Prince Frederik of Luxembourg ‘couldn’t get up by himself’ before death at 22, says director: ‘Really painful to watch’

nypost.com:

an educational short film about the disease with Frederik at its center, director Mei Fa Tan said she was left “inspired” by the prince but also found it “painful to watch” him struggle with his health.

Frederik’s death was revealed by his father, Prince Robert, the first cousin of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, in a statement on the website of the POLG Foundation, an organization Frederik founded to promote research and find a cure for the disease.Affecting approximately 1 in 5,000 people, the genetic disorder robs the body’s cells of energy, causing progressive multiple organ dysfunction and failure.Six months prior to the royal’s untimely passing, his foundation released the short film directed by Tan on Sep.

4, 2024 for Mitochondrial Awareness Week.“[He was] so interested in so many topics,” Tan told Us Weekly on Wednesday. “He would love to talk about basically anything.

Mostly film and music … But his body would not allow him to do as much. So that was really painful to watch because he was trying his best.”Frederik’s disease was so advanced that, at times, he “couldn’t even get up by himself,” Tan said.“I mean, the situation is very grave, but he would always keep his dignity in all situations and keep his sense of humor,” she shared.“I thought it was very, very sad, and I was very touched by this because this is not how life is supposed to go,” Tan added. “For Frederick, he just started to experience lots of things, and everything was taken away from him, bit by bit in an inevitable way.