Upon the invitation of HRH The Grand Duke, President Mary McAleese of the Republic of Ireland paid a state visit to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg this past Wednesday and Thursday.

View the image at Luxembourg Government website

The President was welcomed by Grand Duke Henri and HRH Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume as she and husband Doctor Martin McAleese arrived in Luxembourg, before the delegation headed to the city for the official welcoming ceremony and a viewing of the Luxembourg guard. The guests then laid a wreath at the Luxembourg National Monument, accompanied by Luxembourg’s Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker.

A lunch was hosted by Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa at the Grand Ducal Palace, where the group participated in a brief photocall. President McAleese then visited the Luxembourg Town Hall with the Grand Duke and the Hereditary Grand Duke. The first day was concluded by a state banquet held at the Palace, which was not attended by the Grand Duchess, who is presumably still recovering from surgery. During her speech at the banquet, President McAleese addressed the long friendship Luxembourg and Ireland have, and spoke of the Grand Duke’s own state visit to Ireland back in 2002 – his first as Luxembourg’s sovereign.

View the image at the Luxembourg Government website

On the second and final day of the visit, President and Doctor McAleese travelled to Echternach, where they visited the St Willibrord Monastery, the Neumunster Abbey (where the President addressed a group with regards to Ireland and the European Union), and a stop at the Enterprise Ireland reception where they met with Irish ex-pats living in Luxembourg.

A reception hosted by the President in honour of the Grand Duke was held at the Grand Theatre of Luxembourg, attended by Grand Duke Henri and Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume. President McAleese and her husband then returned to Dublin.

Click here to view the state visit thread.

JessRulz Luxembourg Royals Grand Duke Henri, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, Ireland, President McAleese, State Visit

Click here to see the image from the Cour Grand-Ducale.

Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg and his eldest son Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume gave a reception yesterday at the Grand-Ducal Palace in Luxmebourg after the opening ceremony of the new term (2009/2010) of the Chamber of Deputies, Luxembourg’s parliament.

Grand Duchess María Teresa was not in attendance, presumably due to a recent operation.

For more information, please see this thread.

alex001 Luxembourg Royals Grand Duke Henri, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, Parliament

Click here to see the gallery from the Cour Grand-Ducale

The final half of the celebrations for Luxembourg’s national day began with the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, Prince Sébastien, Prince Louis and Princess Tessy, Prince Félix and Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume attending the Te Deum laudamus with military and public officials and the heads of the various diplomatic missions to the Grand Duchy.

The service was followed by a salute of 101 cannon shots at Fetschenhaff.

As is normal, the afternoon was set aside for a military parade, which the Grand-Ducal family watched from a stand on the Avenue de la Liberté, with with Prince Louis’ wife joining the family for the first time as a princess of Luxembourg, instead of “the spouse of Prince Louis”, as she was previously always referred to by the Grand-Ducal Court.

In the evening, again following tradition, the Grand Duke held a gala dinner in the Grand-Ducal Palace for members of the government, the Chamber of Deputies, the Council of State, diplomatic missions to Luxembourg and senior judicial figures. This year the dinner was attended by the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Prince Félix.

For more information, please see this thread.

alex001 Luxembourg Royals Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Grand Duke Henri, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, Military, National Day, Prince Felix of Luxembourg, Prince Louis, Prince Sebastien, Princess Tessy

Click here to see the gallery from the Cour Grand-Ducale

The entire Grand Ducal family, minus Princess Alexandra who is busily studying for her exams, turned out in Luxembourg City after the day celebrations by the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess in Ell to see the traditional torchlit procession and firework display.

This is also an occassion for the entire family to be ’seen’ by the public, as they walk from their city residence the Grand Ducal Palace to the Place Guillaume, or Guillaume Square, where they sit and watch the celebrations.

For more information, please see this thread.

alex001 Luxembourg Royals Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Grand Duke Henri, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, National Day, Prince Felix of Luxembourg, Prince Louis, Prince Sebastien, Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg, Princess Tessy

 Earlier today, Luxembourg’s Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume awarded Work Promotion 2008/2009 diplomas.

The event took place at the Grand-Théâtre de la Ville, and Guillaume awarded the dilpomas to young master craftsmen and those who were awarded with the Work Promotion 2008/2009 diplomas.

A picture gallery of the event can be found here.
The HGD’s current events thread can be found here.

JessRulz Luxembourg Royals Awards, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume