According to Reporter.lu, since 2015 some 30 employees have been fired or resigned from the grand ducal court after serving relatively short terms. The latest rash of resignations were in the early summer when former Paperjam journalist Véronique Poujol quit her role as advisor to Grand Duchess Maria Teresa in the social, humanitarian and education domains. A couple of weeks earlier director of communications Monique Feidt and counsellor Alain Rousseau had also resigned.

Reporter.lu journalist Christophe Bumb says Jeannot Waringo, a former director of the general financial inspectorate, has been appointed to analyse all aspects of the court’s personnel management, deliver regular reports to prime minister Xavier Bettel and propose reforms where necessary. The government is particularly concerned about HR policy regarding those employees whose salary is paid for by the taxpayer, Bumb says. Some €7.6 million of the €10.7 million that the court receives from the state is spent on staffing.

Citing a former anonymous employee of the court, Reporter.lu suggests that the grand duchess was conducting job interviews even for staff who would not directly report to her, while the grand duke showed little interest in organisational or personnel questions.

The latest move is further evidence that the government is becoming more and more involved in the court’s business, a strategy that has developed since the coalition between DP, LSAP and Déi Gréng took power in 2013. Prior to that there was an informal agreement of mutual trust and very little government say in the management of the court.