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The Grand Duke of Luxembourg is the head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is the world's only sovereign extant Grand Duchy, a status to which Luxembourg was promoted in 1815 upon its unification with the Netherlands under the House of Orange-Nassau.
The Luxembourgian constitution 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 | ” |
Contents |
House of Orange-Nassau
| Image | Name | Date of birth | Date of death | Reign | Relationship with predecessor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
William I Willem Frederik (Prince William VI of Orange) |
24 August 1772 | 12 December 1843 | 15 March 1815 to 7 October 1840 |
his son |
 |
William II Willem Frederik George Lodewijk |
6 December 1792 | 17 March 1849 | 7 October 1840 to 17 March 1849 |
his son |
 |
William III Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk |
17 February 1817 | 23 November 1890 | 17 March 1849 to 23 November 1890 |
his son |
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, Guillaume 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.
| Image | Name | Date of birth | Date of death | Reign | Relationship with predecessor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Adolphe | 24 July 1817 | 17 November 1905 | 23 November 1890 to 17 November 1905 |
his nephew |
 |
William IV | 22 April 1852 | 25 February 1912 | 17 November 1905 to 25 February 1912 |
his son |
 |
Marie-Adélaïde | 14 June 1894 | 24 January 1924 | 25 February 1912 to 14 January 1919 |
his daughter |
 |
Charlotte | 23 January 1896 | 9 July 1985 | 14 January 1919 to 12 November 1964 |
her sister (younger daughter of William IV) |
| Jean | 5 January 1921 | Living | 12 November 1964 to 7 October 2000 |
her son | |
 |
Henri | 16 April 1955 | Living | From 7 October 2000 (Incumbent) |
his son |
See also
- List of Counts and Dukes of Luxembourg
- Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg
- Line of succession to the throne of Luxembourg
Footnotes
- ^ (French) "Constitution de Luxembourg" (PDF). Service central de législation. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
References
- Thewes, Guy (July 2003). Les gouvernements du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg depuis 1848 (PDF), Édition limitée (in French), Luxembourg City: Service Information et Presse. ISBN 2-87999-118-8. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
- (French)/(German) "Archives of Mémorial A". Service central de législation. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 17 November 2008, at 08:25.
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