Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

Maria Teresa (born Maria Teresa Mestre Batista; 22 March 1956) is the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg as the wife of Grand Duke Henri, who acceded to the throne in 2000.

Early Life and Education

Maria Teresa was born on 22 March 1956 in Marianao, Havana, Cuba to Jose Antonio Mestre Alvarez (1926-1993) and wife Maria Teresa Batista Falla Mestre (1928-1988), both from bourgeois families of Spanish descent.

In October 1959, at the time of the Cuban Revolution, Maria Teresa Mestre's parents left Cuba with their children, because the new government headed by Fidel Castro confiscated their properties. The family settled in New York City, where as a young girl she was a pupil at Marymount School. From 1961 she carried on her studies at the (LFNY).

In her childhood, Maria Teresa Mestre took ballet and signing courses. She practices skiing, ice-skating and water sports

She later lived in Santander, Spain, and in Geneva, Switzerland, where she became a Swiss citizen.

In 1980, Maria Teresa graduated from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva with a degree in political sciences. While studying there, she met her future husband Henri of Luxembourg.

Social and Humanitarian Interests

Soon after her marriage, Maria Teresa and the then Hereditary Grand Duke Henri established The Prince Henri and Princess Maria Teresa Foundation to help those with special needs integrate fully into society. In 2001, she and her husband created The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess Foundation, launched upon the accession of the couple as the new Grand Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg. In 2004, the Grand Duke Henri and the Grand Maria Teresa Foundation was created after the merging of the two previous foundations.

In 1997, Maria Teresa was made a special ambassador for UNESCO, working to expand education for young girls and women and help to fight poverty.

Since 2005, Maria Teresa has been the chairwomen of the international jury of the European Microfinance Award, which annually awards holders of microfinance and inclusive finance initiatives in developing countries. Also, since 2006, Maria Teressa has been honorary president of the LuxFLAG (Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency), the first agency to label responsible microfinance investment funds around the world.

On 19 April 2007, the Grand Duchess was appointed UNICEF Eminent Advocate for Children, in which role she has visited Brazil (2007), China (2008), and Burundi (2009).

She is a member of the Honorary Board of the International Paralympic Committee and a patron of the Ligue Luxembourgeoise de Prevention Action medico-sociales and SOS Villages d'Enfants Monde. The Grand Duchess and her husband Grand Duke Henri are the members of the Mentor Foundation (London), created under the patronage of the World Health Organization. She is also the president of the Luxembourg Red Cross and the Cancer Foundation. In 2016, she organized the first international forum on learning disabilities in Luxembourg.

The Grand Duchess supports the UNESCO "Breaking the Poverty Cycle of Women" project in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. The purpose of this project is to improve the living conditions of girls, women and their families. As honorary president of her own foundations, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa set up a project called Projet de la Main Tendue after visiting the Bujumbura prison in 2009 in Burundi. The purpose of this project is to liberate minor people from prison and to give them new opportunities for their future.

In October 2016, Maria Teresa accepted an invitation to join the eminent international Council of Patrons of the Asian University for Women (AUW) in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The university, which is the product of east-west foundational partnerships (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Open Society Foundation, IKEA Foundation, etc.) and regional cooperation, serves extraordinarily talented women from 15 countries across Asia and the Middle East.

In 2019, Maria Teresa presented her initiative "Stand Speak Rise Up!" to end sexual violence in fragile environments, launched in cooperation with the Women's Forum and with the support of the Luxembourg government. The conference is in partnership with the Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation and We Are Not Weapons of War.

In 2020 the Prime Minister of Luxembourg commissioned a report into the Cour le Grand Ducal following concerns over its working. The report found that up to 1/3 of employees had left since 2015 and that "The most important decision in the field of personal management, whether at the level of recruitment, assignment to the various departments or even at the dismissal level are taken by HRH the Grand Duchess." Several newspaper reports at the time highlighted a 'culture of fear' around the Grand Duchess and "that no-one bar the Prime Minister dared confront her." The report also raised concerns about the use of public funds to pay for the Grand Duchess' personal website and that this had been prioritized over the Cour's own official website. There were also allegations that staff at the Court has been subject to physical abuse and these reports were investigated by the Luxembourg judicial police.

Family

Maria Tersea married Prince Henri of Luxembourg in a civil on 4 February 1981 and a religious ceremony on 14 February 1981, since Valentine's Day was their favorite holiday. The consent of the Grand Duke had been previously given on 7 November 1980. She received a bouquet of red roses and a sugarcane as a wedding gift from Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The couple has five children: Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Prince Felix of Luxembourg, Prince Louis of Luxembourg, Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg, and Prince Sebastien of Luxembourg, They were born at Maternity Hospital in Luxembourg City.

Honors

National

-Luxembourg:

-Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau

-Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau

Foreign

-Austria: Grand Cross of the Order of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria, 1st Class

-Belgium: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold I

-Brazil: Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross

-Denmark: Knight of the Order of the Elephant

-Finland: Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland

-France: Grand Cross of the Order of National Merit

-Greece: Grand Cross of the Order of Beneficence

-Italy: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic

-Japan: Dame Grand Cordon (Paulownia) of the Order of the Precious Crown

-Latvia: Grand Cross of the Order of the Three Stars

-Netherlands:

-Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands

-Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown

-Norway: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Olav

-Portugal

Portuguese Royal Family:

-Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Saint Isabel

Portugal

-Grand Cross of the Order of Christ

-Grand Cross of the Order of Saint James of the Sword

-Grand Cross of the Order of Infante Henry

-Grand Cross of the Order of Camoes

Romania: Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania

Spain: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III

Sweden:

-Member Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Seraphim

-Member Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star

Recipient of the 50th Birthday Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

14 February 1981-7 October 2000: Her Royal Highness The Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Princess of Nassau, Princess of Bourbon-Parma

7 October 2000-present: Her Royal Highness The Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Princess of Bourbon-Parma, Princess of Nassau

(https://infogalactic.com)