Prince Jean received his primary education privately at Berg Castle and commenced his secondary education in Luxembourg. From 1934 until 1938 he studied at Ampleforth College in Yorkshire, England.
On 5 January 1939, his eighteenth birthday, Prince Jean became Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg. The following year, on 10 May 1940, the German army invaded Luxembourg and the grand-ducal family went into exile. After passing through France and Spain to Portugal, the family travelled to the United States of America and Canada. There, Prince Jean studied political sciences at Laval University in Quebec. The family later moved to Great Britain, and Grand Duchess Charlotte headed the Luxembourg government-in-exile in London.
In November 1942, Prince Jean joined the British Army as a volunteer with the Irish Guards. He undertook his military training at the Royal Military College in Aldershot, reaching the rank of lieutenant in 1943 and of regimental colonel in 1944. On 11 June 1944, Prince Jean landed with the Allied forces in Normandy. He participated in the Battle of Caen and later, on 3 September, in the liberation of Brussels.
- Luxembourg War Cross, with palm
- Silver Star Medal (USA)
- French War Cross
- 1940 Belgian War Cross, with palm
- Oorlogsherinneringskruis (Netherlands)
- 1939-1945 Star (Great Britain)
- France and Germany Star (Great Britain)
- Defence Medal (Great Britain)
- War Medal 1939-1945 (Great Britain)
He holds the rank of general in the Luxembourg Army and, since 1984, is also colonel of the Irish Guards, his former regiment in Great Britain. Queen Elizabeth II has also appointed him as a Knight of the Garter, the highest honour within the personal gift of the British monarch.
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