Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg

by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2014

 

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg

Maria Teresa Mestre y Batista-Falla was born March 22, 1956, in Havana, Cuba, to José Antonio Mestre y Álvarez and María Teresa Batista y Falla de Mestre. Three years later, the family left Cuba and settled in New York, where Maria Teresa began her education. She attended the Marymount School in New York City, and then the Lycée Français de New York. In 1965, the family moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where Maria Teresa became a Swiss citizen. She continued her education at the Marie-José Institute in Gstaad, and then the Marie-Thérèse boarding school in Geneva, graduating in 1975. She then enrolled at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, graduating with her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. While at the Graduate Institute, she met her future husband, Hereditary Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, the eldest son of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg and Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium.

Maria Teresa and Henri were married in a civil ceremony on February 4, 1981, at the Grand Ducal Palace, and a religious ceremony on February 14, 1981, at Notre Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

The couple had five children:

Maria Teresa has always been an advocate for social and humanitarian issues. Since her marriage, she has undertaken numerous actions in favor of vulnerable people in Luxembourg and around the world, in particular through the Foundation of the Grand Duke and of the Grand Duchess, which she chairs.

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Resources at Unofficial Royalty