The Waringo Investigation into the Functioning of the Luxembourg Court 2019/2020


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Now I understand why GrDss J-Ch cried on the wedding day of Henri and MT
 
and also when the future Grand Duke Henri forgot a sentence of his Oath.
 
Yay , that's the picture , I loved it . Just goes to show that buying quality always pays . Sorry that this is not really on the topic . I do hope that the situation in Luxembourg is resolved soon , I have always felt that the GD, and GDss have a strong relationship , hopefully once the stress involved in micro -managing,[ which it appears the GDss has been doing ], the daily life of the household is removed the GDss will be even more effective in her charity endeavour's .
 
nithsdale said:
Now I understand why GrDss J-Ch cried on the wedding day of Henri and MT
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I've never heard this before. I thought that GD Josephine-Charlotte cried on her OWN wedding day.
 
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:previous: She did. I have never in my life seen such a wretchedly unhappy looking Royal bride. Just look through the wedding thread photos.:eek:

In all fairness, Josephine-Charlotte was thought to have been ill with the flu on her wedding day. The honeymoon had to be postponed for that reason. Poor JC.:ermm:
 
Moonmaiden23 said:
:previous: She did. I have never in my life seen such a wretchedly unhappy looking Royal bride. Just look through the wedding thread photos.:eek:

In all fairness, Josephine-Charlotte was thought to have been ill with the flu on her wedding day. The honeymoon had to be postponed for that reason. Poor JC.:ermm:
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She may very well have been ill with the flu, but then again, isn't that exactly what you would say if something else was going on?

Poor GDJC, either way.

To tie this back... wasn't she known for being something of a controlling personality herself? Not to say that she's responsible for MT, but maybe it's something in the water?
 
maria-olivia said:
and also when the future Grand Duke Henri forgot a sentence of his Oath.
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GD Josephine-Charlotte cried when Henri forgot a sentence of his Oath?

I've always wondered what exactly happened at his enthronement, as I've read that he botched his lines.
Was he supposed to have memorized them? Was the error supposedly due to nerves or poor preparation?
What language is the Oath taken in - French or Luxembourgish?
 
Prinsara said:
She may very well have been ill with the flu, but then again, isn't that exactly what you would say if something else was going on?

Poor GDJC, either way.

To tie this back... wasn't she known for being something of a controlling personality herself? Not to say that she's responsible for MT, but maybe it's something in the water?
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Or perhaps both. It's really difficult for 2 headstrong people to get along. I suspect GDJ-C was not the easiest person to get along with but clearly neither was Maria-Teresa.
 
Lindy said:
GD Josephine-Charlotte cried when Henri forgot a sentence of his Oath?

I've always wondered what exactly happened at his enthronement, as I've read that he botched his lines.
Was he supposed to have memorized them? Was the error supposedly due to nerves or poor preparation?
What language is the Oath taken in - French or Luxembourgish?
Click to expand...
.

The new Grand-Duke held his Discours du Trône fully in Letzebuergisch, the local language. Le serment was done in French, as prescribed by Article 5 of the Constitution.

M Jean Spautz, Président de la Chambre des Députés requested the Grand-Duke to speak le serment. The Grand-Duke, with emotion (and without paper) repeated the Oath as narrated by M Jean Spautz: "Je jure d'observer la Constitution et les lois du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, de maintenir l'indépendance nationale et l'intégrité du territoire ainsi que les libertés publiques et individuelles".

M Jean Spautz: Vive de Grand-Duc! Vive d'Grande-Duchesse !

All: Vive! Vive! Vive!

[Applause]

This is the official version. The new Grand-Duke was visibly nervous. He stood when M Jean Spautz, invited him to swear allegiance to the Constitution, and came forward, raising his right hand and prepared to repeat the words of the constitutional formula. But the nervousness betrayed the Grand-Duke and he failed to fully repeat the formula which was being narrated by M Jean Spautz.

The heartfelt Vive! by the Députés showed no one took offense anyway...

:flowers:
 
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I may understand how the past Grand Dukes were sad.. This never happens

It was therefore that all was done that the future King Philippe would not do the same. He did a "sans faute " and Queen Mathilde and King Albert II were so happy after the Oath.
 

I found a short video from the AP archives giving us a glimpse of the abdication ceremony followed by HGD Henri taking his oath to become the new Grand Duke.
 
Duc_et_Pair said:
.

The new Grand-Duke held his Discours du Trône fully in Letzebuergisch, the local language. Le serment was done in French, as prescribed by Article 5 of the Constitution.

M Jean Spautz, Président de la Chambre des Députés requested the Grand-Duke to speak le serment. The Grand-Duke, with emotion (and without paper) repeated the Oath as narrated by M Jean Spautz: "Je jure d'observer la Constitution et les lois du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, de maintenir l'indépendance nationale et l'intégrité du territoire ainsi que les libertés publiques et individuelles".

M Jean Spautz: Vive de Grand-Duc! Vive d'Grande-Duchesse !

All: Vive! Vive! Vive!

[Applause]

This is the official version. The new Grand-Duke was visibly nervous. He stood when M Jean Spautz, invited him to swear allegiance to the Constitution, and came forward, raising his right hand and prepared to repeat the words of the constitutional formula. But the nervousness betrayed the Grand-Duke and he failed to fully repeat the formula which was being narrated by M Jean Spautz.

The heartfelt Vive! by the Députés showed no one took offense anyway...

:flowers:
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The députés took no offense, however right after the ceremony, there was growing concern that as the oath was partially ncomprehensible, lawyers might argue that the grand duc was not properly sworn in, thus all the legislation he would have signed would not be valid.

Therefore, the day after the ceremony, M. Spautz, and 2 highprofile judges, acting as witnesses, went to the Palais where Henry took his oath a second time, ensuring there was no loophole for further complaint.

Poor Henry was widely mocked for this unfortunate start of his reign
 
I had no idea the whole thing was so badly botched.:ohmy:

I hope HGD Guillaume will be more composed when its his time.:ermm:
 
RTL Today - Waringo report: One month on, back to business as usual for Grand Ducal Court?
[...]

The Grand Duchess is for example a driving force in the "Stand Speak Rise Up" organisation, which will host a photography exhibition at a large supermarket next week. Next week alone, she also has three confirmed official meetings on her own. [...]

The Minister of State explained during the presentation of the Waringo report that "there is no place for the Grand Duchess in the new organisation chart of the Grand Ducal Court." This does not mean, however, that the Grand Duchess will put an end to her social commitments. [...]

The veritable charm may also be a strategy to blast the recent failings of the Grand Ducal Court and the government's inaction into oblivion. The Waringo report will, however, not be considered a closed case. The author of the report will remain present at the Grand Ducal Court to oversee the implementation of the proposed reforms. According to information obtained by RTL, General-Manager David Grieu for example lost his title as a consequence, and was charged with other duties at the Grand Ducal Court. Personnel changes have also been initiated. Two new positions were recently advertised.

According to RTL information, more new job openings are likely. The new coordination committee is meanwhile yet to be nominated. The Grand Ducal Court Court is planning on implementing the majority of Jeannot Waringo's recommendations by the time summer arrives. [...]
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The RTL article included a 4:42 video showing Grand Duchess Maria Teresa speaking at a Stand, Speak, Rise Up forum back in March 2019 - very powerful emotional speech. The rest of it was promotional, highlighting the organization. Is Maria Teresa's humanitarian work a separate function, falling outside the purview of the Ducal Court that is currently being restructured? How does that all work?
 
It does seem as if its almost all been forgotten now.
 
Lady Daly said:
The RTL article included a 4:42 video showing Grand Duchess Maria Teresa speaking at a Stand, Speak, Rise Up forum back in March 2019 - very powerful emotional speech. The rest of it was promotional, highlighting the organization. Is Maria Teresa's humanitarian work a separate function, falling outside the purview of the Ducal Court that is currently being restructured? How does that all work?
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It has to become a separate activity following the counsel of Jeannot Waringo. One of the critics was that it was not clear what activities, responsibilities and accountabilities were in the organization. Using the Maréchalat du Cour for Stand, Speak, Rise Up! is no proper use of an organization which is supposed to support the properly functioning of the office of the head of state.

In a small "us knows us"-atmosphere a noted unbalance or overload of the organization for pet topics of individuals is hard to discuss without feeling "disloyal". So the recommendation is to move this sort of projects entirely out of the structure and organization of the grand-ducal household.
 
RTL Today - Following the Waringo report: Two advisers to support Grand Ducal Court with reform
[...] Court Marshal Lucien Weiler would be retiring after four years of service. [...]

In the meantime, the two advisers who will assist Waringo with their respective expertise have been named as André Prüm and Norbert Becker, according to information from the Luxemburger Wort. This news has also been confirmed to RTL and communicated internally to the rest of the Court's staff.

André Prüm has been a lecturer in law at the University of Luxembourg for 15 years, while Norbert Becker is the founder of Atoz and has enjoyed a long and successful career in the Luxembourg financial sector. The two experts were chosen based on their extensive knowledge of the world of finance, finance law and personnel organisation [...]

CSV politician and former Speaker of the House of Representatives Lucien Weiler, who initially formed part of the Waringo report, was due to retire late last year but ultimately delayed his departure by four months until Easter. According to our information, the chief of staff Michel Heintz should also leave the Grand-Ducal Court at the same time.
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Well Ms Backes certainly seems to have a lot of high level experience, let's hope she's thick skinned
 
The Grand Duke apparently is forced to withdraw the dismissal of Michel Heintz. Heintz was apparently the whistle blower who set the whole investigation in motion.

Luxembourg’s Grand Duke Henri has had to recall the dismissal of his chief of staff, because the decision had not been validated by the government, Luxembourg online newspaper Reporter has said.

On 1 June, the court welcomed its new lord chamberlain (maréchal) Yuriko Backes, succeeding Lucien Weiler, who had retired, along with Norbert Becker and André Prüm, special advisers responsible for carrying out a reform of the royal court, as advised in the government audit known as the Waringo report.
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More here: https://delano.lu/d/detail/news/grand-duke-forced-withdraw-chief-staff-dismissal/210729
 
Just when I thought this Investigation had blown over.
 
muriel said:
Is the beginning of the end? If a monarch can't even appoint his own court, can he be effective in his role at all?
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Beginning of the end of what? From what I realized from the article, Michel Heintz will be readmitted but in another role. It won't have the same functions.

The Grand Duke may appoint his own court, of course, but he has to have the approval of the government.
 
There is simply no way the man can continue to function as the GD's chief of staff after being revealed as a whistleblower!

His life would become intolerable. I personally would not want to continue at the Grand Ducal Court under those circumstances.

I am glad to learn that he will accept a different position.:ermm:
 
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