Course side – Winning return of the Grand Dukes to Portugal
A frank friendship binds the Grand-Ducal couple Henri and Maria Teresa of Luxembourg with the Portuguese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. Every week, Stéphane Bern deciphers the royal news with a new appointment: Côté Cours.
After two years of health crisis which banned official travel between sovereigns and presidents, the course of state visits has resumed. After the trip of the Belgian sovereigns to Greece, it is the turn of the Grand Dukes of Luxembourg to make their visit to Portugal scheduled for 2020 and postponed due to Covid. A frank friendship binds the Grand-Ducal couple Henri and Maria Teresa of Luxembourg with the Portuguese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. “It is an enormous pleasure for my wife and myself to be here”, commented the sovereign, acknowledging having “departed from a rule which requires the Grand Duke never to make two State visits to the same country during his reign. How could the relationship not be privileged between the two countries, if only because there are some 95,000 Portuguese who live in Portugal. “Beyond the friendship between our two peoples, there is a friendship between the Heads of State”, insisted Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who spoke in Portuguese then in impeccable French during this formal ceremony at the Belém Palace, his official residence. “It’s already been twelve years since you came, Monsignor, but you can’t see it when you look at you”, complimented the Portuguese, which made the person concerned smile. The President of the Republic knew how to receive the Luxembourg sovereigns with a warm splendor which did not prohibit simplicity, accompanying them in their tourist interlude in the middle of a formal and formal visit with official receptions at the Mayor of Lisbon Carlos Moedas, Prime Minister Antonio Costa, not to mention an important economic forum for the 130 business leaders who accompanied the sovereign couple: like three friends, they strolled through Lisbon, took the famous yellow tram no. at the Santa Luzia belvedere which dominates the Alfama district and the panoramic view of the Tagus.
Change of scenery in the evening, for the gala dinner at the Palazzo da Ajuda – former residence of the kings of Portugal – where the tail coat covered with decorations and the long dresses and tiaras were out. The Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, in a sumptuous black evening dress, adorned with the Belgian diamond diadem and two diamond brooches, and the Grand Duke wearing the cord of the Grand Cross and the Grand Collar of the Portuguese Order of Christ , named the guests among whom they found close relatives like the Duke and Duchess of Braganza – the Portuguese dynasty from which the Grand Duke’s grandmother is descended. What the sovereign did not fail to recall in his speech during the traditional toast. “We can say that Portugal and Luxembourg have never been as close and united as they are today. Many of my compatriots are proud of their Lusitanian roots, including my family. By the Braganzas, I also have Portuguese blood running through my veins and I can proudly consider myself Portuguese-descendant. For several decades, Portuguese immigration to the Grand Duchy has largely contributed to our cultural wealth as well as to our economic development, and the destiny of our two Nations has thus been irremediably linked. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Portuguese community for their contribution to the development of my country. At the Citadel of Cascais, the exhibition “Portugal and Luxembourg – Countries of Hope in Times of Distress” is currently being held, which is a vibrant tribute to Portuguese migration and the successful integration of our Luso-descendant fellow citizens. We are very much looking forward to visiting this exhibition tomorrow, with you, Mr. President. It will also be a moment of emotion to go to the Casa de Santa Maria, which testifies to the history of my own family. Indeed, we will never forget that my grandmother, Grand Duchess Charlotte, was welcomed with her family by your country in June 1940, when they had to flee our country invaded by the Nazi occupiers. We will be eternally grateful to you.”
The Grand Duke is a convinced European
A convinced European, head of a State at the crossroads of the Latin world and the Anglo-Saxon world, the Grand Duke is proud that his country allows so many nationalities to live together in perfect harmony in Luxembourg. “The issue of integration is a theme that is very dear to me, I want to bring everyone together in a relatively small territory. The goal is for all these cultures to be able to meet in Luxembourg, while keeping their culture and their specificities of language and habits”. At the end of a State visit which met all expectations, opened up new opportunities for economic and technological exchanges, multiplied the meetings between the four ministers who accompanied the sovereigns – Jean Asselborn in Foreign Affairs, Corinne Cahen for the family and integration, Franz Fayot for Cooperation and Economy and Yuriko Backes for Finance – and their Lusitanian counterparts, Henri and Maria Teresa from Luxembourg seemed happy with their stay in Portugal. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa repeated to them “you are at home here” and the Grand Duke, proud of his Portuguese roots, replied “I find that the proximity of Luxembourg to the Portuguese community is an excellent choice. The Grand Duchess is also of Spanish and Cuban origins. I feel help with Latinity”. This is what successful diplomatic relations are made of.