A few questions and answers from a 2002 Hello magazine interview with Maria Teresa.
How did you meet Grand Duke Henri?
"He went to study Political Science in Geneva and stayed at the house of a family who were close friends both of his parents and of my parents. Javier, the family's eldest son, was a great friend of mine, who knew that I was about to start the same course. One day he said to me: "We have a special guest coming this September. He's going to start at the university and he'll be a little bit lost. It would be great if you could help him with all the paperwork, hang out with him...' I said, "A special guest? Who are you talking about?' He replied, "It's the Hereditary Grand Duke Of Luxembourg."
"The first time I saw my husband my heart skipped a beat. I began to hang out with him and help him at University. The result was we fell in love and went out together for five years. It was kept absolutely secret - from our friends, our parents, the whole world. My parents had him round for dinner every evening, but it was a complete secret. That's why when our engagement was announced, no one here (in Luxembourg) was expecting it in the slightest."
It can't be easy being a Grand Duchess?
"It is without doubt a demanding life, harder than one would imagine. It requires great personal discipline. I think someone in this position has to have a strong personality to carry out their obligations."
Well I guess she needed a strong personality to deal with her MIL . . I'm not sure about her sentiments - I think anyone in that position needs to be very self confident and assertive in their own way and not be a shy retiring person who cannot deal with the attention and meet and greet workload. I can think of several royal wives who are less exuberant than MT but are successful in their roles.
