The King and the Grand Duke made their first visit to the University of Liège this Thursday to attend a seminar on Cyber Defense and Space in Academic Room XX. August before they made their way to the provincial palace. There they were joined by the Queen and the Grand Duchess, who were the first to arrive by car around 12:30.
The two couples were welcomed there by city and provincial authorities and then attended a themed lunch on the topic of Belgium-Luxembourg cross-border partnerships. They all took a walk, leaving the Palace of the Prince-Bishops shortly after 3:00 p.m., and inspected the troops before leaving.
Tram construction… interrupted
This particular visit affected traffic in the center of Liège, and in particular around Saint-Lambert Square, which is closed to traffic. On this occasion, the construction of the tram was even interrupted to avoid unwanted noise.
The last time the two couples met was last September, during the 19th summit of heads of state of German-speaking countries organized at Laeken Castle. The Belgian and Luxembourg monarchs are first cousins. The Grand Duke’s mother, Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte, was the older sister of King Albert II. She died in 2005 at the age of 77. This is Luxembourg’s seventh state visit to Belgium after 1913, 1922, 1960, 1967, 1999 and 2007.