If you get the actual Pope (Benedict XV) as a godfather, it’s highly likely you’re destined for major things. Jean, along with the rest of the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg, fled the country exactly one night before German invasion in 1940. He saw active service in World War II as a member of the Irish Guards and was one of the thousands who landed at Normandy in 1944.
He became Grand Duke in 1964 on the abdication of his mother, Grand Duchess Charlotte. His reign, which ended upon his own abdication in 2000, saw Luxembourg turn from a European backwater to a major global financial powerhouse. It also gave us Placebo.
Grand Duke Jean I of Luxembourg
5 January 1921 – 23 April 2019
Died aged 98 (10 picks)