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Change Your Life! |
Luxembourg crown prince takes office as new monarch |
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October 8, 2000
LUXEMBOURG (AP) - Crown Prince Henri was sworn in as Luxembourg's new monarch Saturday as his father, Grand Duke Jean, stepped down after 36 years at an abdication ceremony attended by royals from Belgium and the Netherlands. Henri, 45, became Luxembourg's sixth grand duke since 1890, when the modern monarchy was established. His father, 79, resigned in order to hand responsibility to his son. Henri pledged allegiance in the parliament, located next door to the grand ducal palace. Afterward, he and his Cuban-born wife, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, strolled from the parliament around the block - waving to spectators and shaking outstretched hands - and back to the palace, a Disneyesque building of turrets and wrought-iron that rises above the city's narrow cobblestone streets. In a proclamation, Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker's government said Henri will be "a most worthy grand duke," due to his "fine character and in-depth knowledge of his people." From a balcony at the palace, the new grand ducal couple, their five children and the outgoing monarch waved to hundreds of people packing the narrow Rue du Marche aux Herbes below them. "Luxembourgers love their royals," said Jean-Pierre Dumont, one elderly subject. "They are very normal people. You see them in the street, in the cinema, even ... No, I don't think much will change under Henri. And that is good for Luxembourg." Saturday's festivities reinforced the endearing Ruritanian quality of this uneventful nation of 429,000 wedged between Belgium, France and Germany. Henri took the oath of office in full military dress. He now commands an army of 450 guarding a country of forests and valleys that knows no poverty, unemployment or social unrest and measures only 82 kilometers by 57 kilometers (52 miles by 36 miles). Luxembourg's motto is 'Mir Wolle Bleiwe Wat Mir Sin' - 'We Want To Stay What We Are' - and continuity is what the new monarch promised his overwhelmingly Roman Catholic subjects. In his first address after taking office, he urged them to retain family values, to ensure equal rights for men and women and not to be blinded by their prosperity. Speaking in Luxembourgish, a blend of French and German, he said: "We have received a great deal. Yet, are we giving enough in return? Are we not too selfish? Do we still notice people less fortunate than ourselves here in Luxembourg and abroad?" After a luncheon, the new monarch and his wife met with ambassadors and attended a Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral. Overshadowing Saturday's festivities was the fact that Prince Guillaume, 37, Henri's youngest brother, remains in serious condition in a Paris hospital after a Sept. 10 accident in which his rental car was smashed from behind by another car. Parades, concerts and fireworks have been canceled or rescheduled because of Guillaume's condition. He was on a life-support machine for three weeks, but on Monday the grand ducal palace announced he was taken off the machine after his condition improved. Saturday's ceremonies were attended by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Belgium's King Albert and Queen Paola.
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