Last Week

On Thursday last week, Grand Duke Henri went hiking to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the natur & ëmwelt / Fondation Hëllef fir d'Natur that promotes the preservation of nature in the Grand Duchy. Together with a group of ministers and other officials the Grand Duke hiked through south eastern Luxembourg, namely around the Canecher Wéngertsbierg. Pictures of the Grand Duke's adventures can be found over at Wort, the cour and on the website of the foundation.

In the evening of the very same day, the Grand Duke and his daughter Princess Alexandra attended a concert by Les Arts Florissants, a baroque musical ensemble. The French musicians gave a performance on the occassion of the world famous dancing procession of Echternach which took place today. Held annually on Whit Tuesday, the dancing procession is part of the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and last of its kind in Europe.

On Friday, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa visited the Haff Ditgesbaach, therapeutical workshops for people with emotional disturbance or illness, in Ettelbruck. For more information and a pictures have a look at this article by Wort. The cour now offers a gallery of visuals as well.


Source: Wort, Cour grand ducal

Grand Duke Meets China's Number Two

Today, Grand Duke Henri received Wu Bangguo at the palais. Mr. Wu is the current chairman and party secretary of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China and currently on a state visit to the Grand Duchy. The cour offers a visual of the two gentlemen.


Source: CGD

First Official Engagement Abroad

The christening of Princess Estelle of Sweden today brought out many interesting sights. I'll just skip talking about the attendance of a certain girlfriend of a certain Swedish prince to the important stuff: the future Hereditary Grand Duchess' first engagement meeting fellow royals at an official function.

Countess Stéphanie accompanied her future hubby Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume to what I suppose is this year's most important christening in the royal world. Little Estelle, daughter of Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, was christened at the Royal Chapel in Stockholm. Sweden's future queen was thoroughly unimpressed what was happening around her and a real cutie-pie.

While Stéphanie wore a grey and white outfit which is, I suppose, by Natan (I'll never get the Benelux princesses fascination with his clothes) and a hat borrowed from her future mother-in-law, Guillaume wore his gala uniform he will also sport at his wedding in October. Nothing less than expected, Stéphanie carried herself with poise and style.

Pictures of the christening are available over at Royal Press Europe, PPE, Daylife and Belga. Luxembourgish newspapers Wort, Tageblatt and L'essentiel are also covering the event, as is RTL. Various videos can be found over at SVT and Norwegian NRK has the whole christening available online.

Guillaume and Stéphanie to Attend Swedish Christening

Tomorrow, Sweden's little princess and future queen Estelle, daughter of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, will be christened at the Royal Chapel in Stockholm. Among the guests for the ceremony will be Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and his fiancée Stéphanie de Lannoy.
It will be the first outing for Luxembourg's future Grand Duchess since her engagement and a nice way to get to know some of her European counterparts.

For those who are interested, the christening will be covered by both Swedish TV (SVT livestream) and German TV.


Source: Kungahuset

British Diamond Jubilee Military Parade

Today, the Armed Forces Parade and Muster was held at Windsor Castle to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee. Some 2.500 soldiers showed off their mad marching skills to Her Majesty, the Duke of Edinburgh, most of the British royal family and various royals from abroad, including Grand Duke Henri and  Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, as well as Prince Louis and Princess Tessy. After the parade a private luncheon was hosted by the Queen's cousin Lady Elizabeth Shakerley.

Most asked Luxembourg-related question of the week: Why were Louis and Tessy there? Frankly, I don't have an answer with any claim to be true.

For those who didn't know already, the prince and the princess and their (not so small anymore) sons live in the British capital where they both attend university. So they surely had one of the shortest journeys to get there of any of the royals present.

Not enough?

Louis' bopa Grand Duke Jean served in the Irish Guards during the Second World War. Luxembourg's former Grand Duke later became a honorary colonel of the regiment of the Irish Guards and often rode behind today's jubilee girl at Trooping the Colour.

Not only Grand Duke Jean was regularly present for the Queen's official birthday celebrations, naturally he was often accompanied by Louis's boma Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte. Louis' great grandparents (there my Luxembourgish knowledge leaves me) Grand Duchess Charlotte and her husband Prince Felix were often in attendance, too. And another Felix as well. Queen Mum is said to have been impressed by the impeccable manners of the young gentleman from the Grand Duchy.

As Louis' older brother accompanied his grandparents for this occasion, it is probably not a far stretch to say that Louis has as well. Thus, the Queen already knows Louis and thought it might be a nice idea to meet him again after so many years.

There. That's my humble attempt at giving an answer.

Pictures of the military parade can be found over at Daylife, APA Picturedesk, WireImage, Belga, Other Images Press  and Getty Images.

Diamond Jubilee Luncheon and Gala Dinner

Today, Queen Elizabeth II hosted a luncheon at Windsor Castle to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee. Invited were all foreign reigning and non-reigning monarchs and most of them showed up to party with the jubilee girl, among them of course Luxembourg's very own Grand Duke and his lovely wife the Grand Duchess. Grand Duchess Maria Teresa wore the same outfit she wore for last year's national day (in case you hadn't guessed, it's Natan), a special mention goes to her hair which is styled in a beautiful way once again. She has come a long way since last year's minor Nobel Prize gala disaster. I approve, not that it matters anyway.

Pictures are available over at Daylife, Getty Images, Belga, BBC and at various places all over the internet. ITV has a video of the arrival of the guests to the luncheon, as does The Telegraph and BBC says that "there was even a Grand Duke from Luxembourg".

In the evening the Prince of Wales hosted a gala dinner at Buckingham Palace with the very same royals in attendance. This time the Grand Duchess opted for another stunning Elie Saab gown, she should just wear his designs every time she steps out of the palais or the château. Every time she wears Saab, she rocks it like this light blue number. Oh, and please pass your love on to your daughter, your daughter-in-law and your future daughter-in-law, Madame. Much obliged. Not much to say about the gentleman at her side, as always the Grand Duke was his dashing self.

Pictures of the event at Buckingham Palace can be found over at Getty Images, Daylife, AP Images, and APA Picturedesk.

The British Diamond Jubilee

In case you are a regular follower of royalty or you just simply haven't been living under a rock for the last couple of months, you know that this year is the Diamond Jubilee Year for Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. For this weekend, her counterparts from abroad have been invited to celebrate her 60 years on the throne with her.

In a few moments, the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess are attending a luncheon at Windsor Castle hosted by her majesty herself. The grand ducal couple is also among the guests for tonight's gala dinner at Buckingham Palace hosted by the Prince of Wales.

Tomorrow, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess will attend a military parade for Queen Elizabeth II. Afterwards a private luncheon will be hosted by Lady Elizabeth Shakerley. For the luncheon the grand ducal couple will be accompanied by London-based Prince Louis and Princess Tessy.

As most of the events are hosted privately, we'll have to see what kind of media coverage we will get. Keep your fingers crossed that there is lots of it and that the British photographers actually know the grand ducal family.


Source: Cour grand-ducale

Closing of the Octave *

Today was the day for one of if not the biggest religious celebration in the Grand Duchy - the Closing of the Octave of Our Lady of Luxembourg, Comforter of the Afflicted. Starting on the third Sunday after Easter, the Octave closes two weeks later with a grand procession through the city. Almost 100.000 people took part in the various celebrations during the last fourteen days. Like every year the procession brought out quite a big turnout of Luxembourgish royals as well as the political elite (which we will sweep under the table).

In the morning, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa attended a pontifical mass at the beautiful Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Luxembourg, which almost certainly will also be the stage for the grand wedding later this year.

For the closing procession which led from the cathedral to the Rue de la Reine and back to the cathedral, the grand ducal couple was joined by Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, Prince Félix, Prince Louis and wife Princess Tessy, as well as Princess Alexandra all dressed up and with their rosaries firmly in hand.

Afterwards like every year after returning to the palais, the whole family stepped out on the balcony to great the people. Louis' and Tessy's boys also made an appearance, Prince Gabriel in daddy's arm and Prince Noah in uncle Guillaume's.

Pictures of the morning mass are available at Wort, while both Wort and Tageblatt has pictures of the afternoon's procession. Both the RTL's French as well as the Luxembourgish news covered today's event. Another massive gallery with more than 1000 pictures can be found over at RTL. The cour now offers a gallery of visuals as well as does Manuel Dias.


Source: Wort

Seville Fair

During the Seville Fair, Prince Jean and his wife Diane de Guerre * and Prince Robert and his wife Princess Julie attended a party organised by the champagne brand Veuve Clicquot. Pictures of the party can be found in the current edition of Point de Vue, which sadly isn't available online.

* No, even if some people insist that she must have the title of a Countess of Nassau, she does not. At least that is what the cour says.


Source: PdV

Princess Sibilla Out and About

Looking stunning as always, Princess Sibilla awarded the Luigi Micheletti Award to the Riverside Museum in Glasgow. The Micheletti Award is a prize for innovation in museums and took place at the State Textile and Industry Museum in Augsburg, Germany, last year's winner. The winner is chosen in collaboration with the European Museum Academy, of which the Princess, an art historian herself, is a member of the pool of experts.

Pictures are available over on the website of the Micheletti Award and on the website of the Augsburgian museum.


Source: Micheletti Award