In the west of mainland Europe, there is a small, landlocked country bordered by Belgium, Germany and France. That country is Luxembourg which has a grand duke as its head of state and is commemorated every 23 June which is the Grand Duke's Official Birthday. Oddly enough, none of Luxembourg's Dukes has had their birthday fall on that day in the country's history so far (as of 25 July 2021). Originally, the date was on 24 April during the reign of William 1 even though his birthday was in August. When William 1 abdicated in favour of his son William 2nd the date was celebrated twice but this time the date was on 6 December which was William 2's actual birthday. The Official birthday and the actual birthday of the grand duke were separate again during William 3rd's reign with the official date falling on 17 June while his actual birthday was on 17 February though eventually the day was moved to 2 days after his real birthday in 1859. Originally, Luxembourg was a personal union between Luxembourg and the Netherlands, the two of which went their separate ways in 1890 but the tradition continued until 23 December 1961 when the Grand Ducal decree had the Grand Duke's birthday fixed to 23 June as both the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg at the time Charlotte and the heir Jean had their birthdays in January which has unappealing weather for a national holiday (Grand Duke's Official Birthday was made such in 1947) to commemorate the monarch's birth. The current Grand Duke of Luxembourg Guillaume V's actual birthday is on 11 Novmeber. As for Luxembourg, the country became independent from the French Empire on 15 March 1815.