Maria Teresa Mestre was born on 22 March 1956 in Marianao, Havana, Cuba, to José Antonio Mestre y Álvarez (1926–1993) and wife María Teresa Batista y Falla de Mestre (1928–1988), both from bourgeoisie families of Spanish descent.[1] She is also the granddaughter of Agustín Batista y González de Mendoza (1899–1968), who was the founder of the Trust Company of Cuba, the most powerful Cuban bank prior to the Cuban Revolution.[2]
In October 1959, at the time of the Cuban Revolution, Mestre's parents left Cuba with their children because the new government headed by Fidel Castro confiscated their properties. The family settled in New York City,[1] where as a young girl Mestre was a pupil at Marymount School. From 1961 she carried on her studies at the Lycée Français de New York. In her childhood, Mestre took ballet and singing courses. She practiced skiing, ice-skating and water sports. She later lived in Santander, Spain, and in Geneva, Switzerland, where she became a Swiss citizen.[1][3]
Soon after her marriage, Maria Teresa and the then Hereditary Grand Duke Henri established The Prince Henri and Princess Maria Teresa Foundation to help those with special needs integrate fully into society. In 2001, she and her husband created The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess Foundation, launched upon the accession of the couple as the new Grand Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg. In 2004, the Grand Duke Henri and the Grand Duchess Maria Teresa Foundation was created after the merging of the two previous foundations.
In 2007, Maria Teresa was made a special ambassador for UNESCO, working to expand education for young girls and women and help to fight poverty.[5]
Since 2005, Maria Teresa has been the chairwoman of the international jury of the European Microfinance Award, which annually awards holders of microfinance and inclusive finance initiatives in developing countries. Also, since 2006, Maria Teresa has been honorary president of the LuxFLAG (Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency), the first agency to label responsible microfinance investment funds around the world.[6] On 19 April 2007, the Grand Duchess was appointed UNICEF Eminent Advocate for Children, in which role she has visited Brazil (2007),[7] China (2008),[8] and Burundi (2009).[9]
She is a member of the Honorary Board of the International Paralympic Committee[10] and a patron of the Ligue Luxembourgeoise de Prévention et d’Action medico-sociales and SOS Villages d’Enfants Monde. The Grand Duchess and her husband Grand Duke Henri are the members of the Mentor Foundation (London), created under the patronage of the World Health Organization. She is also the president of the Luxembourg Red Cross and the Cancer Foundation.[11][12] In 2016, she organized the first international forum on learning disabilities in Luxembourg.[13]
The Grand Duchess supports the UNESCO “Breaking the Poverty Cycle of Women” project in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. The purpose of this project is to improve the living conditions of girls, women and their families. As honorary president of her own foundation, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa set up a project called Projet de la Main Tendue after visiting the Bujumbura prison in 2009 in Burundi. The purpose of this project is to liberate minor people from prison and to give them new opportunities for their future.
In 2019, Maria Teresa presented her initiative "Stand Speak Rise Up!" to end sexual violence in fragile environments, launched in cooperation with the Women’s Forum and with the support of the Luxembourg government. The conference is in partnership with the Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation and We Are Not Weapons of War.[15]
In 2020 the prime minister of Luxembourg commissioned a report from into the royal household following concerns over its working. The report found that up to one third of employees had left since 2015 and that "The most important decisions in the field of personnel management, whether at the level of recruitment, assignment to the various departments or even at the dismissal level are taken by HRH the Grand Duchess." Several newspaper reports at the time highlighted a 'culture of fear' around the Grand Duchess and "that no-one bar the Prime Minister dared confront her".[17] The report also raised concerns about the use of public funds to pay for the Grand Duchess' personal website and that this had been prioritised over the Court's own official website.[18] There were also allegations that staff at the Court have been subjected to physical abuse and these reports were investigated by the Luxembourg judicial police.[19] In February 2023 it was reported by several Luxembourg based media outlets that the Grand Duchess had once again been accused of treating staff poorly during an outfit fitting in October 2022. The incident even involved the Prime Minister of Luxembourg having to speak to the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess about the treatment of the staff and commissioning a report into it.[20][21][22]
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