⭐ ✅ Obituario: Gran Duque Juan de Luxemburgo (1921-2019)

+ SAR el Gran Duque Juan de Luxemburgo

Gran Duque Juan de Luxemburgo (1921-2019) Fotografía (c) Corte Gran Ducal/Vic Fischbach

La Corte Gran Ducal ha anunciado que el Gran Duque Juan de Luxemburgo falleció a las 12:25 horas de esta mañana (martes 23 de abril) tras una reciente enfermedad. Estaba rodeado de su familia. El Gran Duque Juan celebró su nonagésimo octavo cumpleaños el 5 de enero de este año. Se celebrarán funerales de Estado a las 11:00 horas del sábado 5 de mayo en la Catedral de Notre-Dame de Luxemburgo.

El Gran Duque Juan de Luxemburgo rodeado de su familia en su 98 cumpleaños. Fotografía (c) Corte Gran Ducal/C.Piscitelli

El sábado 13 de abril, el Tribunal Gran Ducal declaró que el Gran Duque Jean había sido hospitalizado por una infección pulmonar. Tres días después, el martes 16 de abril, el tribunal publicó una actualización positiva: “ El estado de salud de Su Alteza Real el Gran Duque Jean es favorable. Su Alteza Real permanece bajo observación en el hospital ”. Sin embargo, a las 17:30 horas del domingo de Pascua, el tribunal publicó un comunicado más sombrío: “ El estado de salud de Su Alteza Real el Gran Duque Jean se ha deteriorado significativamente. Toda la Familia Gran Ducal está reunida junto a la cama del Gran Duque Jean ”. A las 6:00 horas de esta mañana, el Gran Duque Enrique hizo el siguiente anuncio: “ Es con gran tristeza que les informo de la muerte de mi amado padre, Su Alteza Real el Gran Duque Jean, quien falleció en paz, rodeado del afecto de su familia ” .

Comunicado de la Corte Gran Ducal sobre la salud del Gran Duque Juan

Born on 5 January 1921 at Schloß Berg, Prince Jean Benoît Guillaume Robert Antoine Louis Marie Adolphe Marc d’Aviano was the eldest child of Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg (1896-1985) and Prince Félix of Bourbon-Parma (1893-1970), who had married in 1919. Jean’s godfather was Pope Benedict XI. He was followed by five siblings, four sisters and one brother: Princess Elisabeth of Luxembourg (1922-2011), who married Duke Franz Ferdinand of Hohenberg (1927-1977) in 1956; Princess Marie Adelaide of Luxembourg (1924-2007), who wed Count Karl Josef Henckel von Donnersmarck (1928-2008); Princess Marie Gabrielle of Luxembourg (b.1925), who married Count Knud Johan Holstein til Ledreborg (1919-2001); Prince Charles of Luxembourg (1927-1977), who married Joan Douglas Dillon (b.1935) in 1967; and Princess Alix of Luxembourg (1929-2019), who married Antoine Prince of Ligne (1925-2005) in 1950.

Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Félix of Luxembourg with their children

Most of Jean’s childhood was spent at Schloß Berg. After receiving his primary and secondary education in Luxembourg, Jean studied at Ampleforth College, Yorkshire, from 1934-1938. Between 1938-1940, the hereditary grand duke was privately tutored at the Grand Ducal Palace.

When troops from Nazi Germany invaded the Grand Duchy on 10 May 1940, Grand Duchess Charlotte, her entire family, and her government left Luxembourg for France: they briefly stayed in Paris and then in the South of France. As the Third Reich’s reach became more menacing, the Luxembourg family and government made their way to the United Kingdom by traveling through Spain and Portugal. Grand Duchess Charlotte and her government made their base in London; the rest of the Grand Ducal family, the children and Prince Félix, were sent to Canada. It was there that Hereditary Grand Duke Jean attended the Université Laval at Quebec, where he studied Law and Political Science.

Exiled: Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Félix in London, 1941

On 29 November 1942, Prince Jean volunteered for service in the British Army. He initially trained with the Irish Guards at Coulsdon Common. Jean completed his officer’s training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; by 1944, Prince Jean was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in the Irish Guards. On 10 September 1944, Jean arrived in Luxembourg City, which his father had already reached with the American 5th Armoured Division earlier that morning. On that day, the balcony appearance at the Grand Ducal Palace of the Hereditary Grand Duke and Prince Félix was greeted with immense enthusiasm by their countryman. On 14 April 1945, Grand Duchess Charlotte returned to her country. Prince Jean was released from the Irish Guards on 26 June 1947. His service was recognised by receipt of the 1939-1945 War Medal, the 1939-1945 Star, and the French Croix de guerre.

Prince Jean in his uniform as a 1st Lieutenant in the Irish Guards

At the Cathedral of Luxembourg, Hereditary Grand Duke Jean married Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium (b.11 October 1927) on 9 April 1953. Joséphine-Charlotte was the only daughter of King Léopold III of the Belgians (1901-1983) and his first wife Queen Astrid (1905-1935; née Sweden). The couple were second cousins once removed, both being descendants of King Miguel I of Portugal (1802-1866) and his wife Princess Adelheid of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (1831-1909). The godmother of the Belgian princess was her mother-in-law, Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg. Jean and Joséphine-Charlotte’s union was not a love match at the start, but their marital bonds stood the test of time. Both of Joséphine-Charlotte’s brothers, Baudouin (1930-1993) and Albert (b.1934), eventually reigned as King of the Belgians.

Jean of Luxembourg and Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium on the occasion of their wedding

On 28 April 1961, Grand Duchess Charlotte appointed her eldest son as her “Lieutenant-Representant.” The Lieutenancy is an institution unique to Luxembourg, wherein the Grand Ducal powers are delegated to the Lieutenant. Hereditary Grand Duke Jean took his oath as Lieutenant-Representant on 4 May 1961. On 12 November 1964, Jean became the Grand Duke of Luxembourg when his mother Charlotte abdicated the throne after a reign of forty-five years. In their new roles as Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, Jean and Joséphine-Charlotte visited the main towns of the districts of the Grand Duchy in 1965.

After a reign of thirty-six years, Grand Duke Jean abdicated on 7 October 2000. He was succeeded by his eldest son and heir Henri as Grand Duke of Luxembourg. After the abdication, Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte made their home at Schloß Fischbach.

In their nearly fifty-two years of marriage, Jean and Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg became the parents of five children. First came Princess Marie Astrid (b.1954), who wed Archduke Carl Christian of Austria (1954) in 1982. Then arrived the current Grand Duke Henri (b.1955), who married María Teresa Mestre y Batista (b.1956) in 1981. Twins Prince Jean and Princess Margaretha (b.1957) were the next to arrive. Jean firstly married Hélène Vestur (b.1958) in 1987, and after their divorce he remarried Diane de Guerre (b.1962) in 2009. Princess Margaretha wed Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein (b.1947) in 1982. The benjamin of the family, Prince Guillaume, was born in 1963; he married Sibilla Weiller (b.1968) in 1994.

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess with their children Photograph (c) Granger.com

El 10 de enero de 2005, en Fischbach, falleció la Gran Duquesa Josefina Carlota de Luxemburgo, tras haber luchado contra un cáncer de pulmón. La Gran Duquesa tenía setenta y siete años. Desde entonces, Juan ha sido el centro de la Familia Gran Ducal. El Gran Duque se ha reencontrado ahora con la Gran Duquesa.

Gran Duquesa Josefina Carlota de Luxemburgo Fotografía (c) Corte Gran Ducal

Jean y Joséphine-Charlotte asistieron al 50º cumpleaños del rey Carlos XVI Gustavo de Suecia en 1996. Fotografía (c) Raymond Reuter

El Gran Duque Juan en el funeral de la Gran Duquesa Josefina Carlota el 15 de enero de 2005

Eurohistory envía sus condolencias a la familia del Gran Duque y al pueblo de Luxemburgo. Al Gran Duque le sobreviven sus cinco hijos, veintiún nietos, quince bisnietos y su hermana Marie Gabrielle. Que Su Alteza Real descanse en paz.