Prince Guillaume, Baden Powell Fellow; Credit: © World Scout Foundation / Victor Ortega

Faithful to the tradition of the Grand-Ducal Family in supporting and promoting Scouting in Luxembourg and beyond its borders, Prince Guillaume recently travelled to Mexico City to attend the 71st meeting of the Baden Powell Fellows.

At the event, he was officially admitted as a member of the World Scout Foundation, whose mission is to raise funds to finance projects of the Scouting Movement around the world.

These meetings make it possible to highlight projects and achievements of the various Scouting movements and to evaluate their impact. "In the Foundation committee, we were challenged and deeply touched by the courage of the Latin American Scouts who intervened in the areas devastated by the earthquakes in Haiti and, recently, in Mexico. They are highly motivated young people who receive from Scouting the fundamental values ​​they will need to become the leaders of tomorrow," said Prince Guillaume, whose appointment to the World Scout Foundation came at the suggestion of its Honorary President, His Majesty King Carl Gustav of Sweden.

In the presence of Their Majesties the King and the Queen of Sweden, the Hereditary Grand Duke attended a large gathering in the heart of the Mexican capital, during which several thousand Scouts created the biggest "fleur de lys" in the world, the symbol of scouting. The work was made using a million and a half aluminium cans that were then recycled.

"Currently, scouting is present in 169 countries and brings together 50 million people, scouts and adult volunteers providing supervision. One of the objectives of the Foundation is to help this figure be doubled over the next twenty years," said the Hereditary  Grand Duke.
 
Note: His Royal Highness Grand Duke Jean has been Chief Scout of Luxembourg since 1945, a position he still holds with great pride.