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Luxembourg

Father-son duo mark special birthday

Grand Duke Henri and his son, Prince Sébastien, are both celebrating their birthdays today.

For the monarch, he is turning 67, but his son is marking a milestone as he leaves his twenties behind. Prince Sébastien, the youngest of Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa’s five children, turns 30 today.

Ahead of the birthday, the Grand Ducal Court released a new image of the Prince to mark the occasion. They also released a new photo of the Grand Duke.

 Photo: © Maison du Grand-Duc / Sophie Margue

Sébastien was born in 1992 and was educated in Luxembourg and the United States. He currently commands a platoon of the Irish Guards in the United Kingdom. This is the same regiment his grandfather served in during World War Two.

Prince Sébastien is seventh in the line of succession to the Luxembourgish throne behind Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume (his brother), Prince Charles (his nephew), Prince Félix (his brother), Princess Amalia (his niece), Prince Liam (his nephew) and Princess Alexandra (his sister). His older brother, Prince Louis, is no longer in the line of succession as he renounced his and his heirs’ rights to the throne when he married Tessy Antony in 2006.

Photo: © Maison du Grand-Duc / Marion Dessard

Henri was born in 1955 to then-Hereditary Grand Duke Jean and Hereditary Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte (who was born a Princess of Belgium). Through his mother, he is the nephew of King Albert II of Belgium and a first cousin to King Philippe of the Belgians. Henri is the second eldest of Jean and Joséphine-Charlotte’s five children. He became the heir apparent when his grandmother, Grand Duchess Charlotte, abdicated in favour of his father in 1964.

Grand Duke Henri has been on the Luxembourgish throne since 7 October 2000, when his father, Grand Duke Jean, abdicated in his favour.

About author

Brittani is from Tennessee, USA. She is a political scientist and historian after graduating with a degree in the topics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in December 2014. She also holds a master's degree from Northeastern University. She enjoys reading and researching all things regarding the royals of the world. She's been researching, reading, and writing on royalty for over a decade. She became Europe Editor in October 2016, and then Deputy Editor in January 2019, and has been featured on several podcasts, radio shows, news broadcasts and websites including Global News Canada, ABC News Australia, WION India and BBC World News.