Luxembourg’s Prince Frederik starred in a short film which detailed his “devastating” experience with a rare disease prior to his death.
Frederik was born with PolG Mitochondrial disease, an incurable genetic disorder that causes organ dysfunction and failure. Frederik’s father, Prince Robert, announced his son’s death at the age of 22 via Instagram on Saturday, March 8.
“It is with a very heavy heart that my wife and I would like to inform you of the passing of our son, The POLG Foundation Founder and Creative Director, Frederik,” Robert wrote.
“Frederik knows that he is my Superhero, as he is to all of our family, and to so very many good friends and now in great part thanks to his POLG Foundation, to so very many people the world over,” he added.
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Prior to his death, Frederik and his parents co-founded The POLG Foundation three years ago, “to support and accelerate research to find effective treatments and a cure for PolG mitochondrial disorders,” the website states.
More recently, the foundation created a short film, titled The PolG Foundation Film, released on September 4, 2024, for Mitochondrial Awareness Week.
“PolG is a mitochondrial disease destroying the energy-producing structures within human cells,” a written statement reads at the start of the film. “It is a devastating and rare genetic disorder potentially affecting entire families.”
The film opens with Frederik watching a compilation of videos from his childhood.
“When you’re a kid, you’ve got all these dreams, all these aspirations, these things you want to do. The possibilities are endless,” Frederik says in voice-over. “I’m not sure I understood all the consequences of PolG when I first got diagnosed. It’s more subtle, where slowly, the world is getting smaller and smaller.”
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The film then turned to Emilia and Amelie, two siblings who were diagnosed with PolG. They lost their brother, Philip, to the same disease, in May 2023. He was 20.
“Even to this day, doctors aren’t familiar with PolG, and so it makes it really hard to get a proper diagnosis,” Carolyn Sue, a researcher at Neuroscience Research Australia, saYS in another part of the film.
The film ended with a powerful statement asking for donations.
“For these PolG kids, it’s already too late,” the statement said. “Today, there is no cure.”
“PolG research will save lives. Please donate,” it included, alongside a QR code for the foundation’s donation page.
Us Weekly reached out to The POLG Foundation for comment.
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