Royal Di
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Point de Vue has an interview with Guillaume for his 40th birthday. Nothing new, but I will post my translation anyway. (I love the Lux tabloid reaction: "Guillaume interview brimming with boredom. ... At the end of it, the reader does not know any more about the future head of state than before – at most, his repertoire of meaningless phrases has increased.")
A few comments to PdV from Stephanie on her husband's 40th: Guillaume looks to the future with serenity. My husband is very involved, conscientious. He likes a job well done and fails to disconnect from projects until they are complete. He is also a good listener. [...] Guillaume is not afraid of the future, which he looks at with confidence. He is constantly open to change, able to constantly adapt. He is not afraid of aging. For him, the passing years are an addition of accumulated expertise for the future."
The PdV birthday interview with Guillaume entitled "To be a sovereign, is to leave no one by the side of the road."
Monsignor, how are you going to celebrate your 40th birthday? In a very small committee! I’m going to celebrate with my closest friends, childhood friends who immediately agreed to come and spend the weekend with us in Luxembourg.
Is this an important milestone for you? Yes, of course. It is customary to view this as the end of youth. It is true that we’re already launched into life ... I am lucky to be very happy in my marriage having a son who is barely 1.5 years old. For me, being 40 years old is more like a beginning: that of my life as a father.
Crown Prince, is it a “full-time job”? I can confirm that this is a full-time role. In any case, it occupies my days well. My weeks are punctuated by sessions of the Council of State, appointments, meetings, visits ... After the months of confinement and the closure of the borders, travel has resumed, especially economic missions abroad. But I also assume representative functions on behalf of the Grand Duke and, of course, with my wife, we carry out the activities that are close to our hearts, the initiatives that we have launched in the field of arts and crafts, with associations, artists, economic players.
Exactly, do you carry out numerous economic issues hand in hand? Is it a vocation or an obligation? It is the role of Prince Heritier to be the ambassador of Luxembourg companies in the country and abroad. And that’s something that I really love. Dialogue with our entrepreneurs is a real source of understanding of Luxembourg society. It is a permanent intellectual enrichment.
To be Prince Heritier is also to be head of state one day. How do you prepare for this role? It is a role you prepare for very early on, from childhood. And, on this subject, I admire my parents who managed to prepare me for this special life while preserving me by offering me true freedom. I was able to go to school in Luxembourg, to high school, then abroad without ever being too exposed. It's all about balance. You have to help your child to realize that he has a particular destiny, in a way different from others while giving him the values, the true structure which he will need later to embrace the function. But allowing him to live as a child and then as a teenager is essential.
Who are your role models and your sources of inspiration? I have many. Some of these models are family. The great model of my family remains Grand Duchess Charlotte, who has become an emblematic figure in Luxembourg and who today retains extraordinary influence, both nationally and internationally. There is also my grandfather, Grand Duke Jean, who knew how to take up arms to liberate his country, and who was animated by the institution of the State like I find in my father. They are strong role models on which I can rest. But I also love Professor Muhammad Yunus, born in Bangladesh and inventor of the microcredit, whom I had the chance to meet thanks to my mother, or the Emperor Charles, the last emperor of Autriche-Hongrie, a true man of peace who put his people before himself and lived with the empress Zita an incredible love story that speaks to me enormously.
What do you think about being a sovereign in the 21st century? This is a very important question that I think about regularly with my father, but also my wife. We often discuss this subject. To be sovereign in the second century, that's about it. To be sovereign in the 21st century is, in my opinion, to be proud of your heritage, but also to recognize the challenges of our time. It is to be able to mobilize the assets of the monarchy. A monarchy listens, a human monarchy. To be sovereign is to leave no one by the side of the road.
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