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Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg doesn’t seem too friendly with her staff. Several employees have already fled. The Luxembourg Prime Minister would even have called the Grand Duchess to account.
Maria Teresa (66), wife of Grand Duke Henri, is Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. This role is similar to that of the queen. But she wouldn’t be a worthy queen. Her staff said they hadn’t felt safe around her for years. Recently, the situation has become even worse.
According to the newspaper Letzebuerger country Maria Teresa got angry during a photo shoot. It is said that she made fun of her staff: according to the Grand Duchess, they did not make enough effort to make everything go well. So she demanded that other people come. Maria Teresa would have spoken of a “poor organization”.
Several staff members then resigned, including Maria Teresa’s assistant. They call it emotional abuse that was happening before this incident. Reason enough for Prime Minister Xavier Bettel to act.
He spoke to those involved, who said there had indeed been “a heated exchange of words and an unacceptable incident”. Everyone agreed that the behavior of the Grand Duchess was not acceptable.
Maria Teresa’s behavior makes work “impossible”
Angry staff members speak of a high workload, combined with the Grand Duchess’ negative attitude. “It makes work unbearable, sometimes even impossible. Her mood changes from day to day. One day she’s charming, the next day respect is hard to come by,” they say (anonymously) to Letzebuerger country.
A former senior official of the Ministry of Finance also recognizes this behavior of Maria Teresa. He himself was not a victim, but he noticed that others suffered from it. “I sensed that they were afraid of being reprimanded or losing their jobs.”
This is not the first time such stories have come out. In 2015, a cleaner went from court to court. She was bullied by Maria Teresa, she said. She therefore considered that her dismissal was unjustified. The Grand Duchess denied, the police found no evidence and there was no trial.
Is abdication the best option?
In 2020, the alarm bells also went off because of the behavior of Maria Teresa. The stories are very similar to today: she demanded far too much of her staff. In response to this, Prime Minister Bettel commissioned a report. The conclusion was that there was indeed a culture of fear at court. And Maria Teresa would have too much to say about the staff.
So history seems to be repeating itself. According Letzebuerger country Prime Minister Bettel has already discussed the situation with the Grand Ducal couple. It turned out to be very different from how the court should be run than the prime minister. Bettel believes that a solution must be found as soon as possible.
The question is whether Maria Teresa can still restore her image. It is therefore called that Grand Duke Henri and his wife must abdicate the throne and let their more popular son Guillaume (41) ascend it. They don’t seem to be planning that yet, according to an interview. “We want our son to enjoy the free life.”
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