section_path: Early life and education
section_name: Early life and education
paragraph_text: Early life and education
  
  Prince Henri was born on 16 April 1955, at the Betzdorf Castle in Luxembourg as the second child and first son of Jean, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and his wife, Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium. His father was the eldest son of Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, and Prince Félix of Bourbon-Parma. His mother was the only daughter of King Leopold III of Belgium by his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden. The prince's godparents were his maternal uncle the Prince of Liège (later Albert II of Belgium) and his paternal aunt Princess Marie Gabriele.
  
  Henri has four siblings: Archduchess Marie Astrid of Austria (born 1954), Prince Jean of Luxembourg (born 1957), Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein (born 1957) and Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg (born 1963).
  
  On 12 November 1964, when Henri was nine, his grandmother abdicated and his father became Grand Duke. By two sovereign decisions of 14 April 1973 the Grand Duke decided that "Henri will be considered as having reached the age of majority as from 16 April 1973, the date on which he will have reached the age of eighteen years" and "that His Royal Highness Prince Henri will bear, in His capacity as Heir Apparent to the Crown of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and of the Grand-Ducal Trust, the title of Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Hereditary Prince of Nassau, Prince of Bourbon of Parma."
  
  Henri was educated in Luxembourg and in France, where he obtained his Baccalauréat in 1974, after which he undertook military officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, England on the Standard Military Course (SMC) 7. He then studied political science at University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International Studies, graduating in 1980.
  
  Prince Henri became heir apparent to the Luxembourg throne on the abdication of his paternal grandmother, Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, on 12 November 1964. From 1980 to 1998, he was a member of the Council of State.