LUXEMBOURG (AP) \u2014 Grand Duke Guillaume swore an oath to ascend to the throne of Luxembourg on Friday in a traditional ceremony attended by royals and European heads of state.<\/p>\n
Church bells rang out just before hundreds crowded outside the Grand Palace began chanting \u201cGuillaume, Guillaume!\u201d as the new grand duke walked onto a balcony to greet his new subjects. <\/p>\n
Grand Duke Guillaume, 43, wearing an olive-green military uniform with a yellow sash, was flanked by the royal family, including his wife, Grand Duchess St\u00e9phanie, in a sky-blue gown. They carried their two children \u2014 designated heir Charles, 5, and 2-year-old Fran\u00e7ois \u2014 both clad in shorts. <\/p>\n
Just moments earlier Guillaume had taken the throne after swearing the sovereign\u2019s oath in Luxembourg\u2019s parliament.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will live the life of my people, from whom I do not want to be separated by any barrier. I will share their joys and sufferings,\u201d Guillaume said, quoting a 1919 speech by one of his predecessors, the Grand Duchess Charlotte, in his first address to the nation. He drew a parallel between the carnage of World War I and geopolitical tensions today.<\/p>\n
\u201cA symbol of the principles of freedom and unity enshrined in our Constitution, the monarchy has remained \u2014 then as now \u2014 a constant point of reference and a steadfast support in times of crisis. In this sense, the oath I have just taken on the Constitution marks a significant institutional milestone for our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grand Duke Guillaume takes over from his father Henri, 70, who had served for 25 years in the largely symbolic role.<\/p>\n
Luxembourg\u2019s public cheers the new grand duke<\/p>\n
The crowd gathered outside the yellow stone and ornate turrets of the palace carried photographs of the new grand duke and duchess, others flags of Luxembourg and the red lion and orange fields of the Royal House of Nassau. Some people had their faces painted in the Luxembourg flag: red, white and light blue.<\/p>\n
All across the old city of Luxembourg, storefronts boasted portraits of the royal couple and blue banners commemorated \u201cTrounweissel\u201d or \u201cascension to the throne\u201d in Luxembourgish. <\/p>\n
Nefeni Neocleousk, 18, wore a Luxembourgish flag across her shoulders and wished the grand duke well in the Luxembourgish language. <\/p>\n
\u201cMaach dat gudd! Du packs dat!\u201d she said, which means \u201cDo it well, you will succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Royals from the Netherlands<\/a> and Belgium attended the ceremonies. Later on Friday, the new grand duke will host an evening gala for guests including French President Emmanuel Macron<\/a> and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.<\/p>\n Guillaume is Luxembourg\u2019s seventh grand duke since 1890, when the modern monarchy was established. On Saturday and Sunday he will tour his new realm, a tiny duchy \u2014 the size of Rhode Island \u2014 of 700,000 citizens in the heart of Europe.<\/p>\n The tour will end with a Sunday Mass with Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich at the Catholic Notre-Dame de Luxembourg cathedral.<\/p>\n Baker who taught Guillaume celebrates his rise to the throne<\/p>\n An official supplier to the Royal Court, Lea Linster, 70, dropped off roughly 200 madeleines, a small shell-shaped sponge cake, for staff at the ceremonies. She\u2019s selling commemorative boxes of the cakes with Guillaume and St\u00e9phanie designed to look like \u201ca romantic fairytale\u201d reflective of Luxembourg\u2019s picturesque landscape of castles and forests.<\/p>\n When Guillaume was 13, she began teaching him to cook dishes like Bouneschlupp, a hearty green bean and ham soup. <\/p>\n Sitting beneath portraits of the French novelist Marcel Proust and a Grand Duke Henri, Linster said Guillaume\u2019s kindness and empathy will do him well as sovereign \u2014 and he\u2019ll be able to feed the family.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can feel that he is the son of a couple of parents who loved each other very much,\u201d she said, of Guillaume. \u201cHe\u2019s very emotive, very sensitive. So I love that and I think he will be a beautiful Grand Duke for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Luxembourg is the richest country in the EU<\/p>\n Cleaved from part of what are now France, Belgium and Germany in the 17th and 19th centuries, the small nation is a parliamentary democracy with the grand duke as head of state, akin to King Charles in the United Kingdom<\/a> or King Philippe in Belgium. Roughly 700,000 citizens speak a mix of Luxembourgish, a Germanic language, and French and German in public life. It is the world\u2019s last remaining grand duchy.<\/p>\n