On Wednesday evening, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume took part in presenting the Edward Steichen Award at Luxembourg’s Museum of Modern Art. The award is under the high patronage of Guillaume’s mother, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, but it was he who gave it out this year.
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The Hereditary Grand Duke was not the only member of the Grand Ducal family to be at the event. Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla were also there. But it was the next Grand Duke of Luxembourg who handed out the award.
Held every two years, the Edward Steichen Award is supposed to be a cross-cultural, artistic and educational bridge between Luxembourg and New York. It is open to contemporary visual and fine artists between the ages of 25 and 35. The candidates are to be sponsored from art institutes not only in Luxembourg, but also the regions surrounding the tiny Grand Duchy, such as Wallonie in Belgium, the Lorraine in France and areas in Germany. Winners get to stay up to six months in New York City to expand their work.
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This week, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg will be in the Persian Gulf region to promote his country’s financial sector. He will be in Bahrain, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, and is travelling with a delegation of representatives, including Finance Minister Luc Frieden.
Ministère des Finances de Luxembourg
In each country Guillaume stopped by, he met with political and business leaders. For example, in Bahrain Monday, the Prince and Frieden met with Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa.
Furthermore, Guillaume and Frieden will speak at seminars developed by the Luxembourg for Finance, a developmental agency.
This trip will last until Thursday.
Tuesday began Ireland’s President Mary McAleese’s state visit to Luxembourg. The grand duchy’s family played host to Mrs. McAleese, who is the first Irish leader to make such a visit to the micro-state.
REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
Grand Duke Henri and his son and heir, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, welcomed the Irish President in the morning. The national anthems of both countries during the official ceremony, and Henri and McAleese reviewed the troops. The two also laid a floral wreath at the Monument of Luxembourg.
Afterward came the President’s meeting with Luxembourg’s politicians, including Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies.
In the evening, there was a state banquet in McAleese’s honor.
Tomorrow, Mrs. McAleese will visit a monastery, discuss Ireland’s relationship with the European Union at an abbey, and then have lunch with Juncker. A meeting with Irish nationals living in this tiny country will tale place, and then the President would head back to the Emerald Isle.
This event also marks Grand Duchess Maria Teresa’s first engagement since her surgery last month. She was not expected to make many appearances, and it is uncertain if she was at the state banquet.
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On Wednesday, Luxembourg’s Grand Duke Henri was the recepient of the Van Thuan award at the Palazzo Colonna in Rome. The award, named after Cardinal Van Thuân, is given to those who defend human rights. The Grand Duke was awarded for his right to life efforts and defense of religious freedom.
Last year, Henri, a devout Roman Catholic, lost his constitutional powers when he refused to sign a bill that would have allowed euthanasia in his tiny country.
Henri was accompanied by his son and heir, Guillaume. His wife, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, is recovering from surgery,
On Thursday, the Grand Duke and his son met with Pope Benedict XVI at his summer estate in Castel Gandolfo.
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Luxembourg’s Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume completed his studies at the University of Angers.
The 27 year-old earned a degree in humanities and political science, though he specifically concentrated in the latter.
Before, Guillaume attended school in Switzerland. After that, he went on to the famed military academy Sandhurst, where many of the world’s royals went for army training.
It is not known yet what will the Hereditary Grand Duke do next.
The eldest son of Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Guillaume will take over the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg whether his father dies or abdicates.
