Conference of European Rabbis' Internet Entrepreneur Prize

Photo: Conference of European Rabbis

Last night, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie attended the award ceremony of the first ever Internet Entrepreneur Prize handed out by the Conference of European Rabbis. The couple was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Etienne Schneider as well as another one of Stéphanie's beloved scarves. The event was held at the Château de Septfontaines and rewarded young digital entrepreneurs who developped different kinds of apps bringing together the digital world and Jewish traditional values. 

To see a few visuals, venture over to the website of the Conference of European Rabbis and click on the gallery entitled "CER Internet Entrepreneur Prize Luxembourg, December 2013". (Over the course of the last few minutes it has become quite clear that I would never get such an award because I even fail at linking the proper gallery of pictures though I don't seem to be the only one as their own "More Photos" link also leads to nowhere. The page it's on, however, gives your more information about the event as a while so that's a plus.)

Source: CER

Being Charitable

Photo: ZVG / Liechtensteiner Volksblatt / Volksblatt.li

Last night Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume took part in a ceremony thanking all volunteers who have worked for the Fondation Kräizbierg during the past few months. The Hereditary Grand Duke has long been involved with the charity for disabled people and is currently their honorary president after having served as chairman for more than ten years. Usually pictures of Kräizbierg events pop up later rather than sooner so stay tuned.

Meanwhile in Liechtenstein, Princess Marie was reportedly happy to receive a donation of 75,000 Swiss franc - No idea how much that is? Have it converted into your currency here. - for the Liechtenstein Red Cross. The heads of the country's eleven municipalities had decided during their last meeting to do some good before the end of the year and donate the money from the disaster relief fund to the victims of the recent typhoon in the Philippines. 

Source: CGD, Volksblatt

Nelson Mandela Memorial

Photos: AFP

Tens of thousands of South Africans and nearly 100 of world leaders, among them Luxembourg's Grand Duke Henri, have attended a memorial service for the late President Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg today. At one point of the event the Grand Duke was seated next to Belgian King Philippe but could also be seen sitting next to Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark at another. South Africa's first black president will be laid to rest in a state funeral in Qunu, the village in Eastern Cape where he was born, on Sunday. No word yet whether the Grand Duke will also be in attendance for the funeral.

Royal Jewellery Auction

Already a week ago on December 2, there was an auction going on at Parisian auction house Drouot. The descendants of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders through his daughter Princess Henriette of Belgium had put up about 80 lots of historical pieces of jewellery and other valuables to be sold. Among the objects was a rather nice pearl necklace orginally owned by the aforementioned Princess Henriette who was married to Prince Emmanuel d'Orléans, Duke of Vendôme. 

Why this is making news on a blog dedicated to the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg? Among the people present at the auction were Prince Jean, a great-grandson of Princess Henriette's brother King Albert I of the Belgians, and his wife Countess Diane. Some say that Prince Jean had actually eyed the lovely pearl necklace but in the end it sold to a bidder from the Middle East for 28,750 euros. Here's hoping that he scooped some other nice jewellery for his wife that we will see on her sooner rather than later (though I guess we will never know if it was bought at this auction but who cares about such details).

Source: EstimArt

Bahrain Business **

Photo: Bahrain News Agency

Prince Philipp made his way from Brussels to the capital of Bahrain, Manama, where he met with the country's Minister of Industry and Commerce, Dr. Hassan Abdulla Fakhro. During their meeting the Bahraini official and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Princely Family-owned LGT Group talked business, finance as well as the bilateral relations between the Gulf country and Liechtenstein and exchanged all those niceties that are expected to be exchanged during such a meeting. For more information have a look at the Bahrain News Agency.

Prince Philipp is currently in Bahrain for the 9th Manama Dialogue, the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Regional Security Summit, and also met with the country's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa today. Again, more information can be found at the Bahrain News Agency.

As it turns out Prince Philipp was also received by King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa for an audience at the Al-Sakhir Palace today. In addition Prince Hans-Adam II's brother also met with Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahrain's crown prince, at the Gudiabiya Palace. Pictures and more information are available via the aforementioned Bahrain News Agency here and here.

Source: Bahrain News Agency, IISS, Alayam

Royal Museum Opening

Photos: RTBF / C'est du Belge

The Musée Fin-de-Siècle of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium opened its doors for the first time yesterday and on the eve before there was a soiree held to mark the occasion that turned out to be a quite royal one with numerous members of the Luxembourg and Liechtenstein families in attendance. A part of this new museum hosts the collection of Baron and Baroness Roland Gillion Crowet, patrons of the art and well-connected members of the Gotha.

Among the guests of the opening event were Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla, Prince Jean and Countess Diane, Prince Nikolaus and Princess Margaretha, as well as Prince Philipp and Princess Isabelle. Not bad, eh? If those weren't enough royals for you, Princess Astrid of Belgium who was representing her brother the King, Empress Farah Pahlavi of Iran and Archduchess Anna-Gabriele of Austria were also in attendance. To see them all, skip ahead to the six-minute mark of this video by RTBF's C'est du Belge. Thanks to Valentin of the Royalement Blog for pointing my in the direction of the event!

Source: C'est du Belge

First Ladies at Work

Photos: Marc Wilwert / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu, Nils Vollmar / Liechtensteiner Volksblatt

Yesterday, Grand Duchess Maria-Teresa welcomed humanitarian Maggy Barankitse for an audience at the palais. Already a few days ago and missed by us, the Grand Duchess and Mrs Barankitse attended celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the aid organisation Maison Shalom, which is supported by the Fondation du Grand-Duc et de la Grand-Duchesse. For pictures and more information have a look at both Wort and the website of the cour.

Also yesterday, Princess Marie celebrated the 25th anniversary of the aid organisation Hilfswerk Liechtenstein. Even though it was only officially founded in 1987, the roots of the Hilfswerk lie in 1985 when Liechtensteiners donated food and clothes to be brought to Poland. Since its official establishment, the organisation has made aid deliveries to the former Yugoslavia, Albania, Romania, Moldova, the Ukraine and other countries. It also supports families and children in need in Liechtenstein and Switzerland, the number of which becomes increasing in recent years. Vaterland has more visuals of last night's event.


Sources: Wort, CGD, Volksblatt

Grand Duke Pays Tribute to Nelson Mandela

Grand Duke Henri has sent South African president Jacob Zuma a message expressing his condolences on the death of Nelson Mandela, who died at the age of 95 at his home in Johannesburg on yesterday evening.

The message also published on the website of the cour read: "Dear Mr President, after having just learned of the sad news of the passing of President Mandela, the Grand Duchess and my fellow countrymen join me in sending you as well as the people of South Africa and the family of the deceased our deepest condolences and to express our feelings of deep sympathy.

We honour the memory of this eminant statesman, who with exemplary determination has worked to overcome the apartheid system. With the death of President Mandela, the world has lost one of its iconic figures whose efforts to reconciliate has laid the foundation for modern South Africa."

The Grand Duke will travel to South Africa to attend the official memorial service for Nelson Mandela to be held on Tuesday at the soccer stadium in Johannesburg.

Source: Cour grand-ducale, Wort

Sportspress Gala

Photo: Guy Jallay / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu

Someone is getting busy... After the reception for the soldiers and policemen this afternoon, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie were at the Casino in Mondorf-les-Bains to gamble away the Grünewald - That was an inside joke, if you do not know what it means check question 20 of the Luxembourgish section of our FAQ. And yes, I know it's bad when you need to explain your own jokes. - to attend the annual sports gala hosted by the Luxembourgish sports press earlier this evening.

During the event Luxembourg's Sportspeople of the Year were honoured. Triathlete Dirk Bockel came first in the category Sportsman of the Year ahead of swimmer Laurent Carnol and cyclist Bob Jungels. The female category was won by cyclist Christine Majerus with tennis player Mandy Minella and judoka Marie Muller coming in second and third. Handball team HB Esch won the award for Team of the Year ahead of football (or soccer if you come from another part of the world) teams FC Déifferdeng 03 and the national team.

Visuals of the night are available at Tageblatt, Revue, Wort in German and Wort in French.

Source: Tageblatt

Reception at Berg

Photos: Serge Waldbillig / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu

Today it was time for one of the Grand Ducal Family's annual pre-Christmas traditions, a reception for members of Luxembourg's army and police force who took part in humanitarian and peacekeeping missions abroad. Luxembourgish forces are currently involved in NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR) and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) for Afghanistan. 

The reception traditionally takes place every year the Château de Berg, the Grand Duke official private residence, just before Christmas. Policemen and soldiers who have taken part in two two above mentioned missions as well as their wives, girlfriends, children, parents and basically everyone they want to bring along are invited to attend. During the reception they all got the chance to mingle with Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria-Teresa as well as Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie (in a repeated Issa dress). New Deputy Prime Minister Etienne Schneider was also in attendance. More pictures of the event can be found at Wort in English and Wort in German.

This morning, Grand Duke Henri also welcomed the outgoing president of the Chamber of Deputies, Laurent Mosar, for his farewell audience at the palais. He also received the new members of the Chamber of Architects and Consulting Engineers (OAI). For pictures of the two audiences have a look on the official website here and here.

Source: Wort, CGD