A month full of audiences

During the whole of November the Grand Duke Henri has received different people in the Palais Grand-Ducale.

It all started with the visit of former Polish Prime Minister and now president of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek on November 9th. On the very same day, the Grand Duke also met Felix Unger, the founder and president of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.

A few days later, on November 12th, the newly elected German president Christian Wulff came to Luxembourg for his very first but rather short official visit. A few short videos of the visit, including short glimpses of the Grand Duke and his lovely wife Maria-Teresa, can be found here and here. Belga also offers a few more pictures.

Again a few days later, on November 17th to be precise, the presidents of the six different parts of the Institut Grand-Ducal visited the Palais for an audience with the Grand Duke.

Finally, on November 23th, the Grand Duke met with participants of the Global China Business Meeting that took place in Luxembourg.

700 Years...Pt. 2

Henri was welcomed to Prague by President Klaus. After the welcome ceremony he and The President enjoyed a private meeting and Henri was given a tour of Prague Castle. He also visited St. Vitus Cathedral in the company of Archbishop Duka. Later, he took in the Royal Wedding exhibit. 

The Presidential Couple hosted a gala dinner in honor of their distinguished guest. During his speech, The President highlighted the historic connection between the nations. The President stated, "It is not possible to name all the personalities and events or to mention all the historical and personal ties through which our two countries have been connected since but at least the name of Charles IV must be mentioned. It was under his rule when Prague became the political centre of the Holy Roman Empire and the cultural capital of Central Europe. It is symbolic that you, Your Royal Highness, have visited the Karlštejn Castle today, a place which Charles IV built for safekeeping of the royal treasures. I should also add that it was Charles IV who elevated the County of Luxembourg to the rank of Duchy in 1354."

Luxembourg and the Czech Republic have issued a joint stamp marking the 700th anniversary of the accession of the Luxembourg dynasty. Commemorative coins were also minted by both nations. The coin minted by Luxembourg is viewable on page 20 of the Central Back of Luxembourg brochure.

It is important to note that the Luxembourg dynasty is not the same dynasty that now reigns in The Grand Duchy. Various articles cover the history of the Luxembourg dynasty. Even the page on the stamps offers a brief history lesson.

DayLife has photos of the visit.



Thanks to Ducii for the links and information!

700 years ago...

...Count Jean de Luxembourg (aka John the Blind and John of Bohemia) became king of Bohemia. This marked the beginning of the Luxembourg dynasty in Bohemia. He was an important figure and his life is interesting from a historical perspective. The journey of his mortal remains to their final resting place is intriguing enough to merit giving him a good google. A brief but informative history was compiled to mark the 700th anniversary of the wedding of John of Luxembourg to Elisabeth of Premyslides.

The Czech Republic has been celebrating the anniversary of accession of the Luxembourg dynasty all year. Many exhibits and seminars were arranged. I wish I had been able to see the exhibit on royal marriage. I think the seminar on life in the 14th century royal court would have been a nice way to spend an afternoon. I like history but I love royal history.

Henri is visiting Prague today. President Vaclav Klaus will receive The Grand Duke at Prague Castle. The visit coincides with the 700th anniversary celebrations.

I've only just started blogging again. Please, be patient with me. I will update with pictures, news and links for all the events that I have missed. I just have to get through finals and Thanksgiving before I return to my normally up-to-date blogging.

Birthday Celebrations

On 5 January 2011 Grand Duke Jean will celebrate his ninth decade. A gala concert will be held to mark the occasion. Most of The Grand Ducal Family is scheduled to attend the event.

The Philharmonic Orchestra of Luxembourg will play Mozart's Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter) in C major and Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 in F major. The youth orchestra of the UGDA (Union Grand-Duc Adolphe) will also preform.

Tickets to the concert were offered to the general public at no charge. Unfortunately the event is already sold out.

Luxemburger Wort indicates that all of the children and grand children of Grand Duke Jean will be in attendance. I assume that their respective spouses will also be in attendance. I have listed these individuals  for the benefit of those less familiar with the extended family. I really doubt that Louis' sons or the youngest child of Guillaume will attend. Would you try sit through Mozart and Beethoven with a seven year old at 10pm?

     1. The Grand Duke ∞ The Grand Duchess
         1.1.The Hereditary Grand Duke
          1.2. Prince Félix
           1.3. Prince Louis ∞ Princess Tessy
            1.4. Princess Alexandra
             1.5. Prince Sébastien

     2. Princess Marie-Astrid ∞ Archduke Carl-Christian of Austria
         2.1. Archduchess Marie-Christine ∞ Count Rodolphe de Limburg-Stirum
          2.2. Archduke Imre
           2.3. Archduke Christoph
            2.4. Archduke Alexander
             2.5. Archduchess Gabriella

     3. Prince Jean ∞ Diane
         3.1. Princess Marie-Gabrielle
          3.2. Prince Constantin
           3.3. Prince Wenceslas
            3.4. Prince Carl

    4. Princess Margaretha ∞ Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein
        4.1. Princess Maria-Anunciata
         4.2. Princess Marie-Astrid
          4.3. Prince Josef

     5. Prince Guillaume ∞ Princess Sibilla
         5.1. Prince Paul Louis
          5.2. Prince Léopold
           5.3. Princess Charlotte
            5.4. Prince Jean

For those of you interested in unmarried princes...In addition to your regularly scheduled Guillaume and Félix watching, I recommend keeping your eyes open for their cousins. The grandsons of Grand Duke Jean hit the genetic lotto. They are much better looking than all those other "hot" princes I've been seeing on lists this week.  Maybe I should put together a proper list? Team Imre!

Guillaume at Autumn Fair

Today, the Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume attended the opening of the Autumn Fair Luxembourg, an international consumer fair for house construction, furnishing and decoration.

The Luxembourgish minister for Economy and Foreign Trade, Guillaume's usual companion for such events, Jeannot Krecké, wearing an interesting kind of arm brace, delivered the opening speech. Together they went on to visit different stands, among them the one of Villeroy & Boch where children could paint their own china plate.

Wort offers a larger gallery of pictures.


Sources: Wort, Cour Grand-Ducale

New Members of the Chamber...

The Grand Duke received the new members of the Chamber of Deputies. Are you sure they're new? I recognize all their names and faces...

The occasion was the opening the the 2010/2011 parliamentary season.

The Grand Duke also sent a letter to the President of Chile. He and The Grand Duchess were moved by the plight of the miners and wished to express their happiness at the recent rescues.

50th Anniversary

On Tuesday, Maria Teresa attended the 50th anniversary of the International Bazaar. The bazaar is a wonderful event that raises money for various charities. This year the finest products of more than 53 countries are being sold to raise funds for more than 100 worthy causes. The bazaar is expected to raise an excess of 500,000 Euro.

The website of the International Bazaar features an extensive slideshow. The photos span five decades. I noted many photographs of Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa and the beautiful Princess Marie-Astrid.

Maria Teresa looked fantastic! I thought she also looked very youthful. :)

Mark your calendars...

Guillaume will visit the Abu Dhabi, UAE after the New Year (17-20 January 2011). Minister Krecké and Guillaume will attend the World Future Energy Summit. The summit will focus on green technologies, renewable energy and environmental issues. This will be Luxmebourg's first time at the WFES.

World Expo**

Today was Luxembourg Day at the World Expo in Shanghai. The Grand Duke and the indefatigable Minister Jeannot Krecké were on hand to mark the occasion. The expo is credited with being an excellent advertising tool for Luxembourg and businesses based there. More than 100 Luxembourg based businesses currently use the pavilion to make contacts with new customers and Chinese companies.

The expo is winding down soon. The Gëlle Fra will finally be on her way back to Place de la Constitution.

RTL has another lovely gallery of photos of the two events covered during the visit. The government website provides a more detailed description of the day and its importance.

Ten Years...**

Ten years ago today Grand Duke Jean signed the act of abdication. With this simple act he ended his 36 year reign. At that moment, Son Altesse Royale le Grand-Duc héritier became le Grand-Duc de Luxembourg and young Prince Guillaume became le Prince Héritier de Luxembourg*.

Little more than two months later le Grand-Duc formally bestowed the title and position of le Grand-Duc Héritier on le Prince Héritier. With this action Guillaume was formally recognized as heir to the throne and the family trust. This not only cemented Guillaume's position as heir (not like that was ever in doubt) it allowed Guillaume to take up the necessary responsibilities.

Despite a few bumps along the road Henri is a stellar grand duke. The family remains popular. I certainly have respectful and warm feelings toward them.

Wort has a gallery of visuals covering Henri's enthronement and the first decade of his reign. RTL went all out with photos, sound bites and a wonderful interview with Henri (in Luxembourgish) marking the 10th anniversary of his reign. Ademar prepared several pages covering the events of 2000. Several magazines in Luxembourg have commemorative issues available in print to mark the anniversary (Revue, et al...). Promi, on the other hand, decided that this would be an excellent time to start pre-sales of their "scandalous" book on the Grand Ducal Family (yawn).

Wort provides a nice interview with Henri. I've had the link set on auto-translate for you. I found it interesting that he said he and Guillaume do not always agree on their vision for Luxembourg. The article provides some other interesting links.

*le Prince Héritier is the official styling of the heir to reigning Grand Duke (or Grand Duchess) prior to their creation as le Grand-Duc Héritier. The title le Prince Héritier is automatic while le Grand-Duc Héritier is not.