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 Click here to learn more at Lux-arazzi! Right before Christmas, on December 22nd, the House of Habsburg announced two engagements in Brussels, Belgium.
Archduke Christoph and Archduke Imre, the sons of Archduke Carl Christian and Archduchess Marie Astrid both announced their intention to marry their respective girlfriends – Adélaïde Drapé-Frisch and Kathleen Walker.
Christoph and Imre both gave their fiancées sapphire and diamond engagement rings. While they might appear to closely resemble the same ring that once belonged to the late Princess Diana, and Prince William gave to the Duchess of Cambridge, it should be noted that the rings were modeled after the one the two men’s father gave to their mother. It is a family tradition.
The two men are not members of the Habsburg family, which once ruled Austria, but also the nephews of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, through Marie Astrid, who was born a Princess of the Grand Duchy. They are also the younger brothers of Archduchess Marie Christine, who married Count Rodolpe of Limburg-Stirum back in December 2008.
Congratulations to the House of Habsburg!
Sources: Luxarazzi, The Royal Forums Blog
Over in neighboring Sweden, the rest of the Nobel Prizes were handed out, with the Swedish royal family witnessing the event. While some may see the Nobel ceremony as a time to honor the achievements of the winners, others see it as a major a fashion event, especially for the royal women.
 Check out more photos at Daylife.com King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel and Prince Carl Philip were present for the ceremony. The Queen wore the same gown she wore to the pre-wedding events of Victoria and Daniel back in June 2010. The Crown Princess looked stunning in a deep blue sequined dress which flaunted her pregnancy. She is six months along, by the way.
Also in attendance, as guests, were the Grand Ducal couple of Luxembourg. Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa were at the Nobel ceremony because one of the laureates was from Luxembourg.
During the event, at the Stockholm Concert Hall, King Carl Gustaf personally gave the prizes to the recipients in the areas of medicine, literature, economics, physics and chemistry. The winners were:
Medicine: Canadian Ralph Steinman, who died just three days before it was announced he won. His wife, Claudia, took home the medal in his place. The other two were Bruce Beutler of the United States and Luxembourg-born Frenchman Jules Hoffmann
Literature: Swedish poet Tomas Transtroemer
Economics: Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims of the United States
Physics: Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess of the United States and US-Australian Brian Schmidt
Chemistry: Daniel Shechtman of Israel
The Nobel Prize laureates take home a gold medal, a diploma, and 10 million kronor ($1.48 million dollars, 1.10 million euros), which is shared if there is more than one recipient.
After the ceremony was complete, the royal family escorted some of the winners out of the Concert Hall and led them to the banquet where 1,400 guests gathered for fine dining. The menu consisted of lobster with pickled winter vegetables and Jerusalem artichoke purée, Guinea hen with porcini mushrooms and lingonberries, poached pearl onions with parsley roots and velouté sauce Mandarin and white chocolate mousse on a cinnamon-spiced cake with raspberry marmalade and fresh raspberries.
Sources: AFP, NobelPrize.org
His Royal Highness Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg is on a three day visit to Vietnam. He is in the country to strengthen ties between the two nations.
 Click here to see more photos The Grand Duke was greeted by Truong Tan Sang, the President of Vietnam, at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi. After an official welcoming ceremony and inspection of the honor guard, the two heads of state sat down for talks.
Afterward, there was a signing of the understanding on the provision of expertise and technical assistance to the financial sector, capacity building and training. The signing was done by Luxembourg’s Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Action, Marie-Josée Jacobs and Vietnam’s Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh, with the Grand Duke and President Truong witnessing it.
Later, Henri went to the Bach Mai hospital that benefits from the Handicap International Luxembourg and is supported by his country’s government. The project focuses on those with spinal cord injuries.
In the evening, the Grand Duke was a guest of honor at a dinner banquet at the Government Guest House. During the banquet, he spoke about the close ties between Vietnam and Luxembourg. “Relationships are in the process of moving towards a broader partnership, more balanced and more based on economic cooperation,” Henri said.
He also said that his country is willing to invest in Vietnam, because Luxembourg wants “to become a hub for distribution in Europe of high quality Vietnamese products.”
For the remainder of his stay, Grand Duke Henri will lay a wreath at National Monument of Heroes and Martyrs tomorrow. He will also visit the city of Hue, which is recognized by UNESCO for its World Heritage of Humanity. In Hue, there is an 11th century temple dedicated to Confucius.
Henri will also visit cooperation projects throughout Vietnam during his visit.
Source: Gouvernement.lu, Wort.lu
 Click here to see more of the Bishop's concentration On Sunday, Luxembourg’s Grand Ducal couple witnessed the concentration of Jean Claude Hollerich as the eighth bishop and third archbishop of the archdiocese of Luxembourg.
The deeply religious Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa were among several hundred attendees of the ceremony at Notre Dame Cathedral.
The church service lasted three hours. It was conducted in Luxembourgisch – which is a dialect of German – French, English, German and Japanese. The latter happened because the now Archbishop Hollerich once lived and worked for years in Japan. At Sophia University in Tokyo, Hollerich was last rector of the Jesuit community and vice-president of the university.
Source: Wort.lu
On Monday, changes were made to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg’s succession laws that will abolish male preference – as is the current state – and will allow females equal rights to the throne as their male relatives. 
This means if, for example, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume were to have a daughter as a first born child, she could become the next monarch of Luxembourg after her father, even if she has a younger brother. That brother would be second behind the sister.
These changes have been in the works since September and yesterday saw the modifications take place. This makes Luxembourg’s succession laws on par with Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
The United Kingdom, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Spain have yet to get rid of their male preference succession laws.
However, even with these changes in Luxembourg, there is some confusion as to how these changes will go along. According to the newspaper, Wort, the law will be effective with Grand Duke Henri’s descendants. But does that mean that Guillaume’s sister, Princess Alexandra, is ahead of younger brother Prince Sebastien now – or is she still behind?
I will update this entry when any clarification happens.
Source: Wort.lu
On Monday, Luxembourg’s Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa began a state visit to Norway. The trip is to last for two days, and it is no different from any other state visit. Meaning, this one is meant to strengthen bilateral ties between the two nations.
 Click here to see more the state visit Their Royal Highnesses arrived in Oslo in the morning and were greeted by King Harald V and Queen Sonja at Palace Square. Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were also present for the welcoming ceremony, which included national anthems and inspection of the honor guard. Grand Duchess Maria Teresa also took time to greet schoolchildren who were watching the event.
Next came the laying of the wreath at Akershus Fortress, which commemorates the fallen during World War II.
Afterward, Grand Duke Henri met with the Prime Minister and Parliament President Dag Terje Andersen.
During that time, Queen Sonja took the Grand Duchess to the newly restored cabin on Sæter Bygdøy at Oscarhall Palace. They were also given a tour of Seter cottage, and children from Dissimilis entertained the royal women.
In the evening came the state banquet. Princess Martha Louise and Princess Astrid were attendance.
The rest of the itinerary has the King and the Grand Duke meeting with business leaders while the Queen and the Grand Duchess will tour museums and art galleries. Also, the Luxembourg royals will go to Trondheim to see Statoil’s Research Centre.
But there is a question if Maria Teresa will continue with the state visit after today. Her brother, 58 year old Antonio Mestre, is in a coma at a Florida hospital after suffering a heart attack. Supposedly, the Grand Duchess will leave Norway early to go be at her brother’s side.
Source: Kongehuset, Wort.lu
In one week, on February 14th, Luxembourg’s Grand Ducal couple will celebrate their third decade of marriage. Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa released new photos of themselves, taken obviously before the Grand Duke’s recent heart surgery.
 Cour Grand-Ducale/Christian Aschman Luxembourgisch media is also reflecting on the wedding day. Wort published an article that quoted the then newlyweds from Télécran.
“This day I will always remember as the day in which a very great joy materialized into a dream,” the then Hereditary Grand Duke Henri said back in 1981.
“I will not conceal that I was a little excited about the enormous appeal, which had found our wedding in the media. At that moment, but in which my fiancee walked into the cathedral, any excitement was gone, and I knew that we would now be forever by two for the tasks that would put life and my function to us to overcome together. This moment is one of my best memories. ”
Maria Teresa also talked about her joyous day:
 Cour Grand-Ducale/Christian Aschman “We had just put a multi-year study behind us, which brought natural as for each student at his exam with him that had to exist. The more time we spent together was more clear to us that we would spend our lives together. You can imagine how great my luck on the day of my wedding was. Then there was the warm welcome afforded by the Luxembourg population me and all the uncertainties [of being the next Grand Duchess], I could feel, disappear. ”
Their Royal Highnesses met while studying political science at the University of Geneva. They went on to become the parents of five children: Hereditary Grand Duke Henri, Prince Felix, Prince Louis, Princess Alexandra and Prince Sebastien. The couple are also grandparents to Prince Louis’ two sons, Princes Gabriel and Noah of Nassau.
It is unknown if any celebration would take place as Henri is still recovering from an angioplasty at Castle Berg.
Source: Wort.lu, Wikipedia
 Cour grand-ducale/ LUXPRESS/Jean-Claude Ernst/FILE Less than two days after his angioplasty, Luxembourg’s Grand Duke Henri left the hospital Saturday morning to rest for a few weeks at Castle Hill.
The Grand Duke complained of chest pains early Thursday and an ambulance took him to a hospital where heart surgery was performed. It is believed that he suffered from an unstable angina, which is not as serious as a heart attack.
Henri, who is 55 years old, inherited the Grand Duchy in 2000 after his father, Grand Duke Jean abdicated.
Source: Tageblatt
 JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN/AFP/Getty Images/FILE This morning, Luxembourg’s Grand Duke Henri was rushed to the hospital at around 9:30 local time. The initial report was that he was unwell. But later it emerged that the Grand Duke underwent a balloon angioplasty, which suggests he may have had a heart attack.
Luxarazzi – the blog that follows the Grand Ducal family – believes that it is likely Henri had a stable angina, which is a chest pain that causes poor blood flow through the blood vessels of the heart muscle. It is brought on by either stress or activity.
The Cour de Grand Ducale said this afternoon that the Grand Duke, who is 55 years old, was in good condition and will leave the hospital in a few days.
Source: Luxarazzi, Wort, National Center for Biotechnology Information
The House of Nassau gathered to celebrate its patriarch’s 90th birthday Wednesday with a concert by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Luxembourg.
 Tom Wagner Grand Duke Jean, his children and grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren, posed for the media at the steps of the Palais Grand Ducal. Also there were his in-laws, King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium. The Grand Duke was once married to the King’s sister, Josephine-Charlotte, who died in 2005.
Among the scores performed during the concert were the 41st Symphony by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the Eighth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven.
At one point, all the grandchildren gathered on stage, however, none of them looked happy being there. Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume also gave a speech.
Afterward, a large cake was brought out. All 1,400 guests applauded as the Grand Duke cut it.
Sources: Wort, Tageblatt
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