On this date: Grand Duke Jean's golden jubilee (sort of...)

Today might have been the golden jubilee of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, who came to the throne when his mother, Grand Duchess Charlotte, abdicated on 12 November 1964. However, Grand Duke Jean himself abdicated in favour of his son Henri, the current Grand Duke, on 7 October 2000 and has therefore been able to enjoy his retirement for fourteen years. Grand Duke Jean, who will turn 94 in two months, retains the title of Grand Duke and can still be seen at official events from time to time.

Title issues: King Juan Carlos to keep royal title

On Friday the Spanish government approved an amendment to the decree of 6 November 1987 on royal titles, so that King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía will retain the titles of King and Queen after his abdication. They will also retain the style of Majesty, but, interestingly, will rank after the descendants of the new King and Queen. This is, according to the government, done partly as a mark of respect for King Juan Carlos's and Queen Sofía's services to Spain, but also in keeping with historical precedents and customs in other monarchies.
Indeed I believe both King Carlos IV and Queen Isabel II retained their royal titles after their abdications. This is also how things have been done in Belgium and Luxembourg. Currently King Albert II of the Belgians, who abdicated in 2013, and Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, who abdicated in 2000, retain their titles, as did their parents, King Léopold III, who abdicated in 1951, and Grand Duchess Charlotte, who abdicated in 1964.
Britain and the Netherlands have chosen another solution. When King Edward VIII renounced the British crown in 1936 it was decided that his ceasing to be king meant that he reverted to being a prince, and he was granted the dukedom of Windsor in addition. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, who abdicated in 1948, argued that her abdication was constitutionally equal to her death and reverted to being Princess Wilhelmina. This precedent was followed by her daughter, Queen Juliana, when she abdicated in 1980, and again by her granddaughter, Queen Beatrix, who renounced the Dutch crown last year.

Luxembourg has a new princess

Luxembourg got a new princess yesterday (Tuesday 17 September) when Prince Félix, the second son of Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, wed his German girlfriend Claire Lademacher. The couple were married in a civil ceremony in Villa Rothschild Kempinski in the bride’s hometown Königstein im Taunus.
The groom had chosen the bride’s brother, Félix Lademacher, as his witness, while the bride’s witness was the groom’s sister, Princess Alexandra.
Only the nearest were present for today’s wedding, but several hundred guests have been invited to the religious blessing of the marriage, which will take place in the Basilica of Saint Mary Magdalene in the small French town of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume in the department of Var (some forty kilometres east of Aix-de-Provence) on Saturday.
Interestingly, there are already several links between the bride’s hometown Königstein im Taunus and the royal house into which she married, most notably the Luxembourg Palace in the town centre. According to the newspaper Wort (external link), this building from the late seventeenth century was acquired by Duke Adolph of Nassau, who had lost his duchy to Prussia in the war of 1866, when Nassau had been among the losers. Upon the death of King Willem III of the Netherlands/Grand Duke Guillaume III of Luxembourg in 1890, the union between those two countries was dissolved through the deceased’s daughter Wilhelmina inheriting the Dutch crown while his distant kinsman Adolph succeeded to the throne of Luxembourg. He continued to spend summers in Königstein, and the Luxembourg Palace became the dower house of his widow, Grand Duchess Adéläide-Marie, who died there in 1916. The palace, which had been thoroughly rebuilt and extended by the Belgian architect Gégéon Bordiau in 1873-1876, remained in the possession of the Luxembourgian grand ducal family until 1952. Since 1981 it is the main office of the district court.
Princess Claire of Luxembourg was born in Filderstadt in Germany on 21 March 1985 and was educated in Germany, the USA, Switzerland, France and Italy. She holds as master degree in bioethics (the same degree as Prince Félix is currently studying for) and has earlier worked for Condé Nast in New York and Munich, for IMG World in Berlin and for the UNESCO Chair of Bioethics and Human Rights, and is currently working on a PhD on the topic of organ donation ethics.

Luxembourgian royal wedding on 17 September

The grand ducal court of Luxembourg today announced that the wedding of the Grand Duke’s second son, Prince Félix, and Claire Lademacher will take place on 17 September in the bride’s home country, more specifically in Königstein im Taunus.
Four days later there will be a religious blessing of the marriage in the Basilica of Saint Mary Magdalene in the small French town of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume in the department of Var (some forty kilometres east of Aix-de-Provence). The basilica was begun in 1295, but work stopped in 1532 without it having been completed.
Prince Félix and Claire Lademacher, who works on a PhD on the topic of organ donation ethics, became engaged in December last year.

Le privilège du blanc

Pope Francis’s inauguration mass in Rome today was a good opportunity to observe one of the intricacies of papal etiquette, namely what is known as le privilège du blanc (the privilege of white).
Women are generally expected to wear black in the presence of the Pope, although not all follow this guideline (for instance, Queen Margrethe wore grey last time she visited the Vatican). But since an unknown date there has been an exception made for the wives of Catholic kings, who have been allowed to wear white in the Pope’s presence.
In former days, this included the Empress of Austria-Hungary as well as the queens of France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Bavaria, Belgium and Poland (but apparently not the Queen of Saxony, probably because the country did not share the royal family’s Catholic faith), but after the disapperance of most European monarchies the privilege of white today extends only to the Queens of Belgium and Spain, the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and female captains regent (i.e. heads of state) of San Marino.
Other female members of royal families (except Italian princesses, I believe) and Catholic wives of Protestant monarchs (such as Máxima of the Netherlands will be when her husband ascends the Dutch throne on 30 April) do not have the privilege, which also does not extend to the wives of sovereign princes. Or at least it did not do so until recently.
While her mother-in-law, Princess Grace, always wore black when meeting popes, Princess Charlène of Monaco wore white when she and Sovereign Prince Albert II were received in an audience by Pope Benedict XVI on 12 January this year. The Vatican Press Office subsequently stated that “in accordance with prescribed ceremonial of the Vatican for Catholic sovereigns, the princess was allowed to dress in white”.
However, Princess Charlène wore black at the inauguration today, and the Princess of Liechtenstein was not present, so it seems unclear whether the privilege has really been extended to the wives of Catholic sovereign princes. The Queen of Spain was also absent, but the Queen of the Belgians and the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg both wore white.
However, it might also be noted that there have been occasions when ladies enjoying the le privilège du blanc have chosen not to make use of it, the most recent example I can think of being the late Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg, who wore black the last time she and Grand Duke Jean were received by Pope John Paul II before the Grand Duke’s abdication in 2000.

European heirs gather in the Netherlands

This weekend most of the heirs to the European thrones are gathered in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands, and a group photo may be viewed on the Swedish royal court’s Facebook page. These meetings have become a fixture during the past decade or so, but this is, as far as I know, the first time a photo has been released. There are also similar meetings between the royal courts at different levels (the lords chamberlain, the information departments, the palace librarians, etc.), which rotate between the countries. In all cases the purpose is to give those involved an opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences.
This year’s meeting takes place in the Dutch town Apeldoorn and is hosted by Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima, who will leave the group when they ascend the Dutch throne next month. The others present are Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden, Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Spain, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde of Belgium and Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie of Luxembourg. Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark is attending a sports engagement in Sweden in a private capacity, while the heirs to Britain and Liechtenstein (and the heiress presumptive to Monaco) do not normally attend.
The absence of the British heir and his wife will probably lead to the usual comments about the British royal family snubbing or disliking their European counterparts, but Prince Charles clearly gets along well with his colleagues and his absence is a logical consequence of how the British monarchy since the Second World War has focused its attention on the Commonwealth rather than on Europe. If this will change in the next reign remains to be seen.

Prince Félix of Luxembourg set to marry

The grand ducal court of Luxembourg today announced the engagement of Prince Félix, the second son of Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, to his German girlfriend Claire Lademacher.
The future Princess was born in Filderstadt in Germany on 21 March 1985 and was educated in Germany, the USA, Switzerland, France and Italy. She holds as master degree in bioethics (the same degree as Prince Félix is currently studying for) and has earlier worked for Condé Nast in New York and Munich, for IMG World in Berlin and for the UNESCO Chair of Bioethics and Human Rights, according to the Luxembourgian court. She is currently working on a PhD on the topic of organ donation ethics.
Speculation about an upcoming engagement intensified after the wedding of Prince Félix’s elder brother, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, to Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy in October. No date has yet been announced for the wedding. The third brother, Prince Louis, married Tessy Antony in 2006, while the two youngest siblings, Princess Alexandra and Prince Sébastien, are unmarried.

Luxembourgian heir marries Belgian countess

Today Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg married Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy in a ceremony in Luxembourg’s city hall. Tonight there is a ball at the Grand Ducal Palace and at 11 a.m. tomorrow there will be a religious blessing of the marriage in the Cathedral. Members of all reigning European royal families as well as some non-European and several deposed dynasties are attending the festivities.

Engagement of Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg

The grand ducal court of Luxembourg has announced the engagement of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume to Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy. Apparently the official engagement will take place at Berg Castle tomorrow, and according to Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker the wedding will take place already this year.
Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy, who is a citizen of Belgium, is the youngest of eight children of Count Philippe de Lannoy (born 1922) and Alix della Faille de Leverghem (born 1941). She was born in Ronse on 18 February 1984. Her paternal grandmother was Princess Béatrice of Ligne, whose nephew Antoine married Princess Alix of Luxembourg, who is a great-aunt of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume.
The Countess, who lives in Brussels, was educated at schools in Belgium and France and at universities in Louvain and Berlin.

At the road’s end: Elisabeth, Duchess of Hohenberg, Princess of Luxembourg (1922-2011)

The grand ducal court of Luxembourg has announced the death of the Grand Duke’s aunt, Duchess Elisabeth of Hohenberg, née Princess of Luxembourg, at the age of 88.
The second of the six children of Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Félix, Princess Elisabeth Hilda Zita Marie Anna Antonia Friederike Wilhelmine Luise of Luxembourg was born on 22 December 1922. Like the rest of the grand ducal family she spent part of her youth in exile during World War II, but was able to return to Luxembourg following its liberation.
on 9 May 1956 she married Duke Franz Ferdinand of Hohenberg, the grandson of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne whose assassination together with his morganatic wife in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 sparked World War I. The couple had two daughters: Anna, known as Anita, born in 1958, and Sophie, born in 1960. The Duke died in 1977.
The late Duchess will be buried at Artstetten Castle in Austria, where the victims of Sarajevo are also buried, but a memorial service will also be held in the Church of Saint Michel in Luxembourg at a date which has not yet been decided.

Update on the Luxembourgian succession: Princess Alexandra IS in line to the throne

Following the rather unclear press statement from the Luxembourgian court about the changes to the succession announced on 21 June I asked the grand ducal court about whether these changes were retroactive. I was informed that the changes are “from 20th June 2011, therefore it is not retroactive” and that the “succession order remains unchanged”, of which the obvious interpretation was that gender-neutral succession would only apply to those of Grand Duke Henri’s descendants born after 2011 and that his daughter Princess Alexandra would remain outside the line of succession.
Having asked the grand ducal court for a clarification of this, I was recently informed that “H.R.H. Princess Alexandra is now in line to succeed to the throne in equal primogeniture”. Today I have also received confirmation that Princess Alexandra is “now ahead of Prince Sebastien”, which must mean that the changes are retroactive as they affect also those born before 2011 and that the line of succession has been changed as Princess Alexandra has been inserted ahead of her younger brother.
Yet the grand ducal court insists that the changes are “obviously not retroactive”, which makes me believe that they have not quite understood what the term means.

Clarification regarding Luxembourgian succession: changes not retroactive

The very terse press announcement from the Luxembourgian grand ducal court concerning the changes to the succession caused some confusion by its lack of details. While it said that the changes applied to the descendants of Grand Duke Henri, it was not clear whether the changes were retroactive, as one newspaper claimed.
However, I have now been informed by the grand ducal court that the changes are “from 20th June 2011, therefore it is not retroactive” and that the “succession order remains unchanged”.
Again this is not quite clear. The most obvious, literal interpretation would be that the changes will only apply to those descendants of Grand Duke Henri who are born after 20 June 2011 and that his daughter Princess Alexandra is thus still not in line to the throne.

Grand Duke Henri changes rules of succession

The grand ducal court of Luxembourg yesterday announced that Grand Duke Henri on 16 September last year changed the rules of succession laid down in the Family Pact of 1783 so that gender neutral succession will apply to his descendants. The press release does not say explicitly whether this change is retroactive, but if so the Grand Duke’s only daughter, Princess Alexandra, overtakes her younger brother in the succession. Apparently the old rules will continue to apply to those in line of succession who do not descend from Grand Duke Henri.
However, according to the newspaper Wort (external link) the Luxembourgian parliament is due to pass a reform whereby succession to the throne will hereafter be a strictly constitutional issue and no longer regulated by the Family Pact, thus in reality rendering Grand Duke Henri’s reform superfluous.
With these changes introduced in Luxembourg, gender neutral succession now applies in Sweden (1980), the Netherlands (1983), Norway (1990), Belgium (1991), Denmark (2009) and Luxembourg (2011). In Britain, Spain and Monaco sons still come before daughters, whereas Liechtenstein is alone in excluding women altogether from the succession.
That rule once also applied in Luxembourg and was the reason why the union between the Netherlands and Luxembourg was dissolved in 1890, when King/Grand Duke Willem III died and was succeeded on the Dutch throne by his daughter Wilhelmina and on the Luxembourgian throne by his distant cousin Adolph, former Duke of Nassau. However, Grand Duke Adolphe’s son, Guillaume IV, fathered six daughters but no sons, which caused the rules of succession to be changed in 1907 so that women would be allowed to succeed if there were no male members of the dynasty. This means that until now Princess Alexandra would only become have been able to inherit the throne if there were no male male-line descendants (of approved marriages) of any of the six daughters of Guillaume IV, whereas the new rules (given that they are in fact retroactive) make her third in line of succession following her elder brothers Guillaume and Félix.

See also
29 June 2011: Clarification regarding Luxembourgian succession: Changes not retroactive
and
11 July 2011: Update on the Luxembourgian succession: Princess Alexandra IS in line to the throne

Luxembourgian royals welcomed in Oslo

Today the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg began a three-day state visit to Norway, where they were welcomed by the King and Queen at the usual ceremony in the Palace Square. Grand Duke Henri later laid a wreath at the National Monument at Akershus Fortress and called on the Prime Minister at the Government Building as well as the Speaker of Parliament. Tonight there is a state banquet at the Royal Palace.
During the day the Queen has also accompanied the Grand Duchess on visits to Oscarshall Palace and the nearby Queen’s Chalet (Sæterhytten) at Bygdøy, which was inaugurated in the presence of three mutual ancestors of the King and the Grand Duke in 1862 (Queen Lovisa, her daughter Princess Lovisa and her mother Princess Louise of the Netherlands) and has recently reopened after restoration works. On Wednesday the grand ducal couple, accompanied by the King and Queen, will travel to Trondheim, where Nidaros Cathedral is among the sites to be visited. However, the Grand Duchess may cut short the visit as her brother is reported to be in a coma in a hospital in Florida.
The Grand Duke has been awarded the Collar of the Grand Cross of the Order of St Olav (he already had the Grand Cross), while Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Princess Märtha Louise have been given the Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau.
The Norwegian and Luxembourgian royal families are closely related and the ties between the two families have long been close. Grand Duke Adolphe, the first monarch of Luxembourg following the secession from the union with the Netherlands, was the older half-brother of Queen Sophia and something of a father figure to her.
Furthermore, the current Grand Duke’s mother, the Belgian-born Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte, was a first cousin of King Harald. This means that Grand Duke Henri is the European monarch most closely related to King Harald except for the King of the Belgians, who is King Harald’s first cousin and Grand Duke Henri’s uncle.
Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte, who lost her mother, Queen Astrid of the Belgians, when she was only eight years old and had a rather traumatic childhood during World War II, was always close to her Scandinavian relatives and rarely missed a family event. The death of this regal, yet charming lady in 2005 was much regretted by the Norwegian royals.
Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa have themselves paid a number of visits to Norway following their accession to the throne in 2000, attending several family occasions and also a skiing event some years ago.
There have on the other hand been rather few state visits between the two countries and, coincidentally, none of them has ever been returned. King Olav made a state visit to Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Félix in 1964, shortly before her abdication. In 1990 Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte became the last to pay a state visit to King Olav, who was taken seriously ill later that spring and never resumed the reins of government before his death in January 1991. In 1996 King Harald and Queen Sonja paid a state visit to Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte, which they again did not return before Grand Duke Jean’s abdication in favour of his son Henri in October 2000.
This week’s state visit will by the way be the last to Norway by a reigning European monarch for the foreseeable future. The Queen of Denmark was here in 1992, the King of Sweden in 1993, the King of the Belgians in 1997, the Queen of Britain in 2001, the King of Spain in 2006 and the Queen of the Netherlands in 2010, while the sovereign princes of Liechtenstein and Monaco do not habitually pay state visits. As it is customary for monarchs to pay only one state visit to each country per reign the next state visit from a reigning European monarch will probably not be until a new reign has begun in at least one of the European monarchies.

Luxembourgian state visit to Norway next month

The Norwegian royal court yesterday confirmed that the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg will pay a state visit to Norway on 30 May-1 June. They will spend the first two days in Oslo before travelling on to Trondheim for the final day.
The last Luxembourgian state visit to Norway was by Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte in the spring of 1990, while the King and Queen visited Luxembourg in 1996.

On this date: Grand Duke Jean turns 90

Today is the 90th birthday of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, the small nation’s former head of state. Grand Duke Jean reigned over the country from 1964 until his abdication in 2000.
Grand Duke Jean is the eldest child of Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Félix and was educated in Luxembourg, Britain and Canada. In 1942 the exiled Hereditary Grand Duke, as he then was, joined the British Army and served in the Irish Guards. As Grand Duke he would become Colonel of the same regiment.
On 4 May 1961 Grand Duchess Charlotte appointed him Lieutenant of the Realm, which meant that the Hereditary Grand Duke assumed the regency until his mother abdicated on 12 November 1964.
In 1953 he was married to Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium, an arranged marriage which by all accounts turned out to be very happy. The couple had five children and were able to mark their golden wedding anniversary in 2003. Sadly the Grand Duchess died from cancer two years later.
By then Grand Duke Jean was no longer on the throne. Following the example set by his mother he decided to leave the throne to his eldest son Henri and announced his impending abdication at the end of 1999. The abdication was set for 23 September 2000, but due to a car accident in which his youngest son, Prince Guillaume, was nearly killed, the abdication was postponed till 7 October 2000. Despite relinquishing the reins of government to his son, Jean kept the title of Grand Duke.
Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte maintained close ties with many royal families around Europe and the world and were always welcome guests at royal events abroad. They continued to attend some such events after the abdication – such as the funeral of Queen Ingrid of Denmark in 2000, the wedding of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway in 2001 and the golden jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II of Britain in 2002 – but in later years the Grand Duke has more or less withdrawn from public life.
His entering his tenth decade today will however be marked with a concert which is expected to be attended by Grand Duke Jean and his extended family, including his brother-in-law the King of the Belgians.