Story Highlights
- Historical event:
- 16 April 1955
- The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg had the highest nominal GDP per capita among all world`s countries in 2013. The Grand Duke Henri is a direct descendant of the famous French king Louis XIV, the Sun King.
Henri of Bourbon-Parma, the reigning Grand Duke of Luxembourg, was born on this day in 1955.
Luxembourg is the only country in the world, which is established as a Grand Duchy, so Henri is the only reigning Grand Duke in the world (earlier, Tuscany was also an independent Grand Duchy).
Henri`s title of Grand Duke is written “grand-duc“ in French, “Großherzog“ in German, and “Groussherzog” in Luxembourgish, which is also the official language of the country.
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has an area of 2,586.4 square kilometers. According to the IMF`s reports, Luxembourg had the highest nominal GDP per capita among all world` s countries in 2013.
Henri is a member of the Bourbon-Parma dynasty, like former French kings. In fact, Henri is a direct descendant of the famous French king Louis XIV (the Sun King). Henri is also a descendant of Napoleon’s wife Josephine through the maternal line.
It is interesting to note that Henri married a Cuban woman – Maria Teresa. She was was born in Havana (Cuba) in 1956. Her rich family moved to the United States after Fidel Castro assumed power in 1959.
