the sovereign of Luxembourg, in the fight from Biarritz
The money will be reversed to projects supported by his association “ Stand up, talk, get up”. She founded it in 2019, upset following her meeting two years earlier with Dr. Mukwege, the Congolese Nobel Peace Prize winner nicknamed “the man who repairs women”. He will be present among an audience of international personalities. This type of event is bound to happen again in Paris, in Spain, perhaps in Switzerland. If she chose Biarritz, it is no coincidence. She has ties.
Very concretely, what will the funds mentioned be used for?
Here, in Biarritz, the watchword of my forum was “Nothing about us, without us”, “nothing about us without us”. Consistency dictates that I never organize anything for them without some of these survivors being able to express themselves. In Biarritz, 5 will be at the party. We present 4 projects that we ask donors to support. There is one in the Congo for Doctor Mukwege and his hospital; one for Ukraine which will help the victims materially, psychologically and legally; one for the education of Ugandan children born of rape and a third in Bosnia. We will raise at least 300,000 euros.
Your status will lead you to be asked to defend various causes. Why the subject of women victims of rape as a weapon of war more than another?
We would like to take care of all the causes, but here it is: it is not possible! I work with heart and guts. Maybe it’s my Latin side. So I let myself be taken on by projects first when I know that it will be terribly difficult for people suffering from this situation to be heard. This is the case with these women. The subject is still too taboo. When I did Sciences in Geneva – where I met my husband – it was to do humanitarian work, that has always been my vocation. When I married my husband, I told myself that I had to use the visibility given to me to give a platform to the most neglected.
“They tell hell”
During the last city council of Biarritz, the City voted a subsidy of 2,500 euros for the organization of the gala. Opposition elected officials are moved. While assuming the nobility of the cause, they revealed that in these times of crisis it was not up to the Biarritz taxpayer to contribute financially. The Grand Duchess of Luxembourg was accompanied during the interview with “Sud-Ouest” by Chékéba Hachémi, the treasurer of her association. On the subject, raised, his close collaborator asked if she could intervene. Maria Teresa from Luxembourg gave him the floor.
“We were both very supported by this episode, explains Chékéba Hachémi. We have in Biarritz a Nobel Prize who comes for this cause, the Secretary General of the United Nations, we have 5 survivors who come for 5 days to testify to their fight. We have 140 personalities helping these survivors brought back by a Grand Duchess who has been doing just that day and night with her small team for a year and a half. So yes, we are supported, the Hôtel du Palais accompanies us in this direction, the VIPs have paid for their trip so that all of these funds go to the projects. The organization cost 150,000 euros and, in front of that, we have a debate where the question arises of financing 4 nights of hotel for survivors who will tell the hell of what they lived! It ridicules us, the French, to think that in a municipal council we could be offended. »
“I let myself be carried away by projects when I know that it will be terribly difficult for people suffering from this situation to be heard. »
In August 2020, during an opening in Biarritz, you remembered that you had just bought an apartment there. You also said you liked being able to live there normally. What is a “normal” life when you are a representative of one of the last monarchies in Europe?
First of all, the choice of Biarritz means a lot to me… My husband and I loved it. It is to find the Atlantic Ocean. I bathed in Santander all my childhood since my family is from there. The Basque Country and this whole region, the proximity to Spain: it brings back so many childhood memories… Then, what is a normal life like? It’s doing my shopping myself, going to the markets, having conversations with traders, having a coffee with friends in a bar: these little things in life that I can’t do in the same way in Luxembourg .
You are describing trivial things. Are you free ?
When I got married, I didn’t realize that when you join a royal family, you lose part of your freedom. Attention, I do not say it especially in me! It’s just a reality that I faced. I try to compensate for this with little moments of happiness when I can save myself a few days to visit my children in the four rooms of Europe or when I come to Biarritz. It’s our little cocoon.
In the Luxembourg press, the subject of abdication comes up constantly when it comes to your family. In your country, sovereigns retire to hand over to their heirs. Your husband, Henri, at age. What about?