Luxembourg’s Prince Frederik dies at the age of 22

Luxembourg’s Prince Frederik has died at the age of 22 after a long battle with a rare genetic condition, his family has said.

Frederik, who was the son of Prince Robert, Grand Duke Henri’s cousin, had been diagnosed aged 14 with POLG mitochondrial disease, a genetic disorder that robs the body’s cells of energy, in turn causing progressive multiple organ dysfunction and failure.

Frederik passed away on 1 March in Paris, his family said in a statement published on the website of the POLG Foundation, an association he founded three years ago to raise awareness of the condition.

In the statement, his father said: “Last Friday, February 28th, on ‘Rare Disease Day’, our beloved son called us in to his room to speak to him for one last time.”

“After gifting each of us with our farewells – some kind, some wise, some instructive – in true Frederik fashion, he left us collectively with a final long-standing family joke,” his father said.“Frederik passed on March 1st 2025, in Paris France, the City of Lights. One light was extinguished, but so many remain,” Prince Robert concluded.