A spokesperson for the Grand Ducal Court has confirmed that, in honour of National Day on June 23, Grand Duke Henri will fly above Luxembourg City on a jetpack powered by Crémant de Luxembourg.
The custom-made propulsion device will permit HRH to enjoy an overhead view of his enormous birthday party while giving hundreds of lucky revellers below a cooling shower and a free drink.
The feat will likely become a fixture in the yearly celebration which traditionally only involves a street party, fireworks, and a parade, says the spokesperson.
“We believe this Grand Ducal Jetpacking will be so successful that monarchs all around Europe will soon perform similar feats on their countries’ respective national days,” he said.
The idea goes back to the Middle Ages when it was claimed by many monarchs and their supporters that they could actually fly.
In order to provide evidence for the claim, some rulers had engineers construct rudimentary flying suits.
However, as aerodynamics were not fully understood until the 20th century, these mediaeval suits were often unsafe as they were modelled according to theological principles and laden with heavy jewels.
Therefore, most monarchs had lookalikes don the suits and attempt to fly over their subjects. While most of these attempts ended poorly, in a few cases some stand-ins were able to remain aloft for as long as a minute and throw cakes and trinkets to the people below.
“Come one, come all, and enjoy the Groussherzogsgebuertsdagswonnerschéinjetpacking,” says the spokesperson.
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Originally published by RTL Today
