Breaking News: Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg has passed away

Breaking news for royal watchers around the world. Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg passed away earlier today (23rd of April in Luxembourg) at the age of 98. 

Jean was born January 5th 1921, the eldest son and child of Grand Duchess Charlotte and her husband Prince Felix. Jean had five younger siblings, the only still alive is Princess Marie Gabrielle (Born 1925). 

Jean reigned as Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1964 till 2000 when he abdicated in favour of his son Henri. Jean had been Luxembourg's monarch for 36 years. 

On a personal note Jean was married for 52 years to Princess Josephine-Charlotte of Belgium. Through his wife Jean became the brother-in-law of the two immediate past kings of Belgium and is the uncle of the current monarch, King Philippe of Belgium. He is also related to the Swedish royal family via Josephine-Charlotte. 

The marriage of Jean and Josephine-Charlotte produced five children;

1). Archduchess Marie Astrid of Austria
2). Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
3). Prince Jean of Luxembourg
4). Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein (this marriage tied the royal family to the royal family of Liechtenstein)
5). Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg. 

Jean is survived not only by his children but also a number of grandchildren and even great grandchildren. His funeral is expected to take place on Saturday May 4th.

We hope the Grand Duke's memory will always remain a memory to his family and friends. By clicking on Grand Duke Jean's name you can read more about his life on his personal page. 

Tiara Time!!!

Just a quick Tiara Time. Last week on April 9th, Queen Maxima of The Netherlands stepped out in honour of the Dutch Diplomatic Corps. The Queen of The Netherlands appeared at the Gala dinner event in the Antique Pearl Tiara. The tiara dates back to the beginning of the last century and has been worn by four queens of The Netherlands (including the current one) and by Princess Margriet. 

It's a great choice for an event such as a gala dinner as it's not too flashy and is not one of the oldest tiaras in the Dutch collection, but it's pretty and great for an evening event. 

Embed from Getty Images

Week 8th-14th April 2019

Monday 8th April

Prince Akishino, Princess Kiko and their son Prince Hisahito of Japan attend the entrance ceremony of Ochanomizu University Junior High School

Embed from Getty Images

Queen Letizia of Spain visits the school of engraving and graphic design

Embed from Getty Images

Tuesday 9th April

Prince Charles of Wales, and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall visit Hillsborough Castle

Embed from Getty Images

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark attends a film award ceremony

Embed from Getty Images

Princess Eugenie of York spoke at the Organisation for Security Co-operation in Europe about slave trafficking.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Princess Eugenie (@princesseugenie) on Apr 8, 2019 at 10:34am PDT

King Willem Alexander and Queen Maxima attend a diplomatic corps gala dinner

Embed from Getty Images

Wednesday 10th April 

Prince Andrew, Duke of York is on a 9 day official visit to China.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Duke of York (@hrhthedukeofyork) on Apr 10, 2019 at 5:09am PDT

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Crown Princess Mary open the new Panda facility at Copenhagen Zoo.

Embed from Getty Images

Queen Letizia of Spain visits new accessibility facilities.

Embed from Getty Images

Thursday 11th April

Crown Princess Mary along with her children Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine visited Copenhagen Zoo.

Embed from Getty Images

Queen Rania of Jordan welcomes the First Lady of Italy to Jordan

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Queen Rania Al Abdullah (@queenrania) on Apr 10, 2019 at 7:48am PDT

Prince Constantijn of The Netherlands presents the World Press Photo prize. Princess Laurentien was also in attendance.

Embed from Getty Images

Queen Letizia visits the Angeli Exhibition 'Ages of Man'

Embed from Getty Images

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden attends the opening of the Baltic Sea Science Centre

Embed from Getty Images

Friday 12th April

Crown Princess Mary opens the exhibition 'Fashioned From Nature'

Embed from Getty Images

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visit Children's Land to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary

Embed from Getty Images

King Willem Alexander attends the 7th annual 'Kings Games'

Embed from Getty Images

Saturday 13th April

Crown Princess Marie Chantal of Greece visited Stone Barns Centre for Food and Agriculture in New York, USA.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Marie-Chantal of Greece (@mariechantal22) on Apr 12, 2019 at 12:47pm PDT

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan visit an exhibition honouring his 30 year reign.

Embed from Getty Images

Princess Beatrix of The Netherlands unveils art by the artist Ad Dekkers

Embed from Getty Images

Sunday 14th April

Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece visits the Kimisis Tis Theotoku Church

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pavlos Crown Prince (@pavlosgreece) on Apr 13, 2019 at 10:43am PDT

Week 1st April-7th April 2019

Monday 1st April

Prince Carl Philip of Sweden visits the Hanover Fair 2019

Embed from Getty Images

Tuesday 2nd April

Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Anne, Princess Royal hosted a reception at Windsor Castle in honour of the Centenary of the National Volunteer's Organisation.

Embed from Getty Images

Queen Maxima of The Netherlands visited the Fotomuseum in Rotterdam

Embed from Getty Images

Princess Beatrix of The Netherlands attends the opening exhibition of the 'Garden of Earthly Worries'

Embed from Getty Images

Wednesday 3rd April

Prince Charles, Princes of Wales spent the day in Manchester and Wigan

Embed from Getty Images

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex visited YMCA St Paul's group in support of Heads Together.

Embed from Getty Images

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark visited a school in her campaign against bullying and attended the Danish Rainbow Awards

Embed from Getty Images

Queen Letizia attended an event dealing with mass media and mental health

Embed from Getty Images

Thursday 4th April

Princes Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attended the premiere of David Attenborough's 'Our Planet'.

Embed from Getty Images

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attended the Lord Mayor's Big Curry Lunch

Embed from Getty Images

Prince Andrew, Duke of York lays a wreath at the Kohima War Cemetery. He also visited North Yorkshire to present the Duke of York's Community Initiative Award.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Duke of York (@hrhthedukeofyork) on Apr 4, 2019 at 3:19am PDT

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Duke of York (@hrhthedukeofyork) on Apr 3, 2019 at 10:14am PDT

Princess Anne, Princess Royal attended a charity race day at Aintree Race Course

Embed from Getty Images

Prince Joachim of Denmark marks the 70th anniversary of NATO in Copenhagen.

Embed from Getty Images

Princess Margriet of The Netherlands attends a gala dinner for the Netherlands-America Foundation.

Embed from Getty Images

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain attended the funeral of a former minister of foreign affairs. Queen Letizia also visited the Project Formate.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Friday 5th April

Princess Beatrice of York visited the Helen Arkell Dyslexic Centre

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Duke of York (@hrhthedukeofyork) on Apr 5, 2019 at 9:34am PDT

King Willem Alexander of The Netherlands visited Section C, a center for creative learning.

Embed from Getty Images

King Felipe of Spain met with the CEO of Netflix

Embed from Getty Images

Sunday 7th April

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall attended the Olivier Awards

Embed from Getty Images

King Philippe of Belgium attends a Veteran's Day ceremony

Embed from Getty Images

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko strolling the grounds of the Imperial Palace

Embed from Getty Images

Week 25th-31st March 2019

Now that I have a bit more time on my hands (holidays just around the corner & my own wedding done & dusted) I will hopefully be able to post more often than I was. 

Let's take a look at what's been happening in the world of the Royals this past week;

Monday 25th March

Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall undertook a number of engagements in Havana, Cuba

Embed from Getty Images

Queen Maxima of The Netherlands opens the 9th annual Money Week

Embed from Getty Images

Tuesday 26th March

Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall continue their official visit to Cuba

Embed from Getty Images

Emperor Akihito & Empress Michiko of Japan visited the mausoleum of Emperor Jimmu and visited the Kyoto Gyoren national gardens.

Embed from Getty Images

King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway began a six day official visit to Chile.

Embed from Getty Images

Queen Sofia of Spain attended a board meeting for the Reina Sofia School of Music

Embed from Getty Images

Wednesday 27th March

Queen Elizabeth II presented letters of recall to the outgoing ambassador of India and presented the new ambassador with their credentials.

Embed from Getty Images

Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall continued their tour of Cuba, and began their tour of The Cayman Islands.

Embed from Getty Images

Sophie, Countess of Wessex attends the 5th Commonwealth Eye Health consortium

Embed from Getty Images

King Willem Alexander of The Netherlands attends a meeting of the Sea Rescue Institution.

Embed from Getty Images

King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway are on their 2nd day of an official visit to Chile.

Embed from Getty Images

King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain are on an official visit to Argentina

Embed from Getty Images

Thursday 28th March

Queen Elizabeth II visits Somerset

Embed from Getty Images

Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall continued their tour of The Cayman Islands

Embed from Getty Images

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visited the Scouts headquarters at Gilwell Park

Embed from Getty Images

Queen Maxima of The Netherlands visited the Bavarian Beer Brewery for their 300th anniversary

Embed from Getty Images

Queen Sofia of Spain attends a concert in Madrid

Embed from Getty Images

Prince Daniel of Sweden attends the inauguration of the CampX by The Volvo Group

Embed from Getty Images

Saturday 30th March

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark presented the gold medal to Kenya's Helen Oberi for the Senior Women's race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships

Embed from Getty Images

Monaco's royal family stepped out for the annual Rose Ball

Embed from Getty Images

Queen Sofia of Spain attended the 50th anniversary of dol Trofeo

Embed from Getty Images

Sunday 31st March

Queen Margrethe and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark visited the Danish Home Guard for it's 70th anniversary

Embed from Getty Images