Death of Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte: January 10, 2005

[Splodger]

Rest in peace and god bless you Josephine. My sympathies to the Grand Ducal family and to all Luxembourgers

 

[bad_barbarella]

That is very sad news... i always kinda had a soft spot for her.. i wonder how the family is coping?

 

[Danielle]

People sign the book of condolences inside the "Notre-Dame" cathedral in Luxembourg. From Belga.

 

[hillary_nugent]

thanks for the pics Danielle ^___^ it is obvious she will be greatly missed by her people and us as well.

 

[rere]

I'm sorry to hear of her death.
1. Décès de la grande-duchesse Joséphine-Charlotte: deuil national au Luxembourg.

2. À la suite du décès de Son Altesse Royale la Grande-Duchesse Joséphine-Charlotte de Luxembourg, le gouvernement a proclamé le deuil national à observer jusqu’au samedi 15 janvier 2005 à 18 heures.

 

[Gabriella]

How incredibly sad. May she rest in peace.

 

[Danielle]

Some more photos. I'm sorry if some of them have been posted.

Photo 4 is with her father, King Léopold and her brother, now King Albert II of Belgium
Photo 6 is of JC (right) at Oostende with her mother

I have noticed in some older photos of the GD, when she was younger, she looks very similar to Cate Blanchett.

 

[gaggleofcrazypeople]

Blanchett was an actress, right?

 

[rere]

Grand-duchess Charlotte's burial is Cathedral of Our Lady (Our Lady's Cathedral?) in the Ducal Crypt. There is also a memorial to Charlotte in courtyard outside church where she is buried.
2. Cathedral of Our Lady in Luxembourg, the burial church of Luxembourg monarchs.
3. Entrance to the grand ducal mausoleum in Luxembourg.
4 & 5 - Tombs of Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide (1912-1919), Grand Duchess Maria Anna of Portugal (†1942) - consort of William IV, Grand Duchess Charlotte (1919-1964) and her husband Grand Duke Felix of Bourbon-Parma (†1970) in Our Lady's Cathedral in Luxembourg
6 - from her funeral.

 

[Danielle]

Yes, she is. Here's what I was talking about; how JC and Cate look similar.

 

[Mandy]

From www.colourpress.com

Josephine Charlotte of Luxembourg - 20021015

Josephine Charlotte of Luxembourg has died.

She was 77 years old and died of lung cancer in the castle Fischbach in Luxembourg.
The daughter of the Belgium King Leopold III and Queen Astrid married in 1953 with prince Jean. They had 5 children.
Photo: Pictures Press Europe

 

[ShksprNLov]

It's very sad how we've been talking about her and now she's gone. It seems so sudden though she's been sick for a while. May she rest in peace.

 

[kwanfan]

Sad news about her passing. Rest in peace.

 

[MoonlightRhapsody]

Very sad news. I just heard today. May she rest in peace.

Will Belgium also observe a mourning period for the loss of a princess?

 

[HMQueenElizabethII]

All the rest of Beligan Royals will attend the funeral.I know that The Grand Duke is close relationship with the British Royals,i think Prince Philip or Prince Charles will be there.

 

[msfroyste]

i'm not too sure as to who said it first on another thread, but it's a damn shame that the US news doesn't cover ANY royal news, other than that of weddings and funerals of what they consider "major royal families", and even then that's a stretch. anyway, my condolences to the ppl of luxembourg, belgium and most of all her family, friends, and other loved ones.

 

[hillary_nugent]

Yes, she is. Here's what I was talking about; how JC and Cate look similar.

yeah i see the resemblance, they're both truly beautiful women! ^___^

 

[queenanne]

i'm not too sure as to who said it first on another thread, but it's a damn shame that the US news doesn't cover ANY royal news, other than that of weddings and funerals of what they consider "major royal families", and even then that's a stretch. anyway, my condolences to the ppl of luxembourg, belgium and most of all her family, friends, and other loved ones.

I completely agree! Maybe we should start a petition. The world has lost a very glittering lady and the US media hasn't even mentioned it.

 

[drimal]

i'm not too sure as to who said it first on another thread, but it's a damn shame that the US news doesn't cover ANY royal news, other than that of weddings and funerals of what they consider "major royal families", and even then that's a stretch. anyway, my condolences to the ppl of luxembourg, belgium and most of all her family, friends, and other loved ones.

So for the US news Luxembourg didn't exist or what?
Even the German channels ARD and ZDF has no notice of her death on their "teletext". I think that the little royal countries as Luxembourg are not treated seriously in the medias of other countries but a far related person of a "more interesting" Royal family has his place in the medias.

Certainly for foreign medias it is more interesting to know if Princess Caroline of Monaco (for example ) had a red or a blue dress on a certain gala than the death of a (popular) Grand Duchess.

I am really sorry for the people interesting in Royals that the medias are making such differences.

 

[msfroyste]

So for the US news Luxembourg didn't exist or what?
Even the German channels ARD and ZDF has no notice of her death on their "teletext". I think that the little royal countries as Luxembourg are not treated seriously in the medias of other countries but a far related person of a "more interesting" Royal family has his place in the medias.

Certainly for foreign medias it is more interesting to know if Princess Caroline of Monaco (for example ) had a red or a blue dress on a certain gala than the death of a (popular) Grand Duchess.

I am really sorry for the people interesting in Royals that the medias are making such differences.

oh luxembourg does exist in the us news(what's considered credible news), only during some special report about us policies with the eu or business matters. but there was something during christamas about a former us soldier during wwII whom played santa claus for a town there, and that was it. i was shocked by the length of the segment. i'm quite sad to say that that's been the only luxembourg news on a major us/worldwide news tv network( and i'm talking about cnn) that i've heard in many years. . as for royalty reports, ppl have to go into bookstores that carry special magazines or books to get any additional info or you have to turn to the internet, word of mouth, etc. the only royal family that gets any kind of press(major press) here is the british royal family, and since the death of diana, that's been quite rare too, unless william, harry, charles, camilla, or someone does something big, whether it be scandalous or for good. 2004 was the first time that i have seen more than the norm of royal news on tv here in the states, all the weddings, but oddly enough, no, and i mean, no, royal funeral coverage. the weddings were in clips and relegated only to the european royal families, not the middle eastern ones nor the asian ones . this is my pov on the matter. perhaps some other americans can chime in their two cents on the matter, hehehe. i hope this helps drimal.

 

[queenanne]

Again, I agree with you, msfroyste. The E! channel did that Young Royals thing, but it only showed one time and spoke of only three royal families. Many Americans just aren't interested in royal things. Its really a shame, but its true. We learned about Luxembourg in school, but we don't hear much about countries like that after leaving the classroom unless we choose to. The media here in the States is more concerned about what that cow Britany Spears is doing this week than the death of a great lady. Like msfroyste said, even the British royals are generally ignored here. I don't think I heard any mention of the death of Alice of Gloucester or Sir Angus Ogilvy. However, on a more positive note, just yesterday I watched a program on PBS called "For Queen and Country" on Queen Elizabeth II. It was a very good program and I enjoyed it immensely. Before seeing it, I always respected her as another royal, but now that I have seen how kind and caring she is, I love her too!

 

[drimal]

oh luxembourg does exist in the us news(what's considered credible news), only during some special report about us policies with the eu or business matters. but there was something during christamas about a former us soldier during wwII whom played santa claus for a town there, and that was it. i was shocked by the length of the segment. i'm quite sad to say that that's been the only luxembourg news on a major us/worldwide news tv network( and i'm talking about cnn) that i've heard in many years. . as for royalty reports, ppl have to go into bookstores that carry special magazines or books to get any additional info or you have to turn to the internet, word of mouth, etc. the only royal family that gets any kind of press(major press) here is the british royal family, and since the death of diana, that's been quite rare too, unless william, harry, charles, camilla, or someone does something big, whether it be scandalous or for good. 2004 was the first time that i have seen more than the norm of royal news on tv here in the states, all the weddings, but oddly enough, no, and i mean, no, royal funeral coverage. the weddings were in clips and relegated only to the european royal families, not the middle eastern ones nor the asian ones . this is my pov on the matter. perhaps some other americans can chime in their two cents on the matter, hehehe. i hope this helps drimal.

How sad for you!
Well in Luxembourg it is totally different. We are perhabs a little country but there are alot of German magazines with reports of many royal familes (but the Luxembourgish royal aren't mentioned often in these magazines ).
On the main channel RTL there is twice the month a little report about the Grand Ducal family (10 to 15 minutes) and also a news flash of other royals.
Apart from that you can see the ceremonies on National day (military parade and Te Deum in the cathedrale) live and for special events they sent special and very good reports about the Grand Ducal family.
Yesterday for example there were six hours of reports about Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte's life! I watched four hours of these reports showing her childhood, her marriage, her privat life, her social life, State visits,etc...

Here is a link with a few of the videos:
http://www.rtl.lu/cms/news/newsdossier/

They can be found under Video Dokumenter. They are in Luxembourgish and French and thus you don't understand what is said but you can see great images and reports however!

 

[msfroyste]

Again, I agree with you, msfroyste. The E! channel did that Young Royals thing, but it only showed one time and spoke of only three royal families. Many Americans just aren't interested in royal things. Its really a shame, but its true. We learned about Luxembourg in school, but we don't hear much about countries like that after leaving the classroom unless we choose to. The media here in the States is more concerned about what that cow Britany Spears is doing this week than the death of a great lady. Like msfroyste said, even the British royals are generally ignored here. I don't think I heard any mention of the death of Alice of Gloucester or Sir Angus Ogilvy.

Sadly, the American media focuses more on, just like you said gueenanne, what stupid or slutty famous ppl do, rather than the ppl who do positive things for so many ppl, like the late grand duchess j-c and mt. not only that, but it tends to focus on the more negative aspects. this comes from the fact that all the major networks are concerned about are ratings, and with ratings, comes mucho denero( lots-o-money), which is sad. if you want to see something intelligent on tv or in the news papers, etc, you have to turn to outlets such as pbs or the discovery channel family of channels. even the disney channel's become shallow and vacuous. my sister was watching it the other day and i felt my brain cells burning from the little clip i happened to glance at. but yeah, the media here only cares about one thing now, and that's the almighty USD, and they're willing to put on or cover whatever is necessary in order to achieve that sorry goal of theirs.

thanks drimal for the link. i shall go watch. hehe.

 

[Splodger]

It isnt just the American press that doesnt report on events as you would expect. Baring in mind that JC was the consort of a former long serving head of state there has been very little mentioned in the UK regarding the loss to one of our fellow 'European Friends." The only report online is from the Telegraph and the infamous BBC NEWS has nothing on it at all.

I wouldn't expect pages devoted to JC's death in News Paper collums outside of Lux, but as the wife of an EU Head of State I would class it as news, unfortunatly news doesnt sell newspapers anymore. The headlines here are still on the South Asia disaster which repeats what was said the day before but the press just sensationalise it to sell more copies as oposed to reporting on other NEWS. Having said that, when Mother Teresa died in 1997, her death was completley obscured by Princess Diana's death the week before. So I guess the balance of news is never entirley just.

Internationaly I think Royal news does not make head lines outside of its native country because to anyone who doesnt live there and know how it works, or to those like us with a specific interest in it, all the titles get confusing as to the difference between Kings, Queens, Grand Dukes and what they all do. I remember reading an American webpage where someone asked if the UK was really the only country with a Monarch. So one possibility of the lack of Royal News in international media is that unless they are known for their dresses and parties (like Princess Caroline), no one would know who they were to report on.

Anyway, I am digressing here from the sad news of the Grand Duchess' passing.

 

[hillary_nugent]

It's even worst in Australia...people don't even know that Luxembourg exists and worst most think that the only Royals in existence are the British and the Danish

 

[HMQueenElizabethII]

there are also Royals in Luxembourg.There are 10 Royal Houses in Europe.

 

[Regina]

King Baldouin, in his funeral, had many royals and Heads of State. The news of his death was reported in almost every countries. But Baldouin had Charisma, he was a Saint, I'm sure one day he will be proclaim Saint by the Catholic Church.
But many people knew that Josephine-Chalotte was very, very bad to Maria Teresa, she tryed to do her life a misery. So, I think this is how Life revenged the bad persons: giving them the forget (at least in the hearts).
May she rest in peace and hope that Maria Teresa, a Great Lady, had forgive her mother-in-law.

 

[suturegeisha]

US news of Luxembourg's royals=none. Sad. Especially for us who really like royalty over on this side of the pond.

And Luxembourg is such a beautiful country, with quite close ties to the US- you'd think some media outlet would have even a one-sentence announcement about the unfortunate death of such a wonderful woman.
Oi.
-Kara-

 

[Splodger]

So basicaly we have come to the conclusion that the world needs an international Royal News Channel. All the world's monarchs need to provide their court circulars to one place and keep everyone upto date with their activities to show the world that in the most part, the vast majority do actualy work hard for their countries and are not just rich couch potatoes living off our taxes. Reported by the international corrispondants we have as members of this site alone, nearly all royal activities of either the families still on the throne or those who have fallen off would be covered. Perhaps as this conclusion has been reached as a result of the death of JC we could call it the Josephine-Charlotte News Agency or something. Sorry I am ramberling arnt I?

 

[rere]

1. Soldiers stand near the coffin late Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte, in "Salle de Balances" at Grand Ducal Palace, 11 January 2005 in Luxembourg. Josephine-Charlotte, 77, sister of Belgian King Albert II, died 10 January 2005 from cancer. (Photo credit should read JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN/AFP/Getty Images)
2. Soldiers stand by a coffin of Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte, in "Salle de Balances" at Grand Ducal Palace, 11 January 2005 in Luxembourg.
3. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker blesses the coffin of Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte 11 January 2005, in "Salle de Balances" at Grand Ducal Palace, in Luxembourg.
4. Grand Duc Jean of Luxembourg approaches the coffin of his wife the Grand Duchesse Josephine Charlotte at Luxembourg Grand Ducal Castle, 11 January 2005.
5. Grand Duc Jean of Luxembourg (L), Grand Duc Henry (R) and the Grand Duchesse Maria Teresa (C) stand in front of the coffin of the Grand Duchesse Josephine Charlotte at Luxembourg Grand Ducal Castle, 11 January 2005.
6. Luxembourg's flag (L) and the European Union's fly at half mast behind the Grand Ducal Palace after the death of Grande Duchess Josephine-Charlotte's, 10 January 2005 in Luxembourg capital city.