40th Wedding Anniversary of Grand Duke Henri (Relief)

Portrait of the young wedding couple, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa and Grand Duke Henri. To the right: the year "2021"; below, from left to right: rose petals, the date "14. FEBRUAR 1981", and two intertwined gold wedding rings. The issuing state "LËTZEBURERG" and the two respective mint marks complete the design along the lower edge.

Alongside the standard-strike version, a specially struck "minted photo image technique" proof was also issued, similar to the 2012 and 2015 editions.

On 14 February 1981, the then Hereditary Grand Duke Henri of Nassau-Weilburg married the Cuban-Uruguayan aristocrat Maria Teresa Mestre at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Luxembourg. The marriage joined the Luxembourg Grand Ducal House with a family that had gone into exile after the Cuban Revolution — Maria Teresa grew up in France and studied, among other places, at the University of Geneva, where she met Henri. The marriage produced five children, including Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, today regarded as heir to the throne of the Grand Duchy. In 2000, Henri ascended the throne, making him the first Grand Duke of Luxembourg to reign with a consort not descended from a European noble house but from a middle-class, academically educated background.

As Grand Ducal couple, Henri and Maria Teresa have set institutional and humanitarian priorities over the decades. Maria Teresa is internationally engaged in women's rights, access to education and poverty reduction — including as a UNESCO Special Envoy — and is regarded as one of the most politically active Grand Duchesses in Luxembourg's history. Henri, for his part, represents the Grand Duchy on the European and international stage, his conduct of office marked by a consensus-oriented style. To mark the 40th wedding anniversary on 14 February 2021, Luxembourg issued a 2-euro commemorative coin honouring the couple and the occasion.