Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg announced that he will abdicate the throne in October 2025 and pass it on to his son, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume.
Henri made this announcement in a speech on Christmas Eve, December 24. In his address to the nation, the Luxembourg monarch stated that “this is the last time I deliver a Christmas speech as head of state.”
“Today, together with the Grand Duchess, we are happy to announce that Prince Guillaume and Princess Stéphanie will become our successors on October 3, 2025,” Henri said. According to him, it is time for the next generation to take “responsibility for a world that, I hope, will be more peaceful and stable.”
69-year-old Henri, the eldest son of the late Grand Duke Jean and Princess Josephine-Charlotte of Belgium, became head of Luxembourg in October 2000. Preparations for his abdication began in June, when, on the occasion of Luxembourg’s National Day, Henri granted Guillaume representative status.
43-year-old Guillaume, the eldest son of Henri and Charlotte, has been married to Princess Stéphanie de Lannoy, a Belgian countess, since October 2012. They have two sons.
