Prince Jean of Luxembourg

Prince Jean of Luxembourg (Jean Felix Marie Guillaume; born 15 May 1957 at Betzdorf Castle), the second son of Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Princess Josephine-Charlotte of Belgium.

He is the twin brother of Princess Margaretha. He frequently goes by the name of Jean Nassau.

On 26 September 1986, Prince Jean renounced his right of succession to the Luxembourg throne.

Education and Youth

Prince Jean’s godparents were Prince Felix of Luxembourg and Princess Margrethe of Denmark.

Prince Jean was educated in Luxembourg, Switzerland and France, where he obtained his baccalaureate.

He then undertook a language course at the Bell School of Languages in Cambridge England.

In 1977, Prince Jean began his military officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, England and member of the Champion Platoon, having been committed for in August 1978. He was made a captain of the Luxembourg Army in 1979. After completing his university education in Geneva, he went to New York and joined W.R. Grace as a financial analyst working in the Finance, Planning & Analyst Division of the Group that reported to the President & CEO of the company-at the time, Mr J. Peter Grace. Back in Europe in 1985, in 1986 he obtained an a MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France

Career

Prince Jean works in the water industry as an advisor to the GDF-Suez Group, Executive VP of the Suez Fondation and a member of the executive board of Degremont, a subsidiary of Suez Environmental. Prince Jean has been President of the Chambre Commerce belgo-luxembourgeoise France. In 2006 he bought the Southern African Water subsidiary of Suez Environment, WSSA (Water & Sanitation South Africa) and created Mea Aqua, with the objective of developing water and energy solutions in the Middle East and in Africa. Mea Aqua and its subsidiaries employ today over 2,500 employees.

Prince Jean is a member of the board of the MIP, a business school based in Paris and a board member of a financial institutions: Banque Degroof Luxembourg, EFG Bank and EFG International, Ecofin (hedge funds in the utilities sector).

Marriage and Family

On 27 May 1987, Prince Jean married morganatic in Paris, France, Helene Suzanna Vestur (b. 31 May 1958, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France), now a high civil servant, Council of State and judge, daughter of Francois Philippe Vestur (b. 1927), merchant, and his wife Cecile Ernestine Buisson (b. 1928). His wife and children bore the title "Count(ess) of Nassau" from 21 September 1995. On 27 November 2004 Grand-Duke Henri issued an decree Grand-Ducal upgrading the titles of Prince Jean's children to Prince/Princess of Nassau with the qualification of Royal Highness, without succession rights. The prince and former countess divorced on 13 December 2004, having four children together:

-Princess Marie-Gabrielle Cecile Charlotte Sophia of Nassau (b. 8 September 1986 Paris, France). She married Antonius Benedict Clemens Douglas Emanuel Willms (b. 22 December 1988, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; son of Hayo Willms, CEO of the German division of Rothschild Private Banking & Trust, and his wife Countess Maria Theresia Goess) in a civil ceremony on 15 May 2017 in Luxembourg. The religious ceremony took place on 2 September 2017 at the Ermita Santo Cristo Church in Marbella, Spain. They have two sons:

-Zeno Philippe Leopold Marcus Aviano Willms (b. 5 June 2018, Munich, Austria), Cajetan Jean Wenceslas Marcus Aviano Willms (b. 2 September 2020, Vienna, Austria)

-Prince Constantin Jean Philippe Marie Albert Marc Aviano of Nassau (b. 22 July 1988, Paris, France). He married Kathryn "Katy Sheena Mechie (b. 1989, London, England) on 22 December 2020 in Gibraltar. They have two children: Prince Felix of Nassau (b. 22 April 2018), Princess Cosima of Nassau (b. 13 May 2020).

-Prince Wenceslas Francois Baudoin Leopold Juraj Marie Marc Aviano of Nassau (b. 17 November 1990 in Paris, France)

-Prince Carl-Johan Felix Julien Marc Aviano of Nassau (b. 15 August 1992 Paris, France). He married Ivanna Jamin (b. 1994) on 2019. They have one child: Prince Xander of Nassau (b. 2021)

On 18 March 2009, Prince Jean married Diane Guerre (b. 13 July 1962, Dusseldorf, Germany) in a civil ceremony in Roermond, Netherlands. She is a daughter of French General Claude Gaston Guerre (1910-1997) and German Countess Eugenie Wolff-Metternich Gracht (1923-2016), and based on the grand ducal house law was granted the title of "Countess of Nassau" (Countess Diane of Nassau).

National Honors

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

-Luxembourg: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau

Foreign Honors

-Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (8 July 1980)

Title

15 May 1957 His Royal Highness Prince Jean Felix Marie Guillaume of Luxembourg, Prince of Nassau, Prince of Bourbon-Parma

House: Luxembourg-Nassau (official), Bourbon-Parma (agnatic)

Religion: Roman Catholic

National Honors

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

-Luxembourg: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau

Foreign Honor

-Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (8 July 1990)

(https://en.wikipedia.org)