Members of the Grand Ducal Family Attend Pontificial Mass

Photo: Lex Kleren / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu

It's that time of the year again, the last day of the Octave of Our Lady of Luxembourg. To kick off the closing day of Luxembourg's most important religious celebration, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Prince Félix and Princess Claire, as well as Prince Louis and Princess Tessy attended a pontificial mass at the Cathédral Notre-Dame this morning. (Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie are in Austria today to visit the site of the Mauthausen concentration camp; Grand Duke Henri and Prince Sébastien are probably still in the U.S.)

This afternoon will bring out our five churchgoers again plus Prince Gabriel and Prince Noah for the closing procession of the Octave. Here's also hoping that we will get to see Princess Amalia, who'll turn 1 soon already, during the balcony appearance traditionally made after the closing procession. To view a livestream of the procession, have a look at RTL.

Sébastien Graduates

Photo: Screenshot

A student by the name of Sébastien de Luxembourg - better known to us as Prince Sébastien - graduated from the Franciscan University of Steubenville today. Skip ahead to the 1 hour 12 minutes 48 seconds mark of the following video to see him take centre stage during the university's Undergraduate Commencement 2015.

Present to give his son a big hug after Prince Sébastien received his associate arts degree was Grand Duke Henri. According to information previously released by the cour, Prince Sébastien studied marketing and communications at the Catholic university located in Ohio, United States.

Photo: Screenshot

Grand Duke Henri also gave the commencement speech during the gradute commencement earlier in the day. Together with his wife, who wasn't present in person as she stayed in Luxembourg to represent the family at the Octave celebrations tomorrow, he received honorary doctorates in Christian Ethics for their conviction in favor of a culture of life.

More once actual pictures and possibly information is released by the cour - hopefully, at least. Until then, a major thank you to The Royal Correspondent for pointing me in the direction of the video by telling me that there would be a livestream of the whole thing. Merci and good night (that's the plan at least)!

Brothers in Ties

"What our wives, mother, sister, grandmother, aunts and cousins can do, we can do, too", or was it simply cheaper to buy three of the same ties, my dear Louis, Félix (today) and Guillaume?

Luxarazzi 101: Royal Recycling and Clothes Sharing

Part 1 * Part 2 * Part 3 * Part 4 * Part 5

Félix and Claire Attend a Spring Fair

Source: Thomas Holzer / L'essentiel / lessentiel.lu

Today, Prince Félix and Princess Claire were present for the opening ceremony of the International Fair of Luxembourg - Spring 2015. The couple was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy Etienne Schneider, as well as Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna. The event is focused on presenting an array of consumer goods to the public and also includes free workshops for attendees. After the events of the opening ceremony, Félix and Claire stopped by different exhibition stands to visit with participants.

The Spring Fair has been organized by Luxexpo since 1976 and is now considered one of the largest trade events in the region. This year's fair will run from May 9th to May 17th.

A few more photos at L'essentiel and Wort, along with additional information about this year's fair. RTL has a video.

Henri and Maria Teresa Mark the 70th Anniversary of the End of World War II

Source: Charles Caratini / SIP / Cour grand-ducale

Today, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa were at the Monument National de la Solidarité to participate in a commemoration ceremony to mark the end of World War II in Europe. The Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess first arrived at the Kanounenhiwel, where Henri laid a wreath at the monument of the Flamme du Souvenir (remembrance flame) and then rekindled it after attendees observed a moment of silence.

After this, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa went inside the monument to sign the guest book and visit with other attendees, including those who participated in putting the ceremony together. Additionally, Henri and Maria Teresa spoke with a group of young people who were active in the day's events.

Also in attendance were Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Deputy Prime Minister Etienne Schneider, and President of the Chamber of Deputies Mars de Bartolomeo.

More photos available at the Cour website.

Guillaume and Stéphanie Mark V-Day in Paris

Photo: Reuters

Fresh off their visit to Venice that also included some sightseeing, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie were in Paris today, where they commemorated the end of the Second World War in Europe 70 years ago today. On May 8, 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender of its armed forces in Berlin after a similar paper was already signed a day earlier in Reims, France, though not officially announced.

The Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess took part in a solemn ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, during which French President François Hollande laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier to mark Victory Day. During the ceremony they also ran into U.S. Secretary of States John Kerry.

SAR le Grand-Duc Héritier du Luxembourg et son épouse rendent hommage à Jean Thill, mort pour la Libération de #Paris pic.twitter.com/kaS2zZBdAb

— Rémi Féraud (@RemiFeraud) May 8, 2015

Accompanied by seven students and two teachers of the Lycée technique de Bonnevoie, the couple then visited the Mémorial de la Shoah to view the permanent exhibition. Afterwards, the Luxembourgish delegation unveiled a plague honouring Jean-Michel Thill, a Luxembourger who died during the liberation of Paris. They then headed to the army museum to see the exhibition "Churchill - de Gaulle" in presence of family members of the two statesmen. They day will end with a performance of play "Ami entends-tu?" (Friend, can you hear me?) at the Cour d’honneur des Invalides.

A few pictures of the day at Wort and Tageblatt.

Prime Minister of Iceland Visits Liechtenstein

Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, Prime Minister of Iceland, was on a visit to Liechtenstein today. Among a number of other engagements, including visits to the university and the parliament, he also met with Hereditary Prince Alois at Schloss Vaduz.

Henri and Maria-Teresa Baptise Fräiheetsrous

Photo: Cour grand-ducale/Marc Schmit

Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria-Teresa became the godparents of a new rose, which was baptised by the grand ducal couple yesterday. The Fräiheetsrous - Rosier de la Liberté (rose of freedom) is dedicated to the 5700 Luxembourgers who died during the Second World War. Also present for the baptism at the palais grand-ducal were Prime Minister Xavier Bettel as well as Claudine Als, president of the Patrimoine Roses pour le Luxembourg a.s.b.l.

More pictures of the website of the cour as well as Tageblatt. 

Guillaume and Stéphanie at Biennale

Photo: François Besch / Luxemburger Tageblatt / Tageblatt.lu

Everyone's favourite Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess were in Venice today where they attended the opening of the Luxembourgish pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale. Guillaume and Stéphanie were accompanied by the Minister of Culture, Maggy Nagel. Curious me also wonders whether that Venice-visiting Liechtenstein princess was maybe present as well.

Luxembourg’s contribution to one of the world's most prestigious art exhibitions was produced by artist, performer and musician, Filip Markiewicz. The curator of the exhibition was Paul Ardenne under the responsibility of the Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean. Entitled “Paradiso Lussemburgo” the exhibition shall give visitors a different view of Luxembourg with the term “paradise” being employed in multiple facets.

No more pictures than the one above from Tageblatt as of yet but they'll be added if they become available. For more visuals, have a look at Wort.

Princess Anunciata in Venice

View image | gettyimages.com

Turns out Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie aren't the only ones visiting Venice this week (more on that later on): Last night, the Hereditary Grand Duke's cousin Princess Maria-Anunciata of Liechtenstein was among the guests at the dinner of the Fondazione Cini, Isola Di San Giorgio hosted on the occasion of this year's Biennale, the very same reason Guillaume and Stéphanie are currently in Italy. Anunciata is pictured above with Prince Charles-Henri de Lobkowicz, whose mother is the niece of the brother of Anunciata's great-grandfather, and Corinne Ricard.