by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2014
Countess Stéphanie Marie Claudine Christine de Lannoy was born February 18, 1984, in Ronse, East Flanders, Belgium. She is the youngest of eight children of Count Philippe de Lannoy (1922 – 2019) and Alix della Faille de Leverghem (1941–2012). Both of Stéphanie’s parents come from noble Belgian families. Stéphanie grew up on the family estate, Anvaing Castle (Château d’Anvaing), in Anvaing, Hainaut, Belgium.
Anvaing Castle; Photo Credit – Wikipedia
Stéphanie has seven siblings, who, along with Stéphanie, all have the rank of Count and Countess in Belgium, as sons and daughters of a Count:
- Count Jehan de Lannoy (born 1966), married Béatrice Spates, had four children
- Count Christian de Lannoy (born 1968), married Luisa Moreno de Porras-Isla-Fernández, had three children
- Countess Nathalie de Lannoy (born 1969), married John Hamilton, had five children
- Countess Gaëlle de Lannoy (born 1970), a Roman Catholic nun
- Count Amaury de Lannoy (born 1971), married Countess Astrid d’ Harcourt, had one child
- Count Olivier de Lannoy (born 1974), married Alice van Havre. had three children
- Countess Isabelle de Lannoy (born 1976), married Baron Jean-Charles de le Court, had six children
Stéphanie received her primary education at Sancta Maria, a Dutch-speaking school in Ronse, Belgium. She started her secondary education at the Collège Sainte-Odile in northern France and completed her schooling at the Institut de la Vierge Fidèle in Brussels, Belgium where she obtained her school-leaving certificate in 2002. Stéphanie then spent a year in Moscow, Russia where she studied Russian language and literature and further developed her violin-playing skills. She received a degree in German philology at the Université Catholique de Louvain in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Stéphanie continued her education in Berlin, Germany where she completed her Masters Degree by writing her thesis on the influence of German Romanticism on Russian Romanticism. She extended her stay in Berlin with an internship with the Walloon Export and Foreign Investment Agency under the sponsorship of the Belgian Embassy. When she returned to Belgium, she worked for an investment fund company. Stéphanie is fluent in French, German, and English and has a knowledge of Russian, Dutch, and Luxembourgish.
The couple exiting Town Hall after the civil marriage; Photo Credit – Wikipedia
Photo Credit – Zimbio
Stéphanie first met Prince Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg when they were introduced by friends in Germany eight years before they married. They did not see each other until they met again about five years later and that was when they fell in love. Guillaume proposed to Stéphanie three weeks before their engagement was announced. Unfortunately, Stéphanie’s mother died from a stroke two months before the wedding.
On April 26, 2012, the Luxembourg Court announced the engagement of Prince Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke to Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy. The couple was married in a civil ceremony at the City Hall in Luxembourg City, on October 19, 2012. Their religious wedding took place on October 20, 2012, at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg City.
Photo Credit: Grand Ducal Court/ Marion Dessard
Stéphanie and Guillaume have two sons:
- Prince Charles of Luxembourg (born 2020)
- Prince François of Luxembourg (born 2023)
Grand Duke Henri, Grand Duchess Maria Theresa holding Prince François, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie, Prince Charles, and Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume; Credit – House of the Grand Duke / Sophie Margue
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