Luxembourg: Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume to become Lieutenant-Representative in October 2024

In his speech on Luxembourg's national day 23 June 2024, Grand Duke Henri announced that his eldest son, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, is to become Lieutenant-Representative (regent/acting head of state) in October 2024. In this way the Hereditary Grand Duke will have some time to prepare for his role until the day comes when his father decides to abdicate.

The then Hereditary Grand Duke Henri was appointed Lieutenant-Représentant of His Royal Highness Grand Duke Jean by decree of 3 March 1998 (published in Memorial on 4 March 1998) and became Grand Duke when his father abdicated on 7 October 2000. Before becoming Lieutenant-Représentant, Henri was an ex officio member of the Council of State from 1980.

Article 42 of the Constitution of Luxembourg says:

The Grand Duke may have Himself represented by a Prince of the blood, who shall bear the title of Lieutenant of the Grand Duke and who [shall] reside in the Grand Duchy.

This representative shall take an oath to observe the Constitution before exercising his powers.

New Emir of Kuwait, Longest reigns page updated

HH Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was sworn in as the new Emir of Kuwait today, 30 September 2020, following the death of his half-brother, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the day before. Sabah had reigned since 2006.

I have therefore updated my Longest reigns page tonight. I might update the page soon, as I expect that the new Crown Prince will be designated in a not too distant future. I am not too happy with the way some of the sources are listed on the website, so I might do a make-over at the same time.

The Sultan of Oman has died, Longest reigns website updated

The late Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Sa’id bin Taimur al-Mu’azzam. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said bin Taimur al-Muazzam, died late on 10 January 2020, 79 years old, after having suffered from cancer for some time. Sultan Qaboos came to power in a bloodless coup in 1970 when his father was deposed with the assistance of the United Kingdom.

Qaboos was born at the Al-Husn Palace in Salalah on 18 November 1940 as the only son of Sultan Said bin Taimur al-Muazzam, by his second wife, Shaikha Miyzun bint Ahmad al-Qahtani al-Maashani. He was educated among others at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and briefly served in the British army before returning to Oman in 1966. He ruled as an absolute monarch, and he served as both head of state as well as prime minister, supreme commander of the armed forces, minister of defence, minister of finance and minister of foreign affairs. Under his nearly 50 year long reign the country was modernized and the living standards raised, with a lot of help of oil money. He was said to be a stabilizing force in region. In 1996 the Basic Statute of the State of Oman was promulgated.

The late sultan was briefly married from 1976 to 1979 to Sayyida Nawal bint Tariq Al-Said. As the marriage was childless, the question of succession was left to be decided by the Royal Family Council. Article 5 of the Basic Statute says that «The system of governance is Sultani [i.e. Royal], hereditary in the male descendants of Sayyid Turki bin Said bin Sultan, provided that whomever is to be chosen from amongst them as successor shall be a Muslim, mature, rational and the legitimate son of Omani Muslim parents.» The following article said that «The Royal Family Council shall, within three days of the throne falling vacant, determine the successor to the throne. If the Royal Family Council does not agree on a choice of a Sultan for the Country, the Defence Council together with the Chairman of Majlis Al Dawla Dawla [State Council], the Chairman of Majlis Al Shura Shura [Shura Council], and the Chairman of the Supreme Court along with two of his most senior deputies, shall instate the person designated by His Majesty the Sultan in his letter to the Royal Family Council».

Early on 11 January 2020 the Royal Family Council decided to open the sealed envelope in which Sultan Qaboos had left his choice, instead of entering proceedings to elect the successor in accordance with Article 6. The opening of the envelope was broadcast on Omani TV. Qaboos' designated heir was his first cousin Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq bin Taimur al-Muazzam, who has served as Minister of Heritage and Culture for 18 years. Soon after the election the new Sultan took the oath in accordance with the Basic Statute Article 7. Sultan Haitham, who is born in 1954 and has been educated at Oxford, said in a TV speech that he «pledged to continue his predecessor's policies of friendly relations with all nations while further developing the country». Sultan Haitham is married and has four children.

The funeral of Sultan Qaboos took place soon after the installation of the new Sultan. Qaboos was laid to rest at the Royal Cemetery  (Times of Oman says the cemetery is in Baushar, while The Oman Observer writes Ghala). The funeral was attended by Sultan Haitham, other members of the royal family as well as military leaders, members of the State Council and members of the Shura Council.

Due to the death of Sultan Qaboos, who at the time was no. 3 on the list of longest reigns among the current monarchs, my website has been updated. The new sultan has naturally been placed on the bottom, while Queen Margrethe II of Denmark has taken over the no. 3 spot.

(I note that while most sources use Al Said as the house name of the royal family of Oman, Royal Ark write al-Muazzam. In this blog article I have followed Royal Ark, but I might not be consistent about it in the future. I am indepted to Christopher Buyers' Royal Ark for information on the Omani royal family.)

Postscript 12 January 2020: Concerning the location of the royal cemetery, follow the link to the Google map. The royal cemetery seems to be in the Ghala village, but not far from Bawshar/Bawshar Heights. Another interesting aspect is of course the transcription of Arabic into the Latin alphabet. I have seen both Bausher and Baushar as well as Ghallah. For whatever it is worth, the English version of Wikipedia uses Ghallah and Bawshar.

Updated last time on 12 January 2020 at 13.40 (postscript added).

Spanish abdication bill signed into law

The abdicacion bill was approved in the Spanish senate yesterday (233 in favour, 5 voted against, 20 abstentions).

In a ceremony at the Royal Palace tonight King Juan Carlos signed the abdication bill into law (which was also countersigned by President of the Government Mariano Rajoy). The act will come into effect "from the date of its publication in the Official State Gazette",* i.e. at midnight. 160 people attended the ceremony, including King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia, the Prince and Princess of Asturias (soon-to-be King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia), Infanta Leonor, Infanta Sofia, Infanta Elena, the King's sisters Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajóz and Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria (the latter with her husband Carlos Zurita, Duke of Soria), the Duke and Duchess of Calabria (the king's first cousin Infante Carlos and his wife Anne, née d'Orleans), the king's aunt by marriage Infanta Alicia, as well as former King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie of the Hellenes and the former King Simeon of the Bulgarians.

On Thursday morning, 19 June, King Felipe VI will take the oath in the proclamation ceremony before both houses of Parliament. Besides the new king and queen and their daughters the Princess of Asturias (Leonor) and Infanta Sofia, also Queen Sofia, Infanta Elena, Infanta Pilar and Infanta Margarita and members of Queen Letizia's family will be present. King Juan Carlos has decided not to attend so that the new king will get all the attention. The king and queen will observe the military parade from stairs of the Congress building before being driven to the Royal Palace where they will greet the Spanish people from the balcony. The Princess of Asturias, Infanta Sofia, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia will also be present.

At 1 p.m. a reception will be held attended by around 2000 people. The English edition of El Pais has given a nice survey of tomorrow's events. In addition the Royal Court has issued a 90 pages long document with all the details about the abdication and the ceremony on Thursday (for the Spanish version, which has 3 more pages, go here).

*Postscript 23 June 2014: It should be added that I based the translation of the abdication act on the draft bill published by the Government on 3 June 2014, where the text of the final provision said «This Law shall come into force as from the date of its publication in the Official State Gazette".» In the translation at the Royal Court’s website the final provision reads «This organic law shall take effect when it is published in the "Official State Gazette".» The latter translation was made available after the act was published in BOE.

There is obviously a minor, but still significant, difference between the two translations. The former translation would mean that the then Prince of Asturias became king (as Felipe VI) at midnight on 19 June regardless of when the act was published that day, while the latter clearly says that the succession started from the time of publication. Not much difference in time, though, as the act was published two minutes after midnight.

Even though my understanding of Spanish is limited, it seems to me that the translation at the Royal Court’s website is more accurate. The draft bill’s final provision in Spanish said that «La presente Ley entrará en vigor en el momento de su publicación en el Boletín Oficial del Estado".», while the published act read «La presente ley orgánica entrará en vigor en el momento de su publicación en el «Boletín Oficial del Estado». » The only difference is that the word «orgánica» was added during the process.

Updated on Monday 23 June 2014 at 22:20 (postscript added, last time on Thursday 19 February 2015 (typo corrected).

Spanish Congress of Deputies passes abdication bill

The Spanish lower house, the Congress of Deputies, processed the abdication draft bill today. Some representatives used the event to mark their opposition to the monarchical form of government, but as the major parties voted in favour of the bill, everything went as expected.

For the record, 299 representatives were in favour, while 19 voted against. In addition there were 23 abstentions.

The relevant documents:

• Proyecto de Ley Orgánica por la que se hace efectiva la abdicación de Su Majestad el Rey Don Juan Carlos I de Borbón. (121/000098)
• BOCG. Congreso de los Diputados Núm. A-98-1 de 04/06/2014 
• BOCG. Congreso de los Diputados Núm. A-98-2 de 11/06/2014
• El Congreso aprueba el proyecto de Ley Orgánica de abdicación de S.M. el Rey don Juan Carlos date 11/06/2014 (press release)

Information in English (provided earlier):

• Government approves Draft Constitutional Law on the abdication of King Juan Carlos I
• Draft Constitutional Law on the abdication of HM King Juan Carlos I de Borbón

Press release from Prime Minister (President of the Government) Mariano Rajoy

• Mariano Rajoy states abdication of King is progressing with "constitutional normality"  (11 June 2014)

The text of the abdication bill is quite simple:

Sole Article. Abdication of HM King Juan Carlos I de Borbón.

1. HM King Juan Carlos I de Borbón abdicates the Spanish Crown.
2. The abdication will become effective as from the entry into force of this Constitutional Law.

Sole final provision. Entry into force.
This Law shall come into force as from the date of its publication in the Official State Gazette.*

The bill will now move on to the Senate, where it will be processed on Tuesday 17 June 2014 at 4 p.m. The following day it is expected that King Juan Carlos will sanction and promulgate the abdication law in accordance with the Constitution Article 62. But as the text of the bill suggests, the law will not come into force until the date of its publication in the Official State Gazette.* Nothing is official yet, but it seems that Felipe will take the oath on Thursday 19 June 2014.

According to El Pais (3 June 2014), "The exact date when the law goes into effect is set to coincide with the proclamation of the new monarch, as there can be no transitional period. In the meantime, “the king continues to be the king to all effects and purposes,” said an expert in royal affairs."

I find this claim a bit odd. If Juan Carlos had died in his sleep still being the king, there would most certainly have been a transitional period, so why should there be a difference when the king abdicates and becomes "constitutionally dead"?

We will surely obtain more information as we get closer to the main events next week.

*Postscript 23 June 2014: It should be added that I based the translation of the abdication act on the draft bill published by the Government on 3 June 2014, where the text of the final provision said «This Law shall come into force as from the date of its publication in the Official State Gazette".» In the translation at the Royal Court’s website the final provision reads «This organic law shall take effect when it is published in the "Official State Gazette".» The latter translation was made available after the act was published in BOE.

There is obviously a minor, but still significant, difference between the two translations. The former translation would mean that the then Prince of Asturias became king (as Felipe VI) at midnight on 19 June regardless of when the act was published that day, while the latter clearly says that the succession started from the time of publication. Not much difference in time, though, as the act was published two minutes after midnight.

Even though my understanding of Spanish is limited, it seems to me that the translation at the Royal Court’s website is more accurate. The draft bill’s final provision in Spanish said that «La presente Ley entrará en vigor en el momento de su publicación en el Boletín Oficial del Estado".», while the published act read «La presente ley orgánica entrará en vigor en el momento de su publicación en el «Boletín Oficial del Estado». » The only difference is that the word «orgánica» was added during the process.

Updated on Wednesday 11 June 2014 at 22.35 (press release from La Moncloa added), last time on Monday 23 June 2014 at 22.20 (postscript added).

Information about the abdication process by the Spanish Presidency of the Government

Following yesterday's announcement of King Juan Carlos' decision to abdicate the throne, the Presidency of the Government of Spain published the following information concerning the abdication process after today's extraordinary government meeting:

• Government approves Draft Constitutional Law on the abdication of King Juan Carlos I
• Draft Constitutional Law on the abdication of HM King Juan Carlos I de Borbón 

See also the website of the Congress of Deputies, where the bill has been registered (Proyecto de Ley Orgánica por la que se hace efectiva la abdicación de Su Majestad el Rey Don Juan Carlos I de Borbón. (121/000098)).

The vote on the bill (in both chambers) is expected to take place in mid June. The organic law (the abdication act) will then come into effect as soon as it has been published in the Legal Gazette (BOE). Still waiting for confirmation, but as of now it seems that the new king, Felipe VI, will be proclaimed and will take the oath (in accordance with the Constitution Article 61) on 18 June 2014.

Postscript 6 June 2014: According to El Pais 6 June 2014 the proclamation ceremony will take place on Thursday 19 June 2014.

Uupdated on Wednesday 4 June 2014 at 09.00 (typo corrected), last time updated on 6 June 2014 at 15.15 (postscript added).

NTB gjør ikke hjemmeleksen sin - litt om den spanske Grunnloven og kong Juan Carlos' abdikasjon

Andre lands grunnlover kan være en utfordring å forstå. Men man må likevel kunne forvente at norske journalister gjør hjemmeleksen sin. Dessverre har NTB slurvet i sin dekning av kong Juan Carlos' beslutning om å abdisere og lovprosessen som vil finne sted i kjølvannet av beslutningen.

I VG Direkte tidligere i dag (kl. 18.00) kunne man lese følgende om dagens regjeringsmøte:

Godkjenner spanskekongens abdikasjon
Den spanske grunnloven hadde ingen paragraf som omhandler abdikasjon, og derfor må grunnloven endres før Kong Juan Carlos (76) kan overlate tronen til kronprins Felipe (46).
Den spanske regjeringen godkjente en grunnlovsendring i et ekstraordinært møte tirsdag, og den må nå vedtas i nasjonalforsamlingen, melder NTB.

NTB har åpenbart ikke sjekket fakta. For hva er det den spanske Grunnloven artikkel (seksjon) 57 pkt. 5 sier? Kan man ikke spansk, kan man finne mange oversettelser på nettet, for eksempel på hjemmesiden til det spanske parlamentet, Legislationonline.org eller ICL. Punkt 5 sier følgende:

Abdications and renunciations and any doubt in fact or in law that may arise in connection with the succession to the Crown shall be settled by an organic act.

Med andre ord, Grunnloven har så absolutt en paragraf som omhandler abdikasjon! Tirsdag 2. juni 2014 offentliggjorde kong Juan Carlos sin beslutning om å abdisere i form av et signert brev til den spanske statsministeren, Mariano Rajoy. I dagens regjeringsmøte ble det derfor besluttet å fremme et lovforslag (Proyecto de Ley Orgánica por la que se hace efectiva la abdicación de Su Majestad el Rey Don Juan Carlos I de Borbón. (121/000098)) om abdikasjonen i det spanske parlamentet (Cortes Generales). Med andre ord, det vedtas en såkalt "organisk lov" ("konstitusjonell lov") med hjemmel i Grunnloven, men dette er ikke en grunnlovsendring, som krever en helt annen prosedyre.

Etter vedtaket i parlamentet trer loven i kraft så snart den er publisert i det spanske Lovtidend (Boletín Oficial del Estado, forkortet til BOE), som forklart av det spanske SMK i dag. Juan Carlos vil da være "konstitusjonelt død" og sønnen Felipe VI overtar tronen umiddelbart, men kan først utøve sin kongegjerning når han har avlagt eden. Mange ulike datoer har vært nevnt, men det ser ut til at stemmegivningen i Congreso de los Diputados (deputerkammeret) vil finne sted fredag 13. juni, før loven går videre til Senatet. Per i dag tyder mye at kong Felipe (jf. Grunnloven artikkel 61) vil bli proklamert og vil avlegge eden 18. juni, men den endelige datoen er ennå ikke offisielt fastsatt.

Alt dette kunne NTB enkelt ha funnet ut av selv hvis man hadde tatt seg tid til å oppsøke offisielle spanske kilder (som Statsministerens kontor og Deputerkammeret) og den engelske versjonen til El Pais mfl. Leserne fortjener bedre enn det NTB har servert i dag.

Etterskrift 4. juni 2014: Ifølge en pressemelding på Deputerkammerets nettside vil behandlingen i Deputerkammeret finne sted onsdag 11. juni.

Etterskrift 6. juni 2014: Ifølge El Pais 6. juni 2014 vil proklamasjonen og edsavleggelsen finne sted torsdag 19. juni 2014.

Oppdatert onsdag 4. juni 2014 kl. 11.00 (etterskrift tilføyd); sist oppdatert fredag 6. juni 2014 kl. 15.15 (etterskrift tilføyd).

Hoelseth.com - some progress

I have written about my work to move all the contents from my old Geocities website to my current domain Hoelseth.com on several occasions, for instance here. Obviously the work is taking more time than I expected when the new website was launched in the fall of 2009, but that is the way it is. My family and my work have to come first. In addition I spend a lot of time on this blog as well as on several genealogical projects, committee work for the Norwegian Genealogical Society and other hobbies.

I am happy, however, to tell that I have made some progress on my website lately. All the documents and other subpages which could be found at my Geocities page have now been moved to my Constitution of Norway website Grunnloven.net. In addition several new documents have been added, including the Act of Union of 1815 as well as the Norwegian version of the Act of Succession, which Norway had in common with Sweden from 1814 to 1905. As I have written at my website, my aim with Grunnloven.net is to give a survey of consolidated (updated) and historical versions of the Norwegian Constitution and of all the modifications or amendments to the Constitution passed in the period between 1814 and today. It is a huge project, so the readers have to accept that it will take some time to finish it. Hopefully I will manage to get all the modifications/amendments added before the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution in 2014. I will not make any promises, though!

Most of the texts will be in Norwegian, but I am planning to add more consolidated versions in English - and some also in French - in the future. I have plenty of documents waiting to be scanned and coded, it is just a question of when I get the time. Obviously it takes more time to work on the oldest documents. Until 1906 Norsk Lovtidend (the Norwegian Legal Gazette), one of the most important sources, was published in Gothic, so I hope there will be more progress when the union dissolution year is done. As you can see, I haven't done everything in the cronological order, as some periods have been more interesting than others, but I am pretty sure that the 1860s will be included in my next update.

My next project, besides adding more documents to my Constitution page, will be to get all the royal resolutions and other documents concerning the Norwegian Royal Family back to my Documents page. My survey of new or updated pages will usually not include all the old subpages, but please check out http://www.hoelseth.com/res/ and http://www.hoelseth.com/doc/ from time to time, as those indexes will show the status at any time. You can among others view the resolution of 7 March 1888 by which Prince Oscar (Bernadotte) is released from his Relation as a subject to Norway. Or what about King Christian Frederik's abdication declaration from 10 October 1814 or the Storting declaration of 4 November 1814 acknowledging his decision?

The indexes concerning other past and present monarchies will also return in due time. Some pages are already in place: Sweden, Denmark, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. I guess most people google in order to find the information they are looking for instead of using such links pages as a starting point. But many of my index pages will include links to constitutional documents etc. stored at Hoelseth.com, so when people first have stumbled over information at my website, they might find the index pages useful to see other documents I have provided.

Luxembourg: Grand Duke Henri's 10th anniversary

Today, 7 October 2010, it is 10 year since Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg (b. 1921) abdicated and was succeeded by his eldest son, Henri (b. 1955).

The Luxembourgian newspaper Wort.lu has made a special report about the anniversary, which includes many photos. At the Luxembourgian government's official website one can still find the publication Avenèment au Trône de S.A.R. le Grand Duc Henri about his accession to the throne as well as other information.

You can also find the act concerning Grand Duke Jean's abdication and other constitutional documents at my own Luxembourg page.

Grand Duke Henri created some controversy in 2008 when he refused to sanction a bill to allow euthanasia, a decision which lead to a constitutional amendment by which he lost the right to promulgate laws.