Monarchy of Luxembourg

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Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Greater coat of arms of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg (2000).svg
Arms of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Incumbent
Henri of Luxembourg (2009).jpg
Henri
since 7 October 2000 (2000-10-07)
Details
StyleHis Royal Highness
Heir apparentGuillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
First monarch
  • William I of the Netherlands (1815, personal union began)
  • Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (after 1890)
Formation15 March 1815
ResidenceGrand Ducal Palace in Luxembourg

The Grand Duke of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Groussherzog vu Lëtzebuerg, French: Grand-duc de Luxembourg, German: Großherzog von Luxemburg) is the monarchical head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg has been a grand duchy since 15 March 1815, when it was created from territory of the former Duchy of Luxembourg. It was in personal union with the United Kingdom of the Netherlands until 1890 under the House of Orange-Nassau. Luxembourg is the world's only sovereign grand duchy and since 1815, there have been nine monarchs, including the incumbent, Henri.

Constitutional role[]

The constitution of Luxembourg defines the grand duke's position:

The grand duke is the head of state, symbol of its unity, and guarantor of national independence. He exercises executive power in accordance with the constitution and the laws of the country.[1]

After a constitutional change (to article 34) in December 2008 resulting from Henri's refusal to assent to a law legalizing euthanasia, laws now no longer require the grand duke's formal assent (implying "approval")[2] but his task of promulgating the law as chief executive remains.

Compensation[]

The grand duke does not receive a salary, but the royal family receives annually 300,000 gold francs (€281,000) for grand ducal functions.[3] In 2017, the Luxembourg budget included €10.1 million for the grand duke's household costs.[4]

Succession[]

Main article: Line of succession to the Luxembourger throne

Succession to the throne was governed by Salic law, as dictated by the Nassau Family Pact, first adopted on 30 June 1783.[1] The right to reign over Luxembourg was until June 2011 passed by agnatic-cognatic primogeniture within the House of Nassau, as stipulated under the 1815 Final Act of the Congress of Vienna and as confirmed by the 1867 Treaty of London.[1] The Nassau Family Pact itself can be amended by the usual legislative process, having been so on 10 July 1907 to exclude the Count of Merenberg branch of the House, which was descended from a morganatic marriage.[5]

An heir apparent may be granted the style 'hereditary grand duke'. The current heir apparent is Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume. In June 2011, agnatic primogeniture was replaced with absolute primogeniture, allowing any legitimate female descendants within the House of Nassau to be included in the line of succession.[6]

Full titles[]

The traditional titulatures of the grand duke are By the Grace of God, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Duke of Nassau, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Count of Sayn, Königstein, Katzenelnbogen and Diez, Burgrave of Hammerstein, Lord of Mahlberg, Wiesbaden, Idstein, Merenberg, Limburg and Eppstein. It should, however, be noted that many of the titles are held without regard to the strict rules of Salic inheritance and that most, save for Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Duke of Nassau, are simply not used.

List of grand dukes[]

Main article: List of monarchs of Luxembourg

House of Orange-Nassau[]

Image Name Date of birth Date of death Reign Relationship with predecessor
William I of the Netherlands.jpg
 Guillaume I
Willem Frederik
(Prince William VI of Orange) 		24 August 1772 12 December 1843 15 March 1815
–
7 October 1840 		Francis' third cousin
and
Anne's direct descendant
WillemIINL3.jpg
 Guillaume II
Willem Frederik George Lodewijk 		6 December 1792 17 March 1849 7 October 1840
–
17 March 1849 		Son of William I
Willem III (1817-90), koning der Nederlanden, Nicolaas Pieneman, 1856 - Rijksmuseum.jpg
 Guillaume III
Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk 		17 February 1817 23 November 1890 17 March 1849
–
23 November 1890 		Son of William II

House of Nassau-Weilburg[]

Under the 1783 Nassau Family Pact, those territories of the Nassau family in the Holy Roman Empire at the time of the pact (Luxembourg and Nassau) were bound by semi-Salic law, which allowed inheritance by females or through the female line only upon extinction of male members of the dynasty. When William III died leaving only his daughter Wilhelmina as an heir, the crown of the Netherlands, not being bound by the family pact, passed to Wilhelmina. However, the crown of Luxembourg passed to a male of another branch of the House of Nassau: Adolphe, the dispossessed Duke of Nassau and head of the branch of Nassau-Weilburg.

In 1905, Grand Duke Adolphe's younger half-brother, Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau, died, having left a son Georg Nikolaus, Count von Merenberg who was, however, the product of a morganatic marriage, and therefore not legally a member of the House of Nassau. In 1907, Adolphe's only son, William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, obtained passage of a law confirming the right of his eldest daughter, Marie-Adélaïde, to succeed to the throne in virtue of the absence of any remaining dynastic males of the House of Nassau, as originally stipulated in the Nassau Family Pact. She became the grand duchy's first reigning female monarch upon her father's death in 1912, and upon her own abdication in 1919, was succeeded by her younger sister Charlotte, who married Felix of Bourbon-Parma, a prince of the former Duchy of Parma. Charlotte's descendants have since reigned as the continued dynasty of Nassau, and also constitute a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon-Parma.

Name and reign Portrait Birth Family and Marriages Death Succession right
Adolphe
23 November 1890 –
17 November 1905
Adolfluxembourg1817-6.jpg
 24 July 1817
Wiesbaden (Prussia) 		(1) Grand Duchess Elizabeth
31 January 1844
[1 child (stillborn)]
(2) Grand Duchess Adelheid-Marie
23 April 1851
[5 children] 		17 November 1905 (88)
Colmar-Berg 		Third cousin of
William III
Guillaume IV
17 November 1905 –
25 February 1912
Guillaume IV of Luxembourg.png
 22 April 1852
Wiesbaden (Prussia) 		Grand Duchess Marie Anne
[6 children] 		25 February 1912 (59 years)
Colmar-Berg 		Son of
Adolphe
Marie-Adélaïde
25 February 1912 –
14 January 1919
(abdicated)
Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg 2.jpg
 14 June 1894
Colmar-Berg 		Unmarried
[childless] 		24 January 1924 (29 years)
Lenggries (Germany) 		Daughter of
William IV
Charlotte
14 January 1919 –
12 November 1964
(abdicated)
Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.jpg
 23 January 1896
Colmar-Berg 		Prince Felix
6 November 1919
[6 children] 		9 July 1985 (89 years)
Fischbach 		Daughter of
William IV /
Sister of
Marie-Adélaïde
Jean
12 November 1964 –
7 October 2000
(abdicated)
Grand Duke Jean 29.09.2006.jpg
 5 January 1921
Colmar-Berg 		Grand Duchess Joséphine Charlotte
9 April 1953
[5 children] 		23 April 2019 (98 years)
Luxembourg City 		Son of
Charlotte
Henri
7 October 2000 –
present
Henri of Luxembourg 2017.jpg
 16 April 1955
Betzdorf 		Grand Duchess Maria Teresa
4/14 February 1981
[5 children] 		Living (66 years) Son of
Jean
Henri, Grand Duke of LuxembourgJean, Grand Duke of LuxembourgCharlotte, Grand Duchess of LuxembourgMarie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of LuxembourgWilliam IV, Grand Duke of LuxembourgAdolphe, Grand Duke of LuxembourgWilliam III of the NetherlandsWilliam II of the NetherlandsWilliam I of the Netherlands

Grand ducal consorts[]

Main article: List of consorts of Luxembourg
  • Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia (first wife of Grand Duke William I)
  • Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia (wife of Grand Duke William II)
  • Princess Sophie of Württemberg (first wife of Grand Duke William III)
  • Princess Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont (second wife of Grand Duke William III)
  • Princess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau (wife of Grand Duke Adolphe)
  • Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal (wife of Grand Duke William IV)
  • Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma (husband of Grand Duchess Charlotte)
  • Princess Joséphine Charlotte of Belgium (wife of Grand Duke Jean)
  • María Teresa Mestre y Batista (wife of Grand Duke Henri)

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Constitution de Luxembourg" (PDF) (in French). Service central de législation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Luxembourg strips monarch of legislative role". The Guardian. London. 12 December 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
  3. ^ "Le budget | Cour grand-ducale".
  4. ^ "Richest royals: what Europe's royal families get from their taxpayers – Business Insider".
  5. ^ (in French and German) "Mémorial A, 1907, No. 37" (PDF). Service central de législation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2008.
  6. ^ "New Ducal succession rights for Grand Duchy". Luxemburger Wort. 21 June 2011. Archived from the original on 19 December 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2011.

External links[]

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