Luxembourg’s Prince Frederik dead at 22 from rare genetic disease: ‘He is my superhero’

He passed away on March 1 from POLG Mitochondrial disease, a rare genetic disorder. Prince Robert, the first cousin of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, shared the news on the website of the POLG Foundation, an organization Frederik founded to promote research and find a cure for the disease.“It is with a very heavy heart that my wife and I would like to inform you of the passing of our son,” Robert, 56, wrote in an emotional statement.He also shared that Frederik, sensing his time was short, called family members into his room “to speak to him one last time” on February 28, the day before his death, which was also happened to be “Rare Disease Day.”Robert said that his son “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,” Robert added, referring to his wife Julie, 58.Frederik’s farewell messages were “kind, wise, and instructive,” Robert continued, noting that his son left the family with “one last long-standing family joke.”“Even in his last moments, his humor, and his boundless compassion, compelled him to leave us with one last laugh, to cheer us all up,” the father reflected.Prince Robert also shared that his son asked him a final question: “Papa, are you proud of me?” Prince Frederik had struggled to speak for “several days” before he died, according to Robert, “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.