Robert of Luxembourg has announced, with immense sadness and pain, the death of his young son, Frederick of Nassau, at the age of 24. The cousin of Grand Duke Henri released a long and heartfelt statement through the POLG Foundation, revealing that the young man passed away a week ago, on Friday, February 28, surrounded by his family until the very end. In the truly moving text, it’s explained that Frederick was able to say goodbye to each of his loved ones, one by one, showing incredible courage and strength before bidding them farewell.
Frederik was 24 years old and suffered from the POLG mutation, a condition that drained energy from cells, leading to progressive dysfunction and multiple organ failure. The first signs had appeared in childhood, but his father admitted they hadn’t initially realized something was wrong. “He was a baby who slept while the others ran around everywhere. Later, issues with balance and coordination emerged. He kept losing strength and fell ill often,” he shared with the Danish outlet Virgule.
© polgfoundation.org
HRH Prince Frederik of Nassau (2002-2025)
The Prince and his wife, desperate to understand what was happening to their son, began consulting different specialists for answers. It was a complicated process, and Julie’s father—a professor and surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston—played a key role. Thanks to him, they managed to speed up the consultations, and in 2016, they finally identified the illness. Thereafter, Frederick of Luxembourg had to go through several surgeries because of it.
In the letter, which the Prince shared on behalf of himself and his wife, Julie Elizabeth Houston Ongaro, he also praises the character of his youngest son and how he never lost his smile, even joking right up until the moment he left forever. He also recalls the last words his son said to him when Frederick asked if he was proud of him. Since birth, the young man had suffered from a rare disease that robs cells of energy, leading to progressive dysfunction and multiple organ failure. Below, we reproduce the full statement with which they shared the sad news:
© polgfoundation.org
“It is with a very heavy heart that my wife and I would like to inform you of the passing of our son, the POLG Foundation Founder and Creative Director, Frederik.
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. Frederik found the strength and the courage to say goodbye to each of us in turn—his brother, Alexander; his sister, Charlotte; me; his three cousins, Charly, Louis, and Donall; his brother-in-law, Mansour; and finally, his Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Mark. He had already spoken all that was in his heart to his extraordinary mother, who had not left his side in 15 years. 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. Even in his last moments, his humour, and his boundless compassion compelled him to leave us with one last laugh…to cheer us all up.”
Frederik’s last question to me, prior to his other remarks, was, “Papa, are you proud of me?” He had barely been able to speak for several days, so the clarity of these words was as surprising as the weight of the moment was profound. The answer was very easy, and he had heard it oh so many times…. but at this time, he needed reassurance that he had contributed all that he possibly could in his short and beautiful existence and that he could now finally move on.
© polgfoundation.org
Frederik knows that he is my Superhero, as he is to all of our family, and to so very many good friends and now in great part thanks to his POLG Foundation, to so very many people the world over. Part of his superpower was his ability to inspire and to lead by example. Frederik was born with a special capacity for positivity, joy, and determination. When he was little, I would always say that if there is one child of ours that I would never need to worry about, it was him. He has social skills like no other, an amazing sense of humour, an emotional intelligence and compassion that were off the charts, a sense of justice, fairness and decency that knows no bounds. He was disciplined and organised beyond belief. On Friday, his Italian Duolingo and exercise alarm went off like any other day…. but this was not any normal day. This would be his last in this world….and Rare Disease Day, a day that was created in order to raise awareness and generate change for people living with one of these orphan illnesses and of course for their families and precious caregivers.
The full statement can be read here.
