Princess Joséphine Charlotte of Belgium

Joséphine Charlotte of Belgium (actually Joséphine -Charlotte Ingeborg Elisabeth Marie -José Marguerite Astrid, born October 11, 1927 at the Royal Palace in Brussels, † 10 January 2005 in Schloss Fischbach in Luxembourg ) was a princess of Belgium from the House of Saxe -Coburg and Gotha, by marriage Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, duchess of Nassau, as well as the mother of the Luxembourg Grand Duke Henri.

Life

Princess Joséphine -Charlotte was the first child of King Leopold III of Belgium. and Princess Astrid of Sweden. She spent her childhood until the accession of her father in 1934 at Schloss Stuyvenberg. On 29 August 1935, she lost in the age of seven, her mother, who was killed in a car accident in Switzerland. In 1940 she was sent to a boarding school and from 1942 she received private lessons. On 7 June 1944 the day after the Allied landings in Normandy, were Princess Joséphine -Charlotte and her father, King Leopold, deported to Germany.

After the liberation on May 7, 1945, the royal family moved to Pregny, near Geneva, where the princess continued her studies. She took courses in child psychology with Professor Jean Piaget at the University of Geneva. Upon her return to Belgium, devoted the princess especially social problems and the arts, in addition to their official duties as a representative of the royal house. In 1951, after the abdication of King Leopold III. Joséphine - Charlotte's next younger brother Baudouin Belgian king. After his death in 1993 followed the younger brother Albert.

On April 9, 1953 married Princess Joséphine -Charlotte of Luxembourg in the Cathedral the oldest son of the Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, Hereditary Grand Duke Jean, since November 12, 1964 Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

In addition to raising her five children, she showed particular interest in the culture, children, families, and health policy and was the patron of several charitable and philanthropic organizations. From 1969 until her death in 2005 she was chairman of the Luxembourg Red Cross.

She died at the age of 77 from cancer. Their final resting place is located in the crypt of the Cathedral of Luxembourg.

Progeny

The marriage of Grand Duchess Josephine- Charlotte and Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg ( b. 1921 ) come five children:

• Marie -Astrid ( b. 1954 ) ∞ 1982 Carl- Christian von Habsburg-Lothringen ( b. 1954 )
• Henri ( b. 1955 ), Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Maria Teresa Mestre ∞ 1981 (* 1956)
• Jean ( * 1957) ∞ 1 ( 1987-2004 ) Hélène Vestur (* 1958), 2 (2009) Diane de Guerre ( b. 1962 )
• Margaretha ( b. 1957 ) ∞ 1982 Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein ( b. 1947 )
• Guillaume ( b. 1963 ) ∞ 1994 Sibilla Weiller ( b. 1968 )