Second Party in the Garden

Photo: Claude Piscitelli / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu

It was time for the second garden party on the occasion of national day today. Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa as well as Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie, with some fun shoes it looks, were on hand to greet the guests in the Salle «Je Maintiendrai» before mingling and chatting with them in the gardens of the Château de Berg. We have more on the first garden party. Wort offers a gallery of visuals of the second.

Grand Duke Bids Ambassadors Farewell

In the past few days, on June 23 and June 28 to be exact, Grand Duke Henri granted farewell audiences to the following outgoing ambassadors: Christine Giaser of Germany, Denis Robert of Canada, Bartosz Jalowiecki of Poland, Atsuko Nishimura of Japan, Roxana Daniela Iftimie of Romania and Mike Lyden of the NATO.

Guillaume Meets MyScienceWork

Photo: Cour grand-ducale

Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume received in audience Virginie Simon and Tristan Davaille, founders and CEO and CFO respectively of the startup mysciencework.com, at the palais today. The platform "serves the needs of individual members eager to access and share research. It enhances the diffusion of data via the Polaris platforms, and serves a community of 500,000 members with more than 30 million scientific publications from over 2,500 repositories and publisher databases (consult the list of repositories) and several collaborative tools."

Behind the Scenes of National Day and Interview with Alexandra

Photos: RTL

No, we are not done yet. Here's a little more about Luxembourg's recent national day by the way of a short documentary-style report by RTL. In addition to glimpses behind the scenes and the Grand Ducal Family chilling in their living room on the couch in ball gowns and tiaras (that's the difference between us and them), it also includes interview bits by Grand Duchess Maria Teresa and Princess Alexandra. This is the first time the only daughter of the grand ducal couple gave an interview.

Catching Up With a Wine Event

Better late than never! Back on May 31st, Prince Robert attended the inauguration of La Cité du Vin, a "cultural facility" (or, more simply, a museum) that explores the impact of wine across media and from various perspectives: arts, geology, geography, history, and so forth.

The facility is now open to the public, but the prince attended a pre-public opening that saw numerous other dignitaries including French President Hollande, the Mayor of Bordeaux, the Prime Minister of Georgia and other ministers from Georgia, a selection of foreign ambassadors (including US, UK, Georgia, and Moldova), regional presidents and prefects within France, other elected politicians from France, individuals from foreign consulates, and still many more. It was quite the gathering of more than 1000 guests, many of whom arrived by arranged river boats.

No photos at present, but a little more about the event here.

Henri Receives the President of the Swiss Council of States

On the 26th, Grand Duke Henri received in audience Raphaël Comte, the current President of the Council of States of the Swiss Confederation. The Council of States is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland and is composed of 46 councillors. A delegation of the Council is currently on a working visit to Luxembourg, also making a stop at the Chambre des Députés.

No photos of the audience at present, but they'll be added if they're made available.

Garden Party at the Château de Berg

Photo: Lex Kleren / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu

It's that time of year again: the annual garden party at the Château de Berg. The event usually encompasses two events to honor National Day, and the 28th marks the first of those events. (The second party will be held on the 30th). Grand Duke Henri, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie were there to greet the honored guests who represent cultural, economic, and political organizations and institutions within the Grand Duchy.

Photos at Wort.

Young Swiss Diplomats Visit Liechtenstein

Photo: IKR

Today, the trainees of the Swiss diplomatic and consular service visited Liechtenstein to get an impression of and to learn about the Principality as many of them will represent Liechtenstein diplomaticly in the future. During their visit, they were received at Schloss Vaduz by Hereditary Prince Alois.

As Liechtenstein is a tiny country, they only maintain few diplomatic missions in other countries. The Principality has embassies in Austria, which also serves for the Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, the United States of America as well as a non-resident ambassador to the Holy See. In addition, it has permanent representations in Brussels, Geneva, Strasbourg and New York City to the different major multilateral organisations as well as a bunch of consulates. In all other countries, Liechtenstein is represented by Switzerland who also offer all services to Liechtensteiners that they offer their own citizens.

Guillaume and Stéphanie Visit the Cité Judiciaire

Photo: Gerry Huberty / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu

On Tuesday morning, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie paid a visit to Luxembourg's Judicial Precinct (la Cité Judiciaire). The 45-minute visit included an overview of the Superior Court of Justice and the Constitutional Court, as well as information about upcoming changes to court security.

There to meet the Hereditary Grand Ducal couple were Minister of Justice Felix Braz, President of the Supreme Court Georges Santer, Attorney General Martine Solovieff, and prosecutor George Wivenes (shown in the photo above).

A few more photos at Wort and more information about the visit at RTL.

Henri and Maria Teresa Support "Letters from Luxembourg"

Photo: © Cour Grand-ducale / Claude Piscitelli / tous droits réservés

On Monday, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa paid a visit to the dress rehearsal of "Letters from Luxembourg," a theatrical performance that merges the experiences of Luxembourg residents and arriving refugees. The show, directed by Sylvia Camarda and Serge Tonnar, aims to combat stereotypes and challenge audience expectations.

Following the dress rehearsal, the Grand Ducal couple took time to visit with the actors. "Letters of Luxembourg" opens today (the 28th) and runs through July 6th at the Théâtre des capucins.

A few more photos at the Cour website.