25 Things You Should Know About The Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg

Prince Guillaume The Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg

Today, November 11, 2022, is the 41st birthday of His Royal Highness Prince Guillaume, the Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg. To mark his personal milestone, we have prepared 25 things about this future Crown Head in Europe.

Prince Guillaume The Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Credit: World Scout Foundation

1. His complete name and title: His Royal Highness Prince Guillaume Jean Joseph Marie, Prince of Luxembourg, Prince of Nassau, and Bourbon-Parma.

2. He is the eldest son among the five children of Their Royal Highnesses Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg.

3. He has four younger siblings: Prince Felix, Prince Louis, Princess Alexandra (who just announced her engagement to Nicolas Bagory), and Prince Sebastien.

Prince Guillaume The Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
From left: Prince Louis, Princess Stephanie, Prince Guillaume, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Grand Duke Henri, Princess Alexandra, and Prince Sebastien

4. He is the heir apparent of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg since October 2000 when his grandfather, Grand Duke Jean, abdicated the throne.

5. Prince Guillaume is the second cousin of the future Belgian Queen, Princess Elisabeth, the Duchess of Brabant, and future Norwegian king, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway.

6. He is a direct descendant of King Christian IX of Denmark and King Oscar II of Sweden through his great-grandmother,  Queen Astrid of Belgium (born Princess Astrid of Sweden). 

7. He attended a private boarding school in Switzerland, the Institut Le Rosey, and subsequently at the Collège Alpin Beau Soleil in Switzerland, where he obtained his French Baccalaureate in 2001. 

Prince Guillaume The Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Prince Guillaume and Princess Stephanie. Credit: SIP/Nicolas Bouvy

8. He is fluent in Luxembourgish, French, German, English, and Spanish.

9. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, the Hereditary Grand Duke successfully completed officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom in 2002.

10. He was sworn in as an officer in the Luxembourg army in December 2002. He currently holds the rank of Colonel.

11. After studying international politics in the United Kingdom, he continued his studies in France and obtained a double degree in Literature and Political Science with honors at the University of Angers in 2009.

Prince Guillaume The Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Credit: Grand Ducal House

12. Parallel to his university studies, he also gained some practical experience in the economic and political fields, in particular through internships in multinational companies, notably at the Belgian Chemical Union in 2003 and at Deutsche Bank in London in 2004. 

13. In 2005, he trained at the Spanish branch of the steel group, ArcelorMittal, to learn about their various activities.

14. He married Countess Stephanie de Lannoy, a Belgian aristocrat, on October 20, 2012, at Notre Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg.

15. Today, he is the only first in line to the throne in Europe, apart from Prince Alois, the Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein, who married a member of the European aristocracy.

16. From 2018 to 2019, Prince Guillaume took up a postgraduate course at the Royal College of Defense Studies (RCDS) in London, where he acquired additional expertise regarding his future responsibilities as Head of State.

Prince Guillaume Hereditary of Luxembourg
Credit: Sophie Margue/Grand Ducal House

17. The Miami University John E. Dolibois European Center awarded Prince Guillaume with the highest honorary distinction, the Doctorate honoris causa, for his public and social engagements, in 2018.

18. He loves music, both classical and modern. He is passionate about playing the guitar. As a child, he was a member of the Pueri Cantores choir in Luxembourg. 

19. He also granted his High Patronage to the Luxembourg Chamber Orchestra and the European Union Youth Orchestra. Of the performing arts, he is particularly fond of the theatre.

20. He is a sporty prince. He loves tennis, skiing, swimming, and water sports. 

Prince Guillaume Hereditary of Luxembourg
Prince Guillaume water skiing. Credit: Grand Ducal House

21. According to the Grand Ducal House of Luxembourg's website, he loves nature and likes to observe wildlife, a passion he inherited from his grandfather, Grand Duke Jean.

22. On May 10, 2020, at the height of the pandemic, his wife, Princess Stephanie, the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, gave birth to their first child, Prince Charles of Luxembourg.

23. On September 30, 2022, the Grand Ducal House of Luxembourg announced that Princess Stephanie is expecting a second child due in April 2023. 

Prince Guillaume The Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Prince Guillaume and Princess Stephanie

24. On October 20, 2012, the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary.

25. His paternal great-grandparents: King Leopold III of Belgium and Queen Astrid. As a direct descendant of King Christian IX of Denmark and King Oscar II of Sweden, he is a blood relative to almost all royals in Europe.

Source: Grand  Ducal House of Luxembourg official website

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