Pro-Life in Brussels

Recently on March 24th, Archduchess Kathleen, the American-born daughter-in-law of Princess Marie-Astrid, participated in the 4th Annual March for Life in the Belgian capital Brussels and wrote an article about it.

One of the main aims of this year's march was to protest against the proposed changes in the laws regarding euthanasia. In late 2002, the Belgian parliament legalised euthanasia for people over the age of 18. Now, a new law has been proposed to expand the law to minors and people suffering from Alzheimer's-type illnesses.

The wife of Archduke Imre has long been involved in the pro-life movement. Prior to her wedding she worked as the communications director for the Catholic Charities of the Arlington Virginia Diocese and was a member of the board of the Catholic Business Network of Northern Virginia. One of the most asked questions around the wedding was if she would continue with her work and it seems that she does.

[Just a quick note: To be perfectly honest, the team of Luxarazzi was a little hesitant to post about these news as we are aware of the strong feelings some people have about Archduchess Kathleen and this matter in general. Nonetheless, everyone should keep in mind that every person is entitled to their own opinion so if you have a comment please be thought- and respectful. Treat others like you want to be treated! (And yes, I feel strange for having to say this because it should be a given.)]


Source: AFP, LifeSiteNews.com

Pope Meets Diplomatic Corps

Photo: Screenshot - The Vatican

About a week ago on March 22nd, Pope Francis met with about 180 ambassadors accredited to the Holy See and their spouses at the Sala Regia. Among those present were Liechtenstein's non-resident ambassador Prince Nikolaus and his wife Princess Margaretha, the younger daughter of Grand Duke Jean.

A news report can be found here and here you can see a video of the whole audience. Princess Margaretha and Prince Nikolaus can be spotted a couple of times during the Pope's speech as they are prominentely seated and when they are greeted by His Holyness afterwards (at around 19:22).


Source: Rome Reports

Luxarazzi 101: Eemaischen

With Easter Monday fast approaching, it is time for yet another lesson about Luxembourgish traditions, namely Eemaischen, or Éimaischen, or sometimes even Emaischen, nobody really seems to be sure.

However spelled correctly, the name derives from Emmaus, an ancient town located close to Jerusalem, and the place of one of the early resurrection appearances of Jesus. For those not too well-versed in the Bible: On their way to Emmaus Cleopas and another unnamed disciple encountered Jesus without recognising him. They expressed their sorrow about the recent events that had occured in Jerusalem and then persuaded the stranger to have supper with them; only during the course of the meal, they recognised him as Jesus. (Luke 24:13-32)

Little Prince Guillaume with his
parents and a Péckvillchen.
(Photo: Thierry Martin)

Every year on Easter Monday, Eemaischen is celebrated in the City of Luxembourg, around the Fishmarket, and in the village of Nospelt. It most important feature are the Péckvillecher, little handmade earthenware whistles shaped like birds.

It is often said that the bird whistles were traditionally given to each other by lovers but there does not seem to be historical prove to the claim. Today they seem especially popular with children.

On Easter Monday the potters traditionally celebrated the feast of the guild at the Église Saint-Michel, the mass was followed by a pottery market. Even though believed to be much older, the first official mention of Eemaischen occurred in 1827, when a police official suggested to the town council to move it to the Fishmarket in order to reduce the noise in front of the church.

The majority of the Péckvillecher came from the nearby village of Nospelt, where many potters were located since at least 1458. During the day they manufactured all kinds of pottery and in the evening they used the leftover red-brown clay to form the little bird whistles.

In the beginning of the 20th century, the Eemaischen changed from being a sole pottery market to a market for all kinds of products. In 1914, the pottery production in Nospelt ended and from then on, the Eemaischen festival declined though whistles, imported from the German Eiffel region, were still sold.

Princess Margaretha, Prince Henri,
Prince Jean, Princess Marie-Astrid and
Hereditary Grand Duchess Joséphine-
Charlotte at the Eemaischen in 1962
(Photo: René Weydert / Wort.lu)

The history of Eemaischen as it is known today started in 1937 when some inhabitants of the old town revived the old tradition. To this day the Comité Alstad organises the festival. In 1938, Jean Peters of Reckental produced the first Luxembourgish Péckvillecher in more than twenty years using the same red-brown clay from Nospelt. Since 1957, the festival has also been celebrated in Nospelt itself.

Today, Eemaischen is much more than a simple pottery market. All kinds of arts as well as food and drinks can be bought at the market. In addition there is a series of events, dance and musical acts performed in the old town.

(For more information about the events taking place have a look at Wort.)

As the Péckvillecher never look quite the same, they are much loved collectibles. The children of the Grand Ducal Family have been avid collectors themselves as members of the family can regularly be seen at the Eemaischen festival.

Many more pictures of the Eemaischen throughout the years can be found at Wort. If you look closely, you will find various members of the Grand Ducal Family in the photos.

Dutch Royals to Visit Luxembourg

The future King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands are to visit the Grand Duchy on May 24th. It does not seem to be an official state visit but rather a simply meeting to officially get to know each other. It will be one of the first if not the very first foreign visit made by the couple that will ascend to the throne on April 30th.


Source: Het Koninklijk Huis

Discussion and Awards

Earlier this month, the Crans Montana Forum organised a multi-day political and economic discussion forum on Africa and the South-South Cooperation titled "Africa in 2013, Upheavals and Challenges". The Grand Duke's brother Prince Jean, who has been long involved with the organisation, attended the event that was held in Brussels and handed out a few Prix de la Fondation awards. 

Pictures are located at the Flickr photostream of Kayode Fayemi and on the website of the Crans Montana Forum.


Source: CMF

A Nephew for Stéphanie and Guillaume

Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie's sister Isabelle and her husband Jean-Charles de le Court have welcomed their fifth child and second son on March 12th. The little boy's name is Nicodème and he was born in Luxembourg, where the family lives. Jean-Charles de le Court is the founder and managing director of a company that offers different consulting services.


Source: Carnet Mondain

EUSO 2013

Together with prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, the Hereditary Grand Duke and the Hereditary Grand Duchess were on hand to hand out the awards at the 13th European Union Science Olympiad yesterday afternoon.

Photo: EUSO 2013 Luxembourg

It is a science team competition for European Union secondary level school students who are 16 years of age or younger; each team has to complete two tasks at the competition. While the two German teams came in first and second at the Science Olympiad, Luxembourg won a silver and a bronze medal. Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume was the patron of the event.

A couple of pictures can be found over at Wort as well as on the Facebook page of the EUSO.


Source: EUSO 2013, Wort

Luxarazzi 101: Wedding of Princess Margaretha and Prince Nikolaus

Today, it's time for the third and last part of our mini series about all those Grand Ducal weddings happening in Luxembourg in the early 1980's. (Part one was about Princess Marie-Astrid and part two about Grand Duke Henri.)

Engagement day: Margaretha and Nikolaus with their parents

Shortly after her older sister Princess Marie-Astrid had announced her engagement to an Austrian archduke, Princess Margaretha got engaged to Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein, third son of Prince Franz Josef II and Princess Gina. The engagement was announced by the cabinet office of the Principality on 8th December 1981 and they met the press in the Grand Duchy later on.

Princess Margaretha and Prince Nikolaus had basically known each other for most of their lives as their parents had been friends for many years and the Grand Ducal Family had regularly spent their skiing holidays in the alpine principality, though it took them a hunt and the wedding festivities of then Hereditary Grand Duke Henri to get well acquainted and fall in love.

The groom arrived with his mother Princess Gina,
the bride on the arm of her father Grand Duke Jean

Princess Margaretha being the daughter of the Luxembourgish head of state and Prince Nikolaus being the son of Liechtenstein's reigning prince, this was in fact - if my memory serves me correctly - the last marital union between two reigning European houses.

As such, this wedding was of course a full blown state affair. Before the actual wedding, festivities and receptions were held in Liechtenstein. On 20th March 1982, the couple first got civilly married at the palais grand ducal and later religiously at the Cathédrale Notre Dame, just as two of the bride's older siblings had done before her.

Princess Margaretha and Prince Nikolaus were civilly married by mayor Lydie Polfer, the religious wedding was celebrated by the Archbishop of Luxembourg Jean Hengen, the Apostolic Nuncio in Luxembourg Eugène Cardinale and the Bishop of Chur Dr. Johannes Vonderach. (Note: At the time Liechtenstein still belonged to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chur; the Archdiocese of Vaduz was only founded in 1997 to settle a few quarrels within the Diocese of Chur and reportedly against the will of the Princely Family.)

The wedding portrait

The wedding was attended by a whole string of royalty and nobility. Princess Margaretha chose her twin brother Prince Jean and her cousin Princess Sophie de Ligne to be her witnesses, Prince Nikolaus opted for his younger sister Princess Nora and Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este, who would marry Princess Margaretha's cousin Princess Astrid of Belgium about one and a half years later.

The bridal children were Prince Nikolaus's niece Princess Tatjana of Liechtenstein, daughter of Prince Hans-Adam II and his wife née Countess Marie Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau, and nephew Prince Wenzeslaus, son of Prince Philipp and his wife née Isabelle de l'Arbre de Malander.

Just as Princess Marie-Astrid and the former Maria-Teresa Mestre had done before her, she chose French designer Balmain to be the man for her dress. She topped of her ensemble with pearl earrings belonging to her mother that had also been worn by her sister a month earlier and the Congo Diamond Necklace Tiara, the Luxembourgish wedding tiara during that time.

Inaugural Mass of Pope Francis

Photo: Dutch Photo Press

This morning thousands and thousands of people gathered at Vatican to see Pope Francis give his inaugural mass in St Peter's Square. Among the guests were Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa who were accompanied by their second son Prince Félix and Luxembourgish prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker.

Other attendants included the Grand Duke's sister Princess Margaretha and her husband Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein who came alongside their nephew Hereditary Prince Alois and his wife Hereditary Princess Sophie.

While the Grand Duchess rocked her privilège du blanc, both Grand Duke Henri and Prince Félix wore regular business suits. Princess Margaretha wore black as all other women in attendance, save for her aunt Queen Paola of the Belgians, and her husband wore tailcoat, most probably as he is Liechtenstein's non-resident ambassador to the Holy See.

Photo: RTL

After the inaugural mass, the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess were among the dignitaries from 132 countries who were personally greeted by Pope Francis.

Wort has a gallery of visuals dedicated to the members of the Grand Ducal Family alone. More pictures can be found at Belga, APA, Tageblatt, RTL, Dutch Photo Press and basically all over the internet.

You can see Grand Duchess Maria Teresa greeting the Prince and Princess of Monaco in this AP Video (starting at 0:16), the whole event can be rewatched on the Youtube channel of the Vatican (you can see the members of the family at around 28:23, for example).

New Azerbaijani Ambassador

On March 13th, the new Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Luxembourg Fuad Iskandarov presented his credentials to Grand Duke Henri. Mr Iskandarov also serves as his country's ambassador to Belgium. During the audience he conveyed the greetings of Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, in return the Grand Duke asked to convey his sincere greetings and best wishes to the president and the Azerbaijani people as it is standard procedure during these diplomatic meetings.


Source: News.Az