Stéphanie, Hereditary Grand Duchess Of Luxembourg
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Princess Stéphanie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (born Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy on 18 February 1984), is the wife of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, the
heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...
to the throne of
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
. She became engaged to the Hereditary Grand Duke on 26 April 2012 and married him, in a civil ceremony, on 19 October 2012, followed by a religious service the next day. The couple have two sons,
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
and Prince François.


Early life and ancestry

''Stéphanie Marie Claudine Christine'' de Lannoy was born on 18 February 1984 in
Ronse Ronse (; ) is a Belgian city and a municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality only encompasses the city of Ronse proper. History Early settlements to 14th century The hills around Ronse show clues of human a ...
,
East Flanders East Flanders ( ; ; ; ) is a Provinces of Belgium, province of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the North) the Netherlands, Dutch province of Zeeland and the Belgian provinces of Antwerp (province), Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut (provinc ...
, Belgium. She is the youngest child and fourth daughter of the eight children of Count Philippe de Lannoy (1922–2019) and his wife, Alix della Faille de Leverghem (1941–2012). The
House of Lannoy The House of Lannoy is the name of an old and important Belgian noble family that takes its name from the town of Lannoy in northern France. The name comes from ''l'Annoy'' (or ''l'Annoit'', from Latin ''alnetum''), which means 'the alderwoo ...
has been traced back to the 13th-century nobility of Hainaut, its members distinguishing themselves in military command and affairs of state. Those descended from
Charles de Lannoy, 1st Prince of Sulmona Charles de Lannoy ( – 23 September 1527) was a soldier and statesman from the Seventeen Provinces, Low Countries in service of the Habsburg Emperors Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. ...
, the victor of Pavia, held the title of Imperial count/countess from 1526.Enache, Nicolas. ''La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg''. ICC, Paris, 1996. page 681, note #89. French. One branch of the family is said to have emigrated to the United States, changed their name to Delano and were ancestors of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
.


Education and career

Stéphanie attended the Dutch-language Sancta Maria de Ronse school and continued her education at Collège Saint-Odile in France. She then returned to Brussels for studies at L'Institut de la Vierge Fidèle, before taking up Russian language and literature in Moscow for a year. She majored in German
philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...
at the
University of Louvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...
(UCLouvain) in
Louvain-la-Neuve Louvain-la-Neuve (; French for "New Leuven"; ) is a planned town in the municipality of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Wallonia, Belgium, situated 30 km southeast of Brussels, in the province of Walloon Brabant. The town was built to house th ...
and also earned a master's degree at
Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
. She is fluent in French,
Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. The language is standardized and officiall ...
, English and German. While in Berlin, Stéphanie worked as an intern at the
Walloon Export and Foreign Investment Agency The Walloon Export and Foreign Investment Agency (, AWEX) is a public interest organisation in charge of the promotion of foreign trade and the attraction of foreign investments for Wallonia in Belgium. It was created on 1 April 2004 as a merger o ...
under the sponsorship of the Belgian Embassy. When she returned to Belgium, she worked for an investment fund company in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
. Stéphanie studied
art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...
at the
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Institute during her time with her husband in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
from 2018 until 2019.


Marriage and motherhood

Stéphanie first met Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume in 2004, while attending a social gathering in Germany. They met each other for the second time in 2009 and started dating after the meeting. Guillaume and Stéphanie dated for about two years prior to their engagement. The betrothal was announced on 26 April 2012. Countess Stéphanie and the Hereditary Grand Duke married in a civil ceremony at the Town Hall, on 19 October 2012. Their religious wedding took place on 20 October 2012 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Luxembourg. The bride wore a dress designed by
Elie Saab Elie Saab () (born 4 July 1964) is a Lebanon-based fashion designer. He started his business in the early 1980s and specialized in bridal couture (high-end fabrics, lace, gemstones, Swarovski Crystal, Swarovski crystals, pearls, detailed embr ...
and the Lannoy family diamond tiara. Wedding attendants included the groom's sister
Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg (Alexandra Joséphine Teresa Charlotte Marie Wilhelmine; born 16 February 1991) is the fourth child and only daughter of Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. Alexandr ...
and nephew Prince Gabriel, and the bride's nieces and nephew: Antonia and Madeleine Hamilton, Caroline and Louise de Lannoy, and Isaure and Lancelot de le Court. Stéphanie and Guillaume have two sons,
Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...
(born on 10 May 2020) and
François François () is a French language, French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis (given name), Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * Voltaire, Fran ...
(born on 27 March 2023), who are second and third in the
line of succession to the throne of Luxembourg Since 2011, the crown of Luxembourg descends according to absolute primogeniture among Grand Duke Henri's descendants and according to agnatic primogeniture among other dynasts. Line of succession * ''Grand Duchess Charlotte (1896–1985)'' * ...
, respectively. Stéphanie became a naturalized Luxembourg citizen and renounced her Belgian citizenship. She decided not to hold dual citizenship of Belgium and Luxembourg: "As the Hereditary Grand Duchess, I am proud to share my husband's nationality. Belgium will always be the country of my childhood and where my roots are, but I don't think keeping Belgian citizenship is consistent with the job that awaits me from now on."


Activities

As the hereditary grand duchess, Stéphanie accompanies her husband on foreign visits, as well as many events within Luxembourg. Since June 2012, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie has been a member of the board of directors of the ''Fondation du Grand-Duc et de la Grande-Duchesse''. In January 2016, she became The Grand Duke Jean Museum of Modern Art's chair of the board and became the honorary president in 2021. In 2013, she became a patron to the ''Les Amis des Musées d’art et d’histoire du Luxembourg'' association and regularly took part in "Midis de l'Art" that was organized by the organization. In 2014, she became the patron to the ''Scienteens Lab'', a biomedical research laboratory for secondary school students founded by the Luxembourg Center for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB). She is also the patron to ''Blëtz asbl'', a Luxembourg association that aims to help those affected by stroke. As a patron of ''Blëtz asbl'', she support activities during World Stroke Day and learn about the conditions and possibilities of treatment through attending conferences, such as attending ''Conférence ergothérapie face à l’AVC'' in 2018. Since May 2017, she holds the position of honorary president and administrator of the ''De Mains de Maîtres Luxembourg'' association, an organization with mission of supporting artisans. She became a patron of ''Lët'z Arles'' association which supports Luxembourg photographers to exhibit their works at the annual ''Rencontres de la photographie'' in
Arles Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and Communes of France, commune in the South of France, a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Reg ...
. The Hereditary Grand Duke couple organized an exhibition in 2016 which aims to revalorize Luxembourg crafts sector. Princess Stéphanie regularly visits local organic agricultural producers and participates in academic sessions on the subject. In July 2021, Princess Stéphanie, with her husband and son, inaugurated the Ettelbruck Agricultural Fair 2021. On 12 July, she and her family visited Luxembourg nursing homes to meet elderly people and ensure their well-being during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. At each of their visits, the couple expressed their gratitude to the staff of the nursing homes for their efforts in maintaining a warm environment for the residents throughout the pandemic. On 5 November, Stéphanie attended the Salon Cercle Artistique de Luxembourg, an art exhibition. Several weeks later, she attended the “Ideal Collection of Diane Venet” exhibition at the Cercle Cité in Luxembourg. In May 2022, she attended a charity concert titled "Luxembourg For Peace," organized by the Luxembourg Chamber Choir to support the actions of the Red Cross toward victims of the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
.


Honours

The honours of the Hereditary Grand Duchess.


References


External links


The Hereditary Grand Duchess
- Official website of the Grand Ducal Palace {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephanie of Luxembourg 1984 births Living people Lannoy family House of Nassau-Weilburg Université catholique de Louvain alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Princesses of Luxembourg Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit (Portugal) Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau