Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg didn't want the crown, and he made that clear to anyone who asked. Born on January 5, 1921, in the Berg Castle in Colmar-Berg, he was the eldest son of Grand Duchess Charlotte. When the Nazis invaded Luxembourg in May 1940, the royal family fled into exile, first to France, then Portugal, then London, and finally Canada. Jean, barely 19, volunteered for the British Army. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Irish Guards and trained alongside soldiers who would storm the Normandy beaches. He landed in France shortly after D-Day and fought through the liberation of Belgium and the Netherlands. He was among the first Allied soldiers to enter Brussels in September 1944. When the Irish Guards liberated Luxembourg in 1944, Jean returned to his homeland in uniform. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the British Military Cross. The return shaped everything that followed. He wasn't a sheltered royal. He was a combat veteran who had earned the respect of his country through service. When his mother abdicated in his favor in 1964, he assumed the throne of a tiny nation wedged between Belgium, Germany, and France. He modernized Luxembourg's economy, shepherding its transformation from a steel-dependent industrial state into one of Europe's foremost financial centers. Under his reign, Luxembourg became a founding member of the European Economic Community and a headquarters for European Union institutions. He reigned for 36 years, abdicating in 2000 in favor of his son Henri. He died on April 23, 2019, at age 98, the last serving World War II veteran among European monarchs.