Her Royal Highness Grand Duchess Maria Teresa is one of four children of Mr José Antonio Mestre and Mrs Maria Teresa Batista-Falla de Mestre.

On 14 February 1981, Maria Teresa Mestre married His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Henri of Luxembourg at the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Luxembourg. They have four sons and a daughter:

• Grand Duke Guillaume (born in 1981),
• Prince Félix (born in 1984),
• Prince Louis (born in 1986),
• Princess Alexandra (born in 1991),
• Prince Sébastien (born in 1992).

On 7 October 2000, Prince Henri became Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Since then, Princess Maria Teresa bears the title of Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.

Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess Maria Teresa is the grandmother of six grandsons and two granddaughters:

• Prince Charles (born 10 May 2020) and Prince François (born on 27 March 2023), the two sons of the Grand Duke Guillaume and Grand Duchess Stéphanie,
• Princess Amalia (born on 15 June 2014), Prince Liam (born on 28 November 2016) and Prince Balthazar (born on 7 January 2024), the three children of Prince Félix and Princess Claire of Luxembourg,
• Prince Gabriel (born on 12 March 2006) and Prince Noah (born on 21 September 2007), the two sons of Prince Louis of Luxembourg, and
• Victoire (born on 14 May 2024), the daughter of Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg and Mr. Nicolas Bagory.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa showed an interest in social and humanitarian causes very early on. This was in line with the family tradition, as her grandparents Augustin Batista Y Gonzalez De Mendoza and Maria Teresa Falla Y Bonet had also been involved in philanthropic and cultural life in Cuba. Among their most remarkable achievements were the construction of community clinics offering free treatment in deprived rural areas. Her grandparents also contributed to the creation of the Havana Philharmonic Orchestra and remained its principal patrons until the Cuban Revolution.

As a result of the revolution led by Fidel Castro, the young Maria Teresa Mestre left Cuba in 1960 together with her parents José Antonio Mestre and Maria Teresa Batista-Falla de Mestre and her two brothers and her sister. The family - of Spanish origin - settled in New York, where the future Grand Duchess enrolled at the Marymount School. From 1961 onwards, she attended the École Française (French School). In June 1965, her parents moved briefly to the family property in Santander (Spain), before choosing Geneva (Switzerland) as their permanent home. Like her two brothers and her sister - Antonio, Luis and Catalina - Maria Teresa received an excellent education. While her father worked in finance, her mother, passionate about the arts and literature, dedicated herself to her family and conveyed the values of Christian faith to her children.

After studying at the École Française (French School) in New York, Maria Teresa pursued her education from 1965 onwards at the Institut Marie-José in Gstaad, then at the Marie-Thérèse boarding school in Geneva, where she graduated with a French baccalaureate in June 1975. It was during this period that she became a Swiss citizen.

After her secondary school studies, she enrolled at the University of Geneva where she studied Political Science. At university, she met her future husband, Prince Henri of Luxembourg, who studied the same subjects.

She obtained her degree in Political Science in 1980, and on 7 November the same year, their engagement was announced.

Since her marriage in 1981, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa has initiated many projects to support vulnerable people in Luxembourg and across the world, notably through the Fondation du Grand-Duc et de la Grande-Duchesse (Foundation of the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess), an association which she presided until 2025.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa’s actions are guided by the principles of defending the rights of women and girls and the fight against all forms of violence against them. She is committed to encouraging women to actively participate in building fairer societies based on respect for human dignity and solidarity.

In 1997, she became a UNESCO 'Goodwill Ambassador' for her actions to promote education for girls and gender equality, women’s rights and microfinance. In 2007 she was nominated a UNICEF 'Eminent Advocate for Children', committing to defend the interests of children throughout the world.

Ever since, she has been involved in numerous projects helping children and furthering their education. In January 2016, she organised an international forum to give hope to parents whose children are affected by learning disabilities and where her son, Prince Louis, spoke about his own dyslexia.

For the past 30 years, she has worked closely with Professor Muhammad Yunus (Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 2006) and has been involved in the fields of microfinance and inclusive finance, topics which she also promotes in Luxembourg. She is convinced that social business and female entrepreneurship are key for tomorrow’s economy. Since 2006, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa has been Honorary President of LuxFLAG, the Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency, which was the first to award a quality label to microfinance investment funds around the world. The Grand Duchess has chaired the international Grand Jury for the annual European Microfinance Prize since 2005. This prize rewards initiatives in microfinance and inclusive finance in developing countries.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa's humanitarian and social commitment has often taken her abroad to see first-hand the progress of the projects she supports. She has visited Nepal, Mali, Bangladesh, Thailand, Bosnia, Laos, Kenya, Senegal, Burundi and more recently Lebanon, taking a particular interest in supporting vulnerable children and women.

During a visit to the central prison of Bujumbura (Burundi) in June that same year, the Grand Duchess learned that children were sent to prison for minor offences. Within four years, through the Fondation du Grand-Duc et de la Grande-Duchesse, and with the help of the Maison Shalom, founded by Maggy Barankitse, the project La Main tendue (Extending a hand) succeeded in freeing 600 minors incarcerated under inhumane conditions in Burundian prisons. These children then received psychological, legal, medical, social and educational assistance.

In September 2016, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa joined the Council of Patrons of the Asian University for Women (AUW). Based in Chittagong, Bangladesh, the university has trained more than 1,200 young girls to become women leaders in Asia since its creation in 2008.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa is particularly affected by the trauma, isolation and stigmatisation of women and girls who have been victims of sexual violence in fragile environments. In 2014 she committed to fight their cause.

After doing extensive research on the subject, she met with survivors. In 2016, Her Royal Highness met with the winners of the Sakharov Prize, Nadia Murad (Nobel Peace Prize laureate 2018) and Lamiya Aji Bachar, two young Iraqi women from the Yezidi community who have become symbols for all the victims of violence from the so-called Islamic State and spokespersons for their community.

It was also in 2016 that the Grand Duchess met Dr. Denis Mukwege (Nobel Peace Prize laureate 2018). Deeply impressed by his work, she took the initiative to organise with him and with Céline Bardet, founder and director of the association 'We are not Weapons of War', the international Forum 'Stand Speak Rise Up!' in Luxembourg, in March 2019, to put an end to sexual violence in fragile environments.

In order to be prepared for the forum, the Grand Duchess made a humanitarian trip to Lebanon in 2018. She met with survivors of sexual violence (refugees and migrants), collected their testimonies and supported them in their quest for justice and reparation. She also visited a microfinance project aimed at improving the conditions of women, especially refugee women.

In 2020, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa was invited to participate in a virtual dialogue by NATO on the subject of sexual violence in conflict zones.

In 2020, she was the Honorary President of the jury of the Prix de la Femme d’Influence, which rewarded women who stood out during the health crisis.

For all these years, the Grand Duchess' ongoing commitment to defend women’s rights throughout the world has also been illustrated by her numerous projects to support women in Luxembourg.

In 2019 and 2020, she was actively involved in the campaigns organised for the launch of 'Orange Week' in Luxembourg and she met with various associations, in particular those active in the protection of victims of domestic violence.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa has maintained regular contact with the associations she supports, through telephone calls, through video messages calling for solidarity, or by participating in campaigns on social networks.

With the Fondation du Grand-Duc et de la Grande-Duchesse, she has initiated numerous actions, such as giving smartphones and tablets to shelters that protect victims of domestic violence, and has notably offered financial support to students in precarious situations.

In 2021, the Grand Duchess Maria Teresa supported the 'Vodafone Foundation Luxembourg' and the non-profit organisation Femmes en Détresse (Women in Distress) in the fight against violence against women and girls by supporting the 'Bright Sky' application, which helps victims and their families.

The honours that Grand Duchess Maria Teresa has received, amongst others for her humanitarian actions, are an illustration of her extraordinary commitments.

In October 1999, Her Royal Highness Princess Maria Teresa was awarded an honorary doctorate from Seton Hall University (New Jersey, USA).

In February 2003, she received the title of Doctor honoris causa from the University of Leon (Nicaragua). In June 2006, the Holy See's Representation to the United Nations awarded her the 'Path to Peace Award', a prize given annually to a person for their humanitarian and social engagements.

In 2013, the ELPIDA association of Friends of Children with Cancer awarded her the 'International Solidarity Award' in recognition of her work for children with cancer.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa loves spending time with her grandchildren. She is interested in decorative arts and design. In her youth, she studied classical dance for 18 years. She also enjoys singing, playing the guitar and especially loves to walk her dogs.

Passionate about literature, she was a member of the jury for the literary prize for historical novels, the Prix des Princes, in Paris in 2016.

In January 2019, the Grand Duchess Maria Teresa awarded the 'Prix de l'Histoire' to Loris Chavanette for his book 'Quatre-vingt-quinze, La Terreur en procès'.