Funeral of Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte: January 15, 2005

[drimal]

10. the Grand Ducal family after a pray
11. the grand children, in the first row Prince Guillaume (23) and Princess Marie-Christine (21)
12. here you see that the grand children seperated from their parents and Archbishop Monseigneur Fernand Franck who spoke in French and Luxembourgish
13. Prince Guillaume (eldest son of Henri) spoke in Luxembourgish
14. Prince Sebastien (12), Princess Alexandra (13), Prince Louis (18) and Prince Felix (20) in the funeral procession
14. a fiew on the full cathedral (there was no seat empty) of the cathedral during the funeral
15. another picture of Prince Jean speaking
16. Princess Maria Anunciata (19)(eldest daughter of Princess Margaretha) spoke in French
17. Princess Marie-Gabrielle (18)(eldest daughter of Prince Jean spoke in English)

 

[bct88]

Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte was cremated after the funeral service. The urn containing her mortal remains was then placed into the crypt at the Cathedral of Our Lady. I just heard this at the Benelux Royals Message Board.

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

1. princess Margarita of Romania

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

the cortege leaving the cathedral again

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

5. princess Astrid of Belgium and her husband archduke Lorenz of Austria
7. Prince Laurent and princess Claire of Belgium
8&9 Crownprince Philippe and princess Mathilde of Belgium.

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

gettyimages.com

 

[Reina]

With watching the funeral and seeing the different monarchs I kind of got a feeling that maybe this was a chance for them to realize that someday they will have to mourn or be mourned like in the case of the Grand Duchess. It was probably a time of reflection and realization about death. I kind of got that feeling when I was watching the different royals.

P.S. Thanks for the pics everyone.

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

1. Duchess Elisabeth in Bayern (on the right)
2. Archduchess Yolande and archduke Carl Ludwig von Habsburg
3. Archduke Otto and archduchess Regina von Habsburg
4. Louis of Luxemburg, Marie Christine von habsburg,Alexandra of
Luxemburg Marie Gabrielle Nassau, Sébastien of Luxemburg, Maria Annunciata
and Marie-Astrid of Liechtenstein.

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

2. the Notre Dame Church
3. Vittorio Emmanuele and Marina of Savoie

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

With watching the funeral and seeing the different monarchs I kind of got a feeling that maybe this was a chance for them to realize that someday they will have to mourn or be mourned like in the case of the Grand Duchess. It was probably a time of reflection and realization about death. I kind of got that feeling when I was watching the different royals.

P.S. Thanks for the pics everyone.

I know what you mean, I had the same feeling.

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

1.king Constantine and queen Anne Marie of greece
6.queen Fabiola of the Belgians

 

[Cathérine Bergeyck]

1

2. King Albert II and his wife Fabiola
3. Grand Duke Henri in sorrow
4. in the first row: former Grand Duke Jean, Grand Duke Henri, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Herdeitary Grand Duke Guillaume, King Albert II, Queen Fabiola, the widow of Baudouin Queen Paola and Princess Marie Astrid; second row Princess Margaretha and husband Prince Nikolaus, Prince Guillaume and wife Princess Sibilla Weiler, Prince Philippe and wife Mathilde of Belgium, third row member of the government like Fernand Boden, Jeannot Krecké, or the former EU president Jacques Santer
5. the two Prime Ministers; of Belgium (Guy Verhoofstat, hope I wrote it correct ), of Luxembourg (Jean-Claude Juncker), and behind Fernand Bausch and Jacques Santer (former EU president)

8. Princess Sibilla Weiler (Guillaume's wife) and Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein (Marie Astrid's husband)

Fabiola is Baudouin's widow.
Paola is Albert's husband.
It's Verhofstadt (so nearly correct )
and prince Nikolaus is the husband of princess Margaretha. Princess Marie-Astrid is married to archduke Carl Christian.

 

[rere]

The people at Gettyimages had some major mistakes in their cutlines.

Example: This is the cutline for this picture.
Grand Duke Guillome, Princess Sibilla and their son walk to the Cathedral for the funeral of the Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte January 15, 2005 in Luxembourg. The Grand Duchess - the daughter of Prince Leopold of Belgium, Duke of Brabant and Princess Astrid - was born as Princess of Belgium on October 11, 1927 and died on January 10, 2005 at Fischbach Castle, aged 77.

 

[rere]

From yahoo.com

Luxembourg grand duchess laid to rest
LUXEMBOURG (AFP) - Luxembourg Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte, a member of the Belgian royal family held captive by the Nazis in World War II, was laid to rest after her death this week at the age of 77.
The funeral of Josephine-Charlotte, the Brussels-born mother of Luxembourg's reigning monarch Grand Duke Henri, was held at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in the presence of royalty from 15 countries in Europe and beyond.
As her coffin draped in the royal coat of arms left the Grand Ducal Palace, borne aloft by military pallbearers, trumpeters played a salute, church bells tolled and a 21-gun salute boomed out.
Members of the public braved the cold to throw white rose petals as the cortege passed through the narrow streets leading to the cathedral. Hundreds followed the service on a giant television screen set up nearby.
The Roman Catholic service featured a short prayer read in English by Princess Maria-Annunciata of Liechtenstein, one of Josephine-Charlotte's grand-daughters, for the victims of the Asian tsunami.
"Let us pray to our Lady (the Virgin Mary) for all the victims of the terrible tsunami disaster which deeply moved our grandmother," the 19-year-old princess said.
Josephine-Charlotte died of lung cancer on Monday. Her younger brother, King Albert II of neighbouring Belgium, was among the 700 mourners attending the public service.
Also present were queens Sofia of Spain, Margrethe II of Denmark, Beatrix of the Netherlands, Sonja of Norway and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
The British royal family was represented by Prince Andrew, while Japan's Prince Akishino, Jordan's Prince El Hassan Bin and Prince Albert of Monaco also attended the service.
The grand duchess's body was cremated and the ashes interred in the family crypt at the cathedral, during a private service attended by close relatives, at the end of five days of national mourning in the wealthy but tiny country.
Archbishop Fernand Franck, who officiated at the funeral service, paid tribute to her "profound and noble humanity" and her "acute sense of her responsibilities".
Born on October 11, 1927 to Prince Leopold and Princess Astrid of Belgium, Josephine-Charlotte's childhood was marked by great sadness: she was only seven when her mother died in a car crash in Switzerland.
She remained in Belgium during World War II with her father and her two younger brothers, princes Baudouin and Albert. But they were deported to Germany on June 7, 1944, a day after the Allied landings in Normandy.
The Belgian royal family was freed on May 7, 1945, and initially set up home near Geneva, as the vast majority of Belgians did not want the king back.
The "royal question" was only resolved in 1951, when Leopold stood down to be succeeded on the throne by his eldest son Baudouin.
In Geneva the young Princess Josephine-Charlotte studied child psychology at the Swiss city's university before in 1953 marrying Prince Jean of Luxembourg, the heir to the throne, who became grand duke in 1964.
The couple had five children. Their eldest son, Henri, succeeded his father as grand duke in 2000.
An intensely reserved woman, Josephine-Charlotte was known for her charitable activities, serving from 1964 as president of the Luxembourg Red Cross. Her hobbies included the arts, gardening, hunting, fishing, skiing and water-sports.

 

[Emily]

I, also, had the same thought -- there seem to be many queens with deeply pensive faces...I think of Sofia, Beatrix and Margarethe in particular.

 

[gaggleofcrazypeople]

I feel so bad for Jean and Henri- they were really crying. They must have been really close to her.

 

[msfroyste]

my heart aches for them. i felt so sorry for the whole family, especially jean and henri. i thought the pic of mt comforting guillaume was sweet. this is one of the saddest funerals, in general, i've ever seen. i wish them all well at this terrible time.

 

[hillary_nugent]

Thank you everyone for posting the pictures of JC's funeral, i wasn't able to watch it so it is very much appreciated.

 

[drimal]

First of all I want to thank everybody for posting pictures and also the many photographs who shot the photos for us!

Some interesting comments on RTL Tele Lëtzebuerg:

First of all, Grand Duke Jean was not in the funeral procession because he is suffering from arthrosis. But in the church he goes behind the coffin of his dead wife with a stick.
The only person of the family which was not present is Jean's sister Marie-Adelheid which is very sick at the moment and thus was impossible to come to the funeral. Jean's sister Elisabeth had cancer too, years ago, but she had won the battle against the illness and is now healthy. She is dwelling a part of Fischbach castle and so the dear Grand Duc Jean is not so alone and has a person to talk! (Which is very important for him now!)
Jean named his wife often "My dear Jo", and this shows that they talk sometimes English together, perhabs unusual at the first point of view, but it is a tradition among some Royal families to talk English (this comes from a time when English was not understood by normal people and so the Royals could talk in a "foreign" language).
The whole funeral ceremony was in the sign of Eastern with the thought of the ressurection. This was a special wish of Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte.

Among the TV speakers were Luxembourgish Royal specialist Pierre Dillenbourg who told us apart from that, that Josephine-Charlotte always enjoyed to gather the whole family and this comes from her difficult childhood with the loss of her mother and the Royal question in Belgium after the war. She had a very good relationship to her two brothers Albert and Baudouin and also to the widow of Baudouin, Queen Fabiola, but also to a certain Prince of Bavaria (Bayern) who is as she was an art expert.

The popular Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte left behind her four children Marie-Astrid, Henri, Margaretha, Jean and Guillaume...

1. to 10. her children with their husbands/wifes, brother Albert and wife Paola and grandson Guillaume

in 5. first row: Queen Fabiola and King Albert II of Belgium, Grand Duke Henri, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa and Herditary GD Guillaume; second row: Princess Marie Astrid and Archduke Carl-Christian of Austria, Prince Jean of Nassau, last row: Princess Margaretha and Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein and Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg.

 

[drimal]

More pics...

 

[hillary_nugent]

Thanks for the pics Drimal, did you by any chance join the crowds outside the church?

 

[drimal]

Thanks for the pics Drimal, did you by any chance join the crowds outside the church?

I followed the whole funeral at TV at home and these pictures are from rtl.lu

Josephine-Charlotte left behind 21 grandchildren; Guillaume (23), Felix (20), Louis (18), Alexandra (13) and Sebastien (12) (children of Henri and Maria Teresa), Marie-Christine (21), Imre (19), Christopher (16), Alexander (14) and Gabriella (10) (children of Marie-Astrid and Carl-Christian), Marie Gabrielle (18), Constantin (16), Wenceslas (14), Carl (12) (children of Jean and Helene Vestur), Maria Anunciata (19), Marie Astrid (18), Joseph-Emmanuel (15) (children of Margaretha and Nikolaus), Paul-Louis (6), Leopold and Charlotte (4) and Jean (1) (children of Guillaume and Sibilla). Apart from Prince Guillaume's four children all the others were present at the funeral.


1.to 10. all the grandchildren in the funeral procession
1. in the last row: Princess Marie Astrid, Prince Joseph-Emmanuel and Princess Maria Anunciata von und zu Liechtenstein (Margaretha)
2. and 3. in the first row Archduchess Gabriella, Archduke Alexander, Archduke Christopher, Archduke Imre and Archduchess Marie-Christine of Austria (they have the title of Archduke/chess as their parents)
in the second row Prince Carl, Prince Wenceslas, Prince Constantin and Princess Marie-Gabrielle of Nassau (Jean)
in the third row Margaretha's children (see 1.)
4.and 7. Margaretha's children
5. and 6. (see 2. and 3.)
8. and 9. Prince Sebastien, Princess Alexandra, Prince Louis, Prince Felix (Guillaume was accompanying his parents in the procession)
10. another picture

 

[drimal]

11. to 13. more pics of the grandchildren
14. son of Albert II, Prince Albert with wife Mathilde and behind ?
15. the bishop and the vicars
16. the army with the heraldic flag
17. the major with a red cushion
18. the music
19. more guests among them the Prince of Marocco
20. the ten officers carrying the coffin

There are many many pics on rtl.lu and I can't post all of them here. So if you want to see more images I recommend you this link: http://www.rtl.lu/cms/news/newsdossier/514/ (click under Photo Gallerie I and II and you will see over 200 pictures!!)

 

[rere]

I found this as a shock - an article on Newsday.com (Newsday is a newspaper in Long Island, New York).

Luxembourg Holds Funeral for Grand Duchess
By ROBERT WIELAARD
Associated Press Writer
January 15, 2005, 9:49 PM EST
LUXEMBOURG -- Mourners tossed white rose petals as the funeral cortege of Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte, the mother of Luxembourg's reigning monarch, threaded its way Saturday through the city's historic center.
Josephine-Charlotte was buried after a funeral service attended by royalty from around the globe against a backdrop of music by Bach and Mozart and the white roses she loved.
As the cortege wove through the streets, a 21-gun salute -- at 30-second intervals -- sounded over the city and its massive, old ramparts that loom over the picturesque ravine of the Alzette River.
Josephine-Charlotte was the wife of Grand Duke Jean, who ruled this nation of 450,000, from 1964 until 2000, when he abdicated in favor of his son Henri, the current monarch.
She was buried, five days after succumbing to lung cancer at age 77, in the royal crypt in the Cathedral of Our Lady.
Military pall bearers carried the coffin from the gingerbread grand ducal palace to the cathedral, a few narrow streets away.
Following on foot were her family and ruling monarchs from Europe, Africa and Japan, including King Albert II of Belgium, Josephine-Charlotte's brother.
The cathedral was decorated with 2,000 white roses as well as 600 white orchids and azaleas. White was Josephine-Charlotte's favorite color, the rose her favorite flower.
Her final resting place was a vault beneath the stone floor of the crypt that holds the tombs of Luxembourg's bishops and royalty. The tiny country's monarchy was created by the 1815 Congress of Vienna that redrew Europe's borders after Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo.
After the mass, the family accompanied the coffin into the crypt.
The funeral was attended by King Albert II of Belgium, Josephine-Charlotte's brother, and his family: Queen Paola; former Queen Fabiola; Crown Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde; Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz; Prince Laurent and Princess Claire.
Also present were Queen Margrethe and Princess Benedikte of Denmark; Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands; Queen Sonya and Princess Astrid of Norway; Queen Sofia of Spain; King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden; Prince and Princess Akishino of Japan; Prince Hassan and Princess Sarvath of Jordan; Crown Prince Albert of Monaco and Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco.
The Grand Duchess -- her full name was Josephine-Charlotte Ingeborg Elisabeth Marie Jose Marguerite Astrid -- was born Oct. 11, 1927, at the royal palace in Brussels.
The daughter of Belgian King Leopold III and Swedish-born Queen Astrid, she married Prince Jean of Luxembourg, then heir to the grand ducal throne, On April 9, 1953.
Josephine-Charlotte is survived by her husband, the former grand duke, and five children, Grand Duke Henri, Princes Jean and Guillaume and Princesses Marie-Astrid and Margaretha.

 

[isabella_]

Funeral of Josephine-Charlotte

Queen Sofía attended the funneral of Josephine-Charlotte:

 

[Alexandria]

Queen Sofía attended the funneral of Josephine-Charlotte:

The Queen always looks so dignified. Thanks for the picures isabella.

I heard a nice anecdote on the Glittering Royal Events MB about Sofia and Beatrix.

Posted by henri m. there:

They are really like friends. When the procession was starting to move from the Palais Grand Ducal to the Cathédrale Notre Dame, Queen Sofía pointed Queen Beatrix to the row with Sovereigns in front of them (King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Queen Margrethe II) and Queen Beatrix obviously was in the wrong second row (with Queen Sofía and Queen Sonja) but I saw her smiling and shaking 'no no' and remained on the second row, walking next to Queen Sofía behind the Sovereigns.
Yes, also in Copenhagen and Madrid we saw that. I think they are real friends.

I remember, too, when Queen Beatrix celebrated her 60th birthday she had a big party with all of the royals invited. When the King and Queen of Spain arrived she ran to them and gave them each big, exuberant hugs. She didn't do this with any of the other monarchs when she greeted them, just as kiss on the cheek. And wherever it was they were walking to, she placed herself between the King and Queen, linked arms with them and off they went. Poor Claus was left to trail behind them!

 

[Alexandria]

Thanks drimal for the many pictures.

I noticed in some of the pictures you posted that the men seem to be wearing black arm bands on their left arm. Is this something that is done only in Luxembourg as a sign of mourning? (I don't think I noticed any arm bands at the recent funerals in the Netherlands for Juliana and Bernhard.)

What is the tradition or custom behind this and why don't the women wear them, too?

 

[mybags]

Such an outpouring of grief! This funeral is definitely the saddest I've ever seen. This lady must have touched many lives in a special way that we can never know. Many thanks for the pics.

 

[micas]

Some1 from England?

 

[Dennism]

I wondered why the King himself didn´t attend. I know Sofia is more likely to have more family connections but other regents were there as well.