As you may know by now today, January 5, 2011 is Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg’s birthday. So in honor of his 90th birthday RTL.lu, a Luxembourg television network, aired a lovely documentary about his life thus far.
Click the link to watch the 14 minute clip from RTL.lu but you need to scroll down in order to watch the documentary.
Enjoy!
Today, is a very special day for a very special man. On January 5, 2011, Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, Duke of Nassau, and Prince of Bourbon-Parma, turns 90 years old.
Born on January 5, 1921 in Schloss Berg he attended boarding school at Ampleforth College in the United Kingdom. Soon after he attended Laval University in Quebec, Canada where he majored in Political Science. According to Wort.lu, Grand Duke Jean:
…fought in World War II service in the British Army against the Germans who had occupied Luxembourg. In 1942 he joined the elite regiment of the Irish Guards.
In June 1944 he landed with the Allied forces in Normandy and took part in the battles of Arnhem and the Ardennes battle.On his return home, the population celebrated him as a hero.
In 1953, he married Princess Josephine Charlotte of Belgium. They had five children. The Luxembourg newspaper, Wort.lu, notes:
[Grand Duke] Jean ascended the throne after his mother abdicated on 12/11/1964. He was on the throne for almost 36 years until 7 October 2000, as Luxembourg’s head of state. About five years later he lost his wife, Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte.
Grand Duke Jean is a great nature lover and avid Boy Scout. He likes to read books and likes classical music. In addition, he could also inspire more for photography, horseback riding, skiing and water skiing, swimming, fishing or hunting.
The former ruler (he abdicated) of Luxembourg will spend time with his family, and of course there will be celebrations in beautiful Luxembourg including a concert in honor of the Grand Duke.
I’m sure there will be images of the concert and much more so please stay tuned!
Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg gives a Christmas Eve speech to the citizens of the beautiful country of Luxembourg. You may watch the video of his speech in Luxembourgish (with a dash of French here and there) at:
http://tele.rtl.lu/waatleeft/replay/v/20101224/15/31217/
Or, if you can read French you may read his message via the official website for the Grand Ducal House of Luxembourg at:
http://www.monarchie.lu/fr/Presse/Discours/2010/12/Discours_Noel_FR/index.html
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Source: www.monarchie.lu and tele.rtl.lu
HRH Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg, the last single heir to a throne in Europe, attended a film festival looking oh-so-dashing, and the best part of all: Not one Dandruff flake on his Armani suit! 🙂
To watch a short clip of the Prince from the film festival please click the link below:
http://kultur.rtl.lu/kulturpur/news/88791.html
On a serious note, like his mother, The Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, I like Prince Gui. He seems like a nice guy and from what I understand he is highly intelligent, compassionate, and of course… single (though he isn’t exactly my type.)
Perhaps in a future posting I will write up a short bio about this last heir to a throne in Europe named Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg.
On December 12, 2010, HRH Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, attended the ceremony decorations for the Red Cross at the Prince Center Henry Walferdange in Luxembourg. As the Chairwoman of the Red Cross she also personally congratulated the volunteer blood donors at the Red Cross (if that makes any sense.)
To view more images from this event please visit the official website of the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg at www.monarchie.lu
Source: Cour Grand-Ducale de Luxembourg
The Royal Correspondent 