Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg Celebrates 69th Birthday

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg is celebrating her 69th birthday on Saturday 22 March 2025.

Maria Teresa Mestre was born on 22 March 1956 in Havana, Cuba. She is one of four children of José Antonio Mestre and Maria Teresa Batista-Falla de Mestre.

Her family (of Spanish descent) left Cuba in 1960 due to the revolution and settled in New York in the United States. They later moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where Maria Teresa would meet her future husband, Prince Henri, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, at university.

They were wed in Luxembourg on 14 February (Valentine's Day) 1981. The royal couple have four sons and one daughter: Prince Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg; Prince Félix; Prince Louis; Princess Alexandra; Prince Sébastien. They also have six grandsons and two granddaughters.

On 7 October 2000, Hereditary Grand Duke Henri became the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Princess Maria Teresa assumed the title of Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.

As reported by the Grand Ducal Court, the Grand Duchess has long shown an interest in social and humanitarian causes. Since her marriage in 1981, she has initiated and/or presided over several charitable projects and non-profit organisations, such as the Fondation du Grand-Duc et de la Grande-Duchesse. She has granted her patronage to non-profits such as the Luxembourg Red Cross and Fondation Cancer and, in 2019, she founded the Stand Speak Rise Up! (SSRU) non-profit organisation aimed at denouncing rape as a weapon of war.