Luxembourg Grand Ducal Family, Current Events 1: September 2004 - April 2005

[gaggleofcrazypeople]

There doesn't seem to be anything going on with our royal family, but thanks anyway.

 

[hillary_nugent]

Things have been quite with our family lately...i wonder what they did during Easter?

 

[Danielle]

They would have gone to mass, but I don't think there are any photos.

 

[hillary_nugent]

yeah most likely...do you think the whole family were together? All the children study else where...

 

[Danielle]

I think they would have been. It is a significant holiday, and especially since they are all devout Catholics. I may be wrong though. I’ve had a look for some photos and articles, but unfortunately, nothing has come up.

 

[gaggleofcrazypeople]

It also depends how much time the children got off from school.

 

[msfroyste]

well, perhaps we might be hearing/seeing from them soon. henri's b'day is coming up soon and there probably will be pics, lots and lots of pics.

 

[drimal]

I thought that it would be a good idea to translate the interview in Telecran from German to English for all the TRF members who aren't familiar with German.



Here is my translation:



Grand Duchess Maria Teresa



The advocate



Lola is online. "Do you have still not send an image from you, have you?" her chat partner is asking. And then: "Can we meet us though." He doesn't receive an answer from Lola because she left the chat. Unfortunately not every teenager is so reasonable. Again and again teenager or either children are victims of abuse because of false contacts with unknown persons. "Every fifth child is coming across persons who wants to make encounters with them”, explains Valérie Wertheimer, the foundater of Action Innocence. Even much more are traumatized by paedophilia and crual porn images, which the internet, the gate to the world, is showing them on the computer screen.



21st March, midday in the noble HotelPlaza in Brussels. Valérie Wertheimer, an elegant French woman is talking to 120 ladies on festive decorated tables about the shoking and sad theme abuse by internet. A charity event, who should bring donations to Action Innocence, with which the foundated organisation (1999 in France and 2003 in Belgium) is fighting for the welfare of child souls. Among the guests: Grand Duchess Maria Teresa making notes with a serious face, her son Felix studying in Brussels, several other honor guests, among them the Princess Michel de Ligne, daughter-in law Princess Alix de Ligne, the sister of Grand Duke Jean.



With the money psychologists are payed by Action Innocence, who are visiting the primary schools with the aim to let the children develop critical thoughts considering the use of the internet. Instead of bans, clues are given: Never publish name and age in chats, never send photos, don't believe the indications of the chat partner. Action innocence is investigating also in collaboration with the police, the perpetrator of such paedophilian websites and is developing filters, which the parents can install on the PC at home.



The Grand Duchess is convinced by the sens and the purpose of the organisation: "Our children are learning very fast to use new technologies such as the internet. Unfortunately it contends perverted elements. In the meantime more than 470000 paedophilian or other dangerous websites for minors. This means more than 1,5 million pictures, which content you can imagine", explains the Grand Duchess, "it is very important to react and not only on the level of politics."



She recommends the parents to sensitize their children for the risks of the internet. But this isn't enough: "It is a duty of the parents to control the sites visited by the children. First of all the computer with internet connection should not be in the room of the kids but placed in a living room, where the parents can estimate the damages and answer questions of the children." Certainly the parents feel a bit overtaxed by the internet problems, but nowadays it is " a parental duty to interfere."

To the question if a similar ASBL will be founded in Luxembourg too, she answers: "The problematic is as important in Luxembourg as in Belgium. She hopes that her visit in Brussels is liberating energy by all of the those who are overtaking the responsabilty in this theme".

"Poorness isn't a destinity"



The wife of Grand Duc Henri and mother of five children is devoted since a very long time for the well-being of children. The lack of communication is actually the most important problem: " I'm surpised by the fact that we are living in a so called society of communication but have lost the sense for dialogs, especially in families." She is considering as useful initiatives as the "parents school" of Gilbert Pregno or the "family-mediation", the mediation in crucial conflicts. "Like this we are giving the teenagers points of attachment, which allows them to face up the problems in their live. And therefore we can hope that problems like suicide or overdepts are alleviated."



The devotion of the Grand Duchess as an ambassador of Unesco-Goodwill (since 1997) is going further than the bords of Luxembourg or Europe. She is acknowledged as the advocate of the so called micro finanancial system (low credts for the creation of an existence), she is devoted for the orphans of AIDS and the education of women in the Third World. Why? "Because the work of ambassdor of Unesco" is enabling me to work in a shere I have always been interested by; the fight against the poorness", she emphasizes. "In my opinion you cannot see the under development of whole continents as a destinity."

"Unesco: mixed balance"



She is drawing an interim bilance of her work for the Unesco despite several positive experiences with mixed feelings: "I think that we aren't devoted enough in maki or education which finally is the first and most important mission of the Unesco." For sure it is a remarkable performance to receive cultural historical buildings as "Weltkulturerbe" like Unesco is doing it too. But 50 years after its foundation the Unesco hasn't yet edged out the analphabetism which number is still over 87 percents in some countries.

On the sense of her engagement the Grand Duchess isn't doubting. Even though she is meeting on her journeys as ambassador of Unesco in the poorest corners of our globe " as 1998 in Bangladesh " again and again draidful misery which not everybody can bear. How she is trating it? "These journeys are always very difficult and everyone left traces behind in some way", she admits but on the other way such journeys are a great source of enrichment: "One thing is certain, I come back everytime even more devoted from my engagement."

 

[bad_barbarella]

i love mt she is such a sweetie... she really does care about others... has she been staying away from that fake tan?

 

[msfroyste]

thanks for the more accurate translation drimal. there's a photo of felix with his mother, i think at the event mentioned above, on the rex features website. it was really small so i haven't really worried about posting it here. but if you'd like to see it, here's the link: http://www.rexfeatures.com/
just type in grand duchess maria teresa of luxembourg in the search engine on the website to see the pic. don't type in felix, b/c someone listed him in the pic as her son henri, hehehe.

 

[Danielle]

Thank you msfroyste and drimal. You don't often get to read interviews with the Grand Duchess (how about, never!) and it's so lovely to know what she thinks on certain issues. She's a wonderful role model, and a great representative of Luxembourg.

 

[Warren]

Here's the pic

there's a photo of felix with his mother, i think at the event mentioned above, on the rex features website. it was really small.

Courtesy Rex Features.

 

[rere]

http://members3.boardhost.com/Laeken/

On the Belgian Royal Family Message, a message posted at 11:09 a.m. under the Belgian Royals and the Pope has a picture from the John Paul's 1985 visit to Luxembourg.

I think that is a young Guillaume and Felix.

Is the third child Marie-Christine or Maria Anunciata?

 

[rere]

from http://www.wort.lu/

My French is good, but I know a couple of German words. I think the paper is reporting that Henri and M-T will go to the Vatican City.

Perphas, Drimal will offer some assistance?

 

[gaggleofcrazypeople]

Alot of important people have been reported to have already arrived, so perhaps they are there already. It isn't too far away.

 

[Forge1985]

http://members3.boardhost.com/Laeken/

On the Belgian Royal Family Message, a message posted at 11:09 a.m. under the Belgian Royals and the Pope has a picture from the John Paul's 1985 visit to Luxembourg.

I think that is a young Guillaume and Felix.

Is the third child Marie-Christine or Maria Anunciata?

The third child is Marie-Christine. Two clues:

1) Maria Anunciata was only just born in 1985 (May), so if this took place in 1985, she would have either not been born yet, or been a very small baby

2) The child is in the arms of Marie-Astrid, Marie-Christine's mother

Hope that helps!

 

[rere]

Forge1985, thanks.

Votre Eminence, L’annonce du décès de Sa Sainteté le Pape a créé comme dans nombre de pays une profonde émotion au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg.

Avec la disparition du Pape Jean-Paul II s’achève un pontificat exceptionnel car historique à plus d’un titre : Artisan inlassable de la paix et de la fraternité entre les hommes, le Saint Père laisse une trace ineffaçable, en particulier au niveau du continent européen, à la réconciliation duquel Il a contribué de manière significative.

Nous garderons, la Grande-Duchesse et les membres de ma famille, du Saint Père, rencontré à plusieurs reprises, un souvenir inaltérable.

Au moment où la Chrétienneté prend le deuil, recevez, Eminence, au nom de tous mes compatriotes, l’expression de notre compassion et de notre douleur.

Henri, Grand-Duc de Luxembourg​

 

[pasiphaé]

I think it's the announcement the grand duke has made after the death of the pope.

 

[HMQueenElizabethII]

According to GREMB the Grand Duke and his wife will attend the Funeral of the Pope on Friday this week.

 

[gaggleofcrazypeople]

That makes sense. They visited him a few times.

 

[Alexandria]

We have now reached 11 pages. Time to move onto Part 3 of News and Pictures of the Grand Ducal family, which can be found here:

http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=195414#post195414