Death of Comtesse Alix de Lannoy: August 26, 2012

[Artemisia]

I haven't seen pictures of Stephanie's father at the funeral.
Maybe his children decided that he should stay at home, due to his frail health.
Does anyone know if he attended the funeral of his late wife?

He didn't.
Stephanie's father was probably too frail to attend the funeral and is most probably at home, under the doctors' supervision.

The poor girl,it must a dreadful time for her and the family!

Indeed, especially now, a time that should have been that of joy, not tragedy.
I hope this will not sound distasteful given the circumstances, but Stephanie looks beautiful in that black lace: so frail, ethereal and beautiful.

 

[Molly2101]

Thoughts are with Stephanie and the family at this horrible time.

 

[Rhys82192]

My sincere condolences to Stephanie. It is so sad to lost a mother who is supposed to witness her daughter getting married, it must be a great sadness for a daughter like Stephanie. May she rest in peace

 

[Mariel]

i notice Queen Fabiola wearing all white, and small children (probably Stephanie's nieces) wearing all white.

 

[Kataryn]

i notice Queen Fabiola wearing all white, and small children (probably Stephanie's nieces) wearing all white.

In Catholic countries, white is a suitable colour of a queen in mourning. As she is, other than eg. the Luxembourgeois Royals who are in-laws-by-troth, no relative, it is very suiting to wear white while the others chose black to honour their closeness and family relation to the Lannoy family.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Indeed, especially now, a time that should have been that of joy, not tragedy.
I hope this will not sound distasteful given the circumstances, but Stephanie looks beautiful in that black lace outfit: so frail but ethereal.

Not at all,her black lace mantilla was beautiful.

 

[maria-olivia]

The Count and the late Countess de Lannoy had 8 Children. No pictures and no names of them during the funerals but only Stephanie , and Stephanie and Guillaume with a bodyguard after them.
She is starting a public life with for ever cameras , photo shots etc... a totally different life than her brothers and sisters.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

The names of Stephanie's seven siblings and their spouses were published in the death notice.

I did not notice a bodyguard trailing Stephanie and Guillaume, but I did see them rather quickly exiting the church after the Mass, enter the back seat of a car and then be whisked away. The windows were blackened but it looked like a guy in Luxembourgish military uniform was in the front passenger seat so maybe it was Gui's aide-to-camp?

I found it unusual, since the custom is usually for the family to arrive and leave together in a suite of limousines.

 

[Tyger]

Too sad - and when one realizes that it was during a time when Stephanie and her mother were very much in the thick of the wedding planning. I'm sure Stephanie has sisters that were helping - or can step up - but how sad for them all. The wedding will be very hard - bittersweet.

 

[maria-olivia]

Moonmaiden 23, thanks for your thread, yes the Guy in Lux uniform was walking just behind Hed.Grand Duke Guillaume and was surprised such a Security for a belgian noble funeral. I appreciated the Gentlemen wearing «*une jaquette*» and most of the ladies a black mantilla such as it is traditional for the belgian noble families
The dead announce was published in our newspaper and I noticed I was at school with one of her sisters in law, but to much pictures of poor Stephanie .
I hope her Father will assist the wedding Church celebration such as old Grand Duke Jean.
Terrible situation for the Lux Drand Ducal Protocole.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Thanks maria-olivia...I had not realized that it was protocol for funerals of the Belgian nobility that the men wear formal cutaway suits and the women cover their heads with a black mantilla. It made the men look very handsome and distinguished, and the women quite elegant.

I noticed that the Duchess of Brabant was one of the few women who did not cover her head, which puzzled me. But I knew Queen Fabiola would not wear black as she never wears black to funerals. She underlines her strong Catholic belief in the Resurrection by wearing white.

In the Catholic faith it is considered inappropriate to dress children in black for funerals and I was moved to see photos of the Countess's small grandchildren in their white dresses.

Years ago I remember reading of kidnap threats against members of the GD Family...probably because of their rumored wealth. Maybe that is why Guillaume always has a bodyguard with him?

 

[maria-olivia]

Princess Mathilde wore a black mantilla for her father’s Funerals.
Normally only the close family wear mantillas , Princess Marie-Astrid and the Grand Duchess MT did not wear mantillas too.
Did you notice when Queen Fabiola went out of her car she wore a gray black in white jacquet , her pashmina was indeed white.

 

[Rayarena]

I can't imagine anything worst. Poor girl. She looks blanched in that photograph. This has marred her marriage and the time of joy leading up to her marriage. When she walks down the aisle, she will no doubt remember her mother. And what type of celebration can they have if in Catholic countries [and the Luxembourgian royals are strict Catholics; I'm sure that the Lannoy's are too] one has to mourn for about a year? The marriage will no doubt be subdued. What a shame.

 

[claypoint2]

In Catholic countries, white is a suitable colour of a queen in mourning. As she is, other than eg. the Luxembourgeois Royals who are in-laws-by-troth, no relative, it is very suiting to wear white while the others chose black to honour their closeness and family relation to the Lannoy family.

The meaning of the color one wears at a funeral has nothing to do with one's closeness or distance to the deceased. In fact, Queen Fabiola wore white to the funeral of her beloved husband, King Baudouin of the Belgians. Besides, from a liturgical standpoint, white is not only a suitable color for a Roman Catholic Queen in mourning: it is the color of the Resurrection, and thus perfectly appropriate for anyone to wear at most Roman Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, and Protestant funerals. By wearing white, Queen Fabiola is stating her belief that Countess Philippe of Lannoy will be resurrected from the dead.


Quite apart from the symbolic meaning of the clothing, I was so sorry to see the deep suffering that is evident in Countess Stéphanie's expression. I feel deeply for her and will keep her in mind and prayer.

It looks like her fiancé provides lovely and important support for her. I wonder whether he will travel to Washington, D.C. next week for the wedding of his cousin Archduke Imre of Habsburg-Lorraine....

 

[Moonmaiden23]

I can't imagine anything worst. Poor girl. She looks blanched in that photograph. This has marred her marriage and the time of joy leading up to her marriage. When she walks down the aisle, she will no doubt remember her mother. And what type of celebration can they have if in Catholic countries [and the Luxembourgian royals are strict Catholics; I'm sure that the Lannoy's are too] one has to mourn for about a year? The marriage will no doubt be subdued. What a shame.

I agree that the runup to the wedding has been overshadowed by shock and grief but this sorrow has no way "marred" the marriage itself.

Guillaume and Stephanie are both the products of strong, loving marriages deeply rooted in Catholic teaching on the sacramental nature of the marital bond....despite this sadness they have every opportunity to move forward and build something good and beautiful together.

That would be the best possible tribute to the late Comtesse, imo.

I am not aware of any strict rule in Belgium or Luxembourg for Royals that dictates a year of mourning must be observed.

 

[Lindy]

I hope this will not sound distasteful given the circumstances, but Stephanie looks beautiful in that black lace: so frail, ethereal and beautiful.

Ethereal is the exact word that came to my mind when I saw pictures of Stephanie de Lannoy at the funeral.

 

[rominet09]

What strikes me a lot is that her father wasn't seemingly not in a well enough state to attend his wife funeral !

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Princess Mathilde wore a black mantilla for her father’s Funerals.
Normally only the close family wear mantillas , Princess Marie-Astrid and the Grand Duchess MT did not wear mantillas too.
Did you notice when Queen Fabiola went out of her car she wore a gray black in white jacquet , her pashmina was indeed white.

Marie-Astrid wore no head covering, but GD Maria-Teresa definitely did, a black lace mantilla that was a smaller version of the ones Stephanie and the de Lannoy women were wearing. It was attached to the back of her head, like Tessy's was.

It can be seen pretty clearly in photographs.

 

[grevinnan]

What strikes me a lot is that her father wasn't seemingly not in a well enough state to attend his wife funeral !

Is his absence a fact or assumption?

 

[Meraude]

Is his absence a fact or assumption?

There doesn't seem to be any photos of him arriving to the church, but as there are no photos from inside the church and the funeral, there is the possibility that he was taken to the church through another door, perhaps in a wheelchair, and not seen by the public outside the church.

 

[claypoint2]

I hope this will not sound distasteful given the circumstances, but Stephanie looks beautiful in that black lace: so frail, ethereal and beautiful.

I don't think that it's distasteful... but, then again, I had the same thought! Stephanie seems so deeply affected by the loss of her mother, and at the same time she looks beautiful in these photographs.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Is his absence a fact or assumption?

At least two Belgian and one French paper specifically mentioned that the late Comtesse's obsequies were attended by her children, grand-children and members of the Royal families of Luxembourg and Belgium.

Not one paper or online article has mentioned the widower as being in attendance and even more odd is that of the many photographs that have been seen, the Comte de Lannoy is not in any of them.

When the procession outside the Church was lining up, we saw the Comtesse's coffin followed by officers bearing her Coat of Arms...then her children and their spouses.

Nobody was pushing her husband in his wheelchair directly behind her coffin as would have been expected.

So it's only an assumption that he was not present, but I think it's a pretty good one unless his presence there is confirmed .

 

[genegirl99]

I can understand why Philip wouldn't go. In fact one of my coworker's mother just died and since her father is suffering from dementia, the siblings aren't going to tell him that she died, afraid it will trigger a decline in him...

 

[claypoint2]

Is there any information regarding whether Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume will attend his first cousin Archduke Imre's wedding this coming Saturday (Sept. 8) in Washington, D.C.? It is very difficult - though, I suppose, not impossible - to imagine that Countess Stephanie would make the voyage in light of her mother's recent death. Guillaume seems to provide important support for Stephanie; if she does not travel to Washington, I wonder if he will go. What a difficult choice for him, especially as the Luxembourg cousins appear to be close to the children of Archduke Carl-Christian and Princess Marie-Astrid....

 

[Moonmaiden23]

I cannot imagine Stephanie being in any shape to travel to the U.S. for a wedding exactly a week after her desolate appearance at her mother's funeral...she is very obviously in mourning. Guillaume might go without her, or he may choose to stay with her right now. Alexandra and Sebastien already live here and they can go and represent the family..we will just have to see.

Does anyone know what the OBIIT that was printed at the top of the late Comtesse's Coat of Arms stands for?

 

[Artemisia]

Does anyone know what the OBIIT that was printed at the top of the late Comtesse's Coat of Arms stands for?

OBIIT is the Latin third-person singular perfect active indicative of obeo.
Obeo has several meanings but in its perfect active singular form it is translated as "he/she died".
If used on Coat of Arms, it indicates that a person who was entitled to use the Coat is dead. Usually, it is used for funerals and remembrance services only.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Ahhh, Artemisia...you have so much knowledge and you have explained it perfectly!

At first I thought it was the Arms of the de Lannoys...then I looked more closely and realized it was the Comtesse's personal Coat of Arms combined with the House of Lannoy.

Thanks much!

 

[Artemisia]

Ahhh, Artemisia...you have so much knowledge and you have explained it perfectly!

At first I thought it was the Arms of the de Lannoys...then I looked more closely and realized it was the Comtesse's personal Coat of Arms combined with the House of Lannoy.

Thanks much!

You are welcome.
I thought it was the de Lannoy Coat of Arms: thanks for pointing out it was the Cometesse's Arms.

 

[PrincessKaimi]

Such a difficult time. Guillaume looks like such a sweet young man.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Yes,PrincessKaimi...he does indeed. Stephanie is incredibly blessed to have him, imo.