Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, Who Took Part in D-Day Landings, Dies at 98

Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, who fought his way ashore with British troops on D-Day before reigning over his country for 36 years, has died at the age of 98. The Grand Duke, who abdicated in 2000 in favor of his son Henri, had been hospitalized for a lung infection since April 13.

“It is with great sadness that I announce to you the death of my beloved father,” his son, Grand Duke Henri, said in a statement on Tuesday on the court’s official site. “His Royal Highness Grand Duke Jean who has left us in peace, surrounded by the affection of his family.”

Born Jean Benoît Guillaume Robert Antoine Louis Marie Adolphe Marc d’Aviano on January 5, 1921, the eldest child of Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Felix, he became the Hereditary Grand Duke on his 18th birthday with war on the horizon and later became the only European head of state to participate in the D-Day landings as a combat officer.

Having fled when the country was invaded by the Germans in 1940, he took a pathway through France, then Portugal and the United States. He eventually made his way to England, where his family established a government in exile. At 21, the heir to the crown volunteered for the British Army, serving with the Irish Guard.

In June 1944, as a lieutenant with the Irish Guard, he came ashore near Bayeux, and fought in the  Battle of Caen. He later assisted in the liberation of Brussels, and fought at Arnheim and in the Ardenne and was in the advance units liberating his own country before continuing to fight in Germany until the war ended.

Married in 1953 to Princess Josephine-Charlotte, sister to Belgium’s kings Baudouin and Albert II, in what is often considered one of the longest love matches in recent royal history, the couple had five children: Marie-Astrid, Henri, Jean, Margaretha and Guillaume, and 22 grandchildren. Grand-Duchess Josephine-Charlotte passed away in 2005.

A committed proponent of the European Union, the Grand Duke oversaw his country’s membership and was key in transforming the Duchy into a major financial center.

“His disappearance is a great loss for the Grand Duchy and for Europe,” tweeted the President of the European Commission, and a former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker.

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The Grand Duke’s last public appearance, according to Luxembourg media, was the end of March when he attended a forum on Sexual Violence in Warzones, organized by his daughter-in-law, the Grand Duchess Maria Teresa.

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