Prince Jean of Luxembourg
Prince Jean of Luxembourg, Prince of Nassau, Prince of Bourbon-Parma (Jean Felix Marie Guillaume; born 15 May 1957), the second son of Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium. He is the twin brother of Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein. 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 Queen Margrethe II 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 was a member of the Champion Platoon, having been commissioned 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 & Analysis 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 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 Foundation and a member of the executive board of Degrémont, a subsidiary of Suez Environment. Prince Jean has been President of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in 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 services 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 number of 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 morganatically in Paris, France, Hélène Suzanna Vestur (b. 31 May 1958), Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, now a high civil servant, Councillor of State and judge, daughter of François Philippe Vestur (b. 1927), merchant, and his wife Cécile Ernestine Buisson (b. 1928). His wife and children bore the title “Countess/Count” from 21 September 1995. On 27 November 2004 Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg issued an 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 of Nassau (born 8 September 1986), Paris, France
- Prince Constantin of Nassau (born 22 July 1988), Paris, France
- Prince Wenceslas of Nassau (born 17 November 1990), Paris, France
- Prince Carl-Johan of Nassau (born 15 August 1992), Paris, France
On 18 March 2009, Prince Jean married Diane de Guerre (b. 13 July 1962, Düsseldorf, Germany) in a civil ceremony in Roermond, Netherlands. She is a daughter of French General Claude Gaston de Guerre (1910-1997) and German Countess Eugenie Wolff-Metternich zur 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 (15 May 1975)
- Luxembourg: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau (15 May 1975)
Foreign Honors
- Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (8 July 1980)
Title
- 15 May 1957:-present His Royal Highness Prince Jean of Luxembourg, Prince of Bourbon-Parma, Prince of Nassau
House: Luxembourg-Nassau (official), Bourbon-Parma (agnatic)