2. an interesting report from Corbis:
January 28, 2004 Geneva, Switzerland
EXCLUSIF
Princess Marie-Astrid will be celebrating her 50th birthday in Geneva on February 17 with husband, Christian (Archduke of Austria) who she married on February 6, 1982 and their five children. Her eldest daughter, Marie-Christine (born on July 31, 1983) is a student of economic sciences; her son Imre (born on December 8, 1985) is still at school like her other children, Christophe (born February 2, 1988) and Gabriella (born March 26, 1994). Marie-Christine, the Princess’s eldest daughter, took a year out after her final school exams to visit Christian’s sister, Alexandra, who lives in Chile and looks after the children of prisoners. She also assisted her father in a medical dispensary on the island of Chileo, the largest island in South America.
Marie-Astrid is closely involved with organisations for abandoned children, in particular the association “Tramontane” in Brussels. She is very close to her parents and spent a lot of her free time with her mother, the Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte of Luxembourg, during her serious illness and likewise with her brothers and sisters who she catches up with either abroad or in Geneva. Her husband, Christian is delighted that Marie-Astrid’s grandfather, the Emperor Charles (who died at the age of 35 in exile on the island of Madeira in 1922) is to be beatified. The decree of beatification was signed by Pope John Paul II on December 20, 2003 in a ceremony attended by the Emperor’s four sons – Archduke Otto (91), Felix (87), Charles-Louis (85) and Rodolphe (83). Christian, who is the director of a finance company, has strongly supported his father, Charles Louis and Felix, his uncle, in their negotiations with the Austrian authorities towards the restitution of personal family property that were returned to them in 1935, then confiscated by the Nazis in 1938 who disapproved of the Hapsburg link. Christian has also been assisted by Bill Clinton’s former secretary, Stewart Eizenstat, who has been concentrating on the injustices meted out during the Nazi era. The property in question includes 25,000 hectares of forest, four houses in Vienna and the Laxenburg Palace just outside Vienna. If and when the properties in question are returned to the family, they will be shared out among 150 members of the Hapsburgs.
Portrait of Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg who is due to celebrate her 50th birthday on February 17, 2004.
Here is a link to the page where I found this interesting report and beautiful pictures of February 2004:
http://pro.corbis.com/search/searchFrame.asp?typ=set&isuid={bcbc2850-e2ac-4caa-95c3-c4c77ad5fb9f}}
PS: I have posted these pictures in the photo gallery by changing a bit the lightness.