tools have refused to co-operate with me today.

If you check "prince charming" in the dictionary I think you might find a picture of Guillaume with beard in his uniform. I was surprised to see him in full beard and formal uniform. However, I think that Guillaume and his beard make a great couple. ;) If you watched the live coverage you probably noticed that he looked a little uncomfortable. I'm not sure if this is because he was parted from his ceremonial sword, everyone was already harassing him about being the last single European heir, or if he was as annoyed as I was that his rank was discarded.

Madame la Grande-Duchesse, please take that magnificent diamond necklace to your favorite jeweler with this picture and ask them to create a similar mounting for it. Trust me it will look fantastic on you.

I offer a huge thanks to HGD for surfing everywhere for Lux pictures. You're the best!

The Wedding of Victoria

For viewers outside of the Nordic region this is your link to watch the live stream. This is anyone not in Europe or outside of Scandinavia. The countdown is now listing 4 hours 12 minutes for me. I already have my browser open so that I can catch the live feed as soon as it is available instead of trying my luck after thousands of others are already online.

For viewers inside the Nordic region this is your link to watch the live stream (if you aren't watching it on TV and you should be).

If you are unable to view that link you may try this one, this one, this one, or this one.

I've already got my gummi bears, chocolate and Diet Dr. Pepper ready. Don't be late for the party :)

The Eve of Victoria's Wedding

Guillaume and his beautiful beard made a wonderful duo at the pre-wedding events. Sadly, there were very few pictures of him or even Félix. You can catch a glimpse of Félix and Guillaume behind Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz. There was a wonderful picture of them earlier but it has disappeared.

Crown Princess Victoria was radiant. She was ravishing, she was regal, and she was happy. :))

Pictures: (enter Princess Victoria into any search)
Getty Images
Belga Picture
Royal Court
Aftonbladt (with live video also)
Shoot it Live
DayLife

And they're off...

....to Stockholm. The Grand-Ducal Couple, The Hereditary Grand Duke and Prince Félix leave for Stockholm tomorrow (Thursday). They will remain in Sweden for the duration of the week.

It shouldn't come as a shock to anyone who reads this blog that Henri, Maria Teresa, Guillaume and Fékux are the Luxembourg attendees. I mentioned this several weeks ago. They will attend the public and private events surrounding the wedding of their distant cousin Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden.

Guillame will appear in his Full Dress Uniform (that's the black one) for the state wedding. He also has to appear in his Full Dress Uniform for the gala and his less formal Dress Uniform (that's the green one) for the military parade.

I've actually been looking for some detailed information about the formal Luxembourg military uniforms. If any of our readers happen to have served in the Luxembourg military or are military aficionados I'd be interested in hearing from you.