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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
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg will be releasing a €2 coin on February 1st in honor of the 50 years since its former head of state, Grand Duke Jean, took over daily affairs of the tiny country from his mother, the late Grand Duchess Charlotte.
 Banque de Luxembourg The coin features Jean, along with Grand Duchess Charlotte, and his son, the current monarch, Grand Duke Henri. 700,000 copies of the commemorative coin will be circulated.
Charlotte allowed her son to be the “stadtholder” of Luxembourg on April 28th, 1961. She officially abdicated in 1964, and died in 1985.
This is not the first time Luxembourg has released a €2 coin in honor of its grand ducal family. In 2006, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume had a coin to mark his 25th birthday.
Grand Duke Jean, who abdicated the throne in favor of Henri in 2000, will celebrate his 90th birthday this Wednesday with a concert by a Philharmonic orchestra with the entire House of Nassau present. Also expected to be there is his brother-in-law, King Albert II of Belgium. The King’s sister, Josephine-Charlotte who died in 2005, was married to Jean and was the mother of Grand Duke Henri.
Source: Wort.lu, RoyalBlog.nl
As their countrymen prepare to mark Christmas Eve with friends and family, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and the Kings of Belgium and Spain sat down for their annual speeches, televised live on national television. It is a time to reflect on the previous year and talk about hope for the coming one.
 REUTERS/Thierry Roge For King Albert II, it was an opportunity to plead for national unity. 2010 marked the longest Belgium has gone without a government as the crisis between the Flemish and Walloons continued, and the King, who acts a mediator between the two groups, urged for compromise.
“The time has come when the real courage is to seek the compromise that brings together firmly, not to exacerbate the opposition,” said the Belgian sovereign.
“It seems that in our country, we have somewhat forgotten in recent years the art of compromise. Hence my concern and my commitment to launch an appeal to all our leaders and all citizens,” he added. “This call, I will formally launch. We must have the courage to be peacemakers.”
As of Friday, Belgium has gone for 194 days without a government. An election was held in June, but no compromise has been created between the politicians representing rival ethnic groups.
In Spain, King Juan Carlos had to comfort a nation reeling from a 20 percent unemployment rate. In his speech, the King called for respect for those who struggled to find work or had to face difficult decisions. In his view, they – being “employees, freelancers, professionals, businessmen, pensioners or officials” – all deserve the “broader support” because “their multiple daily labors and those of millions of families have our deepest gratitude for contributing to the good of all.”
 Terra Noticias Juan Carlos also touched on a common topic of his Christmas Eve speeches – terrorism, which remains a threat for Spaniards.
“We should miss determination to end this scourge. Honor and bundled up with all our love and sympathy to the victims of terrorist violence and their families,” he stressed.
The King also mentioned some of Spain’s highlights, such as the winning of the FIFA World Cup this summer. As he talked, the monarch had a photo frame containing a photo of him posing with the Spanish football team.
King Juan Carlos then ended his speech with hope that 2011 will bring “new achievements and advances in many fields. ”
Over in the tiny country of Luxembourg, Grand Duke Henri also talked about the troubled economy and urged his citizens to
 Cour grand-ducale/LuxPress/Jean-Claude Ernst show kindness to those unemployed and struggling financially, especially during Christmas.
Henri quoted Nobel laureate Amartya Sen of India on how to fix the economic crisis and what to learn from it.
” ‘The modern economy has been greatly impoverished by the distance that the economy away from ethics. The economy must serve people, not vice versa.’ For this reason, we must find an answer to two major questions: How should we live? What society do we want?” he said.
The Grand Duke then urged the people of Luxembourg to take responsibility for themselves and be good to others. “Only a society where man can live and work in dignity allows ensure lasting peace. Therefore I urge everyone to ensure, in its quest for profit, not to lose sight of the “common good” and to reach out to those in need.”
His Royal Highness added that he does expect to “see a new boom that offers a perspective and a real security.”
With that, Grand Duke Henri wished all of Luxembourg a Merry Christmas on behalf of his family.
Sources: AFP, Europa Press, Cour Grand Ducale de Luxembourg
The President of Germany, Christian Wulff, stopped by Luxembourg Friday to further strengthen ties with the grand duchy. Wulff was greeted at the royal palace by Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa.
 SIP/Charles Caratini After the welcoming ceremony, the President and the royal couple held talks inside the palace to discuss ways to broaden the already tight bilateral links between their two countries. A luncheon was held before Wulff met with Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker.
Once that meeting was over, the two men held a press conference.
“Relations between our governments function in an excellent way, at times despite the emergence of minor differences”, said Prime Minister Juncker, stating that they “are not tainted by any darkening.”
“Our neighborhood relations are a model for other countries in the world,” said President Wulff, alluding to the many cultural and economic ramifications that exist between the two countries, many German border and common visions that exist on many issues.
Almost 30,000 Germans travel each day to work in the Grand Duchy.
Source: Gouvernement.lu, L’Essential
On October 7th 2000, Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg abdicated the throne in favor of his son and heir, Henri. A decade later, His Royal Highness is still head of state, but much has changed for his tiny country wedged between Germany, Belgium and Holland.
 Mark Renders/Getty Images/FILE This week, Grand Duke Henri gave an interview with Jean-Marc Sturm of Radio DNR where he discussed inheriting the throne, and what he hopes for Luxembourg.
“I was touched emotionally,” Henri said about becoming Grand Duke. “Luxembourg had felt this when I took the oath in the Chamber of Deputies. It was an emotional moment for me.”
He was asked what place does the monarchy have in the 21st century.
“The monarchy must find a balance between progress and tradition. Without tradition, you can build anything. It is difficult to find this balance, but we will seek to do in the future.”
“A Grand Duke has been there for a while. My father spent over 30 years on the throne, even my grandmother about 40 years. This provides some continuity and stability at the state level.”
Jean-Marc Strum then asked the Grand Duke about his thoughts on the changes Luxembourg has gone through in the past decade.
“Luxembourg has changed. Not only the economy but also society. We have almost 50 percent non-Luxembourg and Luxembourg in this country plays a leading role in the greater region with about 150,000 commuters. It awaits the challenge to us to strengthen cohesion. The integration of non-Luxembourgish is for me the most important thing for our country. We must not think selfishly, those feelings should have no place.”
Strum then asked Henri about the role of the family in his country:
“The family is the core of our society. The values must be marked in the family. Parents should be aware of their responsibilities.”
Speaking of family, the Grand Duke was asked about his son and heir, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, and how he is preparing to take over for his father one day:
“He completed an excellent education abroad and studied politics, economics and philosophy. Now, he accompanied various missions Luxembourg economy in the world. He learns a lot about the economic problems that exist in our country. Guillaume is a member of the State Council and receives a lot of information about the legislation in this country. I myself try to talk to him about political issues and explain to him my vision of things. We do not always agree, but we do have a good rapport with each other. I am very pleased that Prince Guillaume is in Luxembourg at my side.”
And finally came the question about how Henri’s father, Grand Duke Jean is doing these days:
“He is doing really well. He turned 90 years old in January and for his age is in very good shape. He is still very well informed about what is happening in the country. He reads many newspapers and books. I’m really surprised at how good my father is an intellectual constitution.”
As a way of celebrating Grand Duke Henri’s 10 years on the throne, the Grand Ducal family has joined other royals by setting up social networking sites on Facebook and Twitter. Here are the links:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/courgrandducale
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/courgrandducale
Sources: Wort.lu
Tuesday morning saw the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg arrive in Portugal for the start of a three day state visit. The point of this trip is to strengthen ties with the already close nations.
 Presidencia.pt Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa were first greeted at a Lisbon military airport by Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Amado, who took them to Monastery of Jeronimos for their first engagement in Portugal. There, the Grand Duke laid a wreath on the tomb of Luís Vaz de Camões, the most famous poet of Portugal.
After that came the official welcoming ceremony at Belem Palace by President Anibal Cavaco Silva and his wife, Maria. Following the playing of the national anthems and reviewing the honor guard, the Silvas took the grand ducal couple inside for brief talks and a lunch.
During that, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, who was part of the delegation for this visit, had talks with Luis Amado. On the agenda of the discussion appeared mainly to be about current European and international policy, preparation of the informal meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, as well as bilateral relations.
At the same time, Luxembourg’s Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade, Jeannot Krecke, took the opportunity to meet with his counterpart Jose Vieira da Silva on themes of economic and financial news.
Later on, the Grand Duke and the President held a joint news conference where they told reporters about the close bond Luxembourg and Portugal have.
 EPA/Manuel Almeida “The element of closer association between the two countries is the Portuguese community in Luxembourg, a community of more than 80,000 citizens, representing a high percentage of active population of Luxembourg, which contributes significantly to the economic and social development of the country host,” said Silva.
President Silva mentioned that among the topics he discussed with Henri was bringing the Portuguese language into the Luxembourg education system.
“The two countries have been talking to strengthen this possibility be learned from the Portuguese in Luxembourg and the normal progress has been made in this direction,” he noted.
Silva also highlighted how this state visit will bring about economic discussions and regulations. “Luxembourg is a major investor in Portugal and hopefully in the future entrepreneurs Luxembourg continue to look and look further into the opportunities offered here in our country,” added the President, noting that during the Grand Duke’s visit will lead to a signing of a protocol on the double-taxation and combating tax evasion.
Grand Duke Henri took the time during the conference to talk about his Portuguese heritage and thanked the country for providing for his grandmother and his parents when World War II broke out.
Following the press conference, Grand Duke Henri had the opportunity to meet with the President of the Assembly of the Republic, Jaime Gama, and other members of Portugal’s political scene.
Tuesday evening saw a gala dinner in honor of the grand ducal couple.
Over the next two days, there will be tours of Lisbon and the Portuguese coast, talks with the Prime Minister, visits to child care services that treat young children with AIDS, discussions of technology and microfinance, and a visit to Portugal’s oldest university.
Source: Jornal de Noticias, Gouvernement.lu
The Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg gathered to celebrate their tiny country’s national day on Wednesday. Even though festivities began the night before, June 23rd is the actual day of the holiday.
 Mark Renders/Getty Images - 6/23/10 Celebrations took place in the towns of Diekirch, Esch-sur-Alzette and the capital city, also called Luxembourg. The latter saw Grand Duke Henri lay wreath at the war memorial on Tuesday, with the rest of his family present. That was followed by a changing of the guard at the Palace.
Later that same day, Henri and his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, went to Diekirch, which is celebrating its 750th anniversary this year. The couple were welcomed by Mayor Jacques Dahme, and went for a stroll through the village’s old district with Dahme. Henri and Maria Teresa stopped at one point to lay flowers at a memorial.
Meanewhile, in Esch-sur-Alzette, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and his sister, Princess Alexandra, were paying a visit. They were welcomed by Lydia Mutsch, the mayor of the town, and they also laid a wreath at a war memorial. The brother and sister then went to the balcony of the Hotel de Ville, where they waved to the people below. After that, Guillaume went to the Escher Volleksfest, where he lit the traditional campfire scouts.
 Mark Renders/Getty Images - 6/23/10 In the evening, the Grand Ducal family reunited back in Luxembourg City, where they attended more festivities which included an elaborate fireworks display.
The next day, the family attended the Te Deum Mass at Our Lady of Luxembourg. That was followed by a 101 gun salute from Fetschenhaff.
The family then gathered to watch a military parade, along with Prime Minister Claude Juncker.
The one royal family member missing from the celebrations was Prince Felix, who was believed to be busy with his job at a Swiss firm.
At the same time, Prince Sebastien displayed his Ordre du Lion d’Or de la Maison de Nassau in public for the first time. He received the knighthood on his 18th birthday back in April, and got a chance to wear his medal for National Day, even though it was small one.
Source: Gouvernement.lu, Lux-arazzi
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