On Thursday, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg saw his country’s Parliament move to trim his powers. He may no longer be able to sign bills into laws after this decision. 
A bill allowing euthanasia had landed on the Grand Duke’s desk last week, and due to religious beliefs, the sovereign declined to sign it. This was something that had never happened in this tiny Duchy wedged between Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Under the country’s constitution, it is up to the Grand Duke normally to “approve and promulgate” new laws, by signing them within three months.
However, theParliamentary vote, which was backed by 56 of the 60 deputies with one abstaining and three absent, revised the constitution to give the Grand Duke responsibility merely for promulgating laws. In other words, this makes the role of Grand Duke more ceremonial than legislative.
If the reform is voted through in a second reading, approving laws will be the responsibility of the parliament and the minister in charge of the matter
“It’s just one clause that’s changing but it represents an enormous loss of monarchical rights,” Professor Paul Margue, a historian, said in an interview. “You might be right to ask what then is the point of having a Grand Duke at all?”
But although the popular 53 year old Grand Duke is highly unlikely to be deposed, his public image has been tarnished by the affair. “He badly overstepped his mark by meddling in politics. No Grand Duke has ever before opposed a law before it’s been approved by the parliament,” says Lucien Montebrusco, political editor with the Luxembourg daily, Tageblatt. “He was pushed into taking a stand by the Catholic Church. They used him to try to make sure that this law would not get a majority.”
Many commentators also point the finger of blame at Henri’s Cuban wife, Maria-Theresa, who is thought to belong to a fundamentalist wing of the Catholic Church. “She may well have played a role but either way, he has brought it on himself. We can’t have a stand off between the parliament and the monarch over this, so they have to work fast to avoid such an institutional crisis.”
Although Henri backs this overhaul to the constitution, the move has divided the nation’s 400,000 inhabitants. Newspapers have applauded the push to finally axe this outdated practice, while others have derided it as ‘constitutional castration’. Marie-Josée Frank, a parliamentarian with the Christian-Social Party, is outraged.
“This is our Grand Duke we are talking about here. We can’t just make huge decisions like this overnight. And everything is being thrown into this discussion instead of taking things one step at a time.”
Despite the changes, the Grand Duke need not worry that he will become a redundant figure. His portrait adorns pubs and restaurants across the country, including the walls of the Cercle Munster, an exclusive private club for Luxembourg’s elite.
“The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg can’t live without its Grand Duke. He’s part of our identity,” says George Wagner, the manager of the Cercle Munster. “And he plays a huge role for us abroad. He’s helped put Luxembourg on the map and brings in business. Most of us are very proud of him.”
Article heavily based on report from Radio Netherlands and Nasdaq. Photo from the AFP.
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