Since 2011, the crown of Luxembourg descends according to
absolute primogeniture
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
among Grand Duke Henri's descendants and according to
agnatic primogeniture
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
among other dynasts.
Line of succession
* ''
Grand Duchess Charlotte
Charlotte (Charlotte Adelgonde Elisabeth Marie Wilhelmine; 23 January 1896 – 9 July 1985) reigned as List of monarchs of Luxembourg, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from 14 January 1919 until her abdication on 12 November 1964.
She acceded to th ...
(1896–1985)''
** ''
Grand Duke Jean
Jean (Jean Benoît Guillaume Robert Antoine Louis Marie Adolphe Marc d'Aviano; 5 January 1921 – 23 April 2019) was the Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1964 until his abdication in 2000. He was the first Grand Duke of Luxembourg of French agnatic ...
(1921–2019)''
***
Grand Duke Henri
Henri (french: Henri Albert Gabriel Félix Marie Guillaume, ; born 16 April 1955) is the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He has reigned since 7 October 2000. Henri, the eldest son of Grand Duke Jean and Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium, is a f ...
(born 1955)
**** (1)
Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume
Prince Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg (''Guillaume Jean Joseph Marie''; born 11 November 1981), is the heir apparent to the crown of Luxembourg since his Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, father's accession in 2000.
Early life a ...
(b. 1981)
***** (2)
Prince Charles
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
(b. 2020)
**** (3) Prince Félix (b. 1984)
***** (4) Princess Amalia of Nassau (b. 2014)
***** (5) Prince Liam of Nassau (b. 2016)
**** (6) Princess Alexandra (b. 1991)
**** (7)
Prince Sébastien
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
(b. 1992)
*** (8) Prince Guillaume (b. 1963)
**** (9) Prince Paul Louis of Nassau (b. 1998)
**** (10) Prince Léopold of Nassau (b. 2000)
**** (11) Prince Jean André of Nassau (b. 2004)
** ''
Prince Charles
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
(1927–1977)''
*** (12) Prince Robert (b. 1968)
**** (13) Prince Alexandre of Nassau (b. 1997)
**** (14) Prince Frederik of Nassau (b. 2002)
Succession law
History
The constitution of Luxemburg states that the crown is hereditary in the house of Nassau according to the pact of 1783 (the
Nassau Family Pact
The Nassau Family Pact was a mutual pact of inheritance and succession made in 1783 by princes of the House of Nassau. It confirmed that Salic Law was to operate in favor of all the agnatic lines of the family, specifically the two senior survivin ...
House law
House law or House laws (''Hausgesetze'') are rules that govern a royal family or dynasty in matters of eligibility for order of succession, succession to a throne, membership in a dynasty, exercise of a Regent, regency, or entitlement to dynastic ...
of Nassau: the Grand Duke's eldest daughter would succeed (that provision is identical with the effect of the 1783 pact), and after her, her issue in male line born of marriages that abide by the house laws; in default thereof, the Grand Duke's next daughters in similar fashion. Thus, issue of the Grand Duke's daughters received succession rights only in strict agnatic line - a male-line male descendant of a younger daughter would have had preference over female descendants of elder daughters. This law of succession in Luxembourg followed a special order among male lines issued from Grand Duke William IV's daughters.
The 1907 amendments to the house law bypassed the
Counts of Merenberg
Count of Merenberg (German: ''Graf von Merenberg'') is a hereditary title of nobility that was bestowed in 1868 by the reigning Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, George Victor, upon the morganatic wife and male-line descendants of Prince Nikolaus Wi ...
, male-line descendants of the House of Nassau. While the Merenberg line had a male heir in the person of Georg Nikolaus, Count von Merenberg (1871–1948), the count was born of a
morganatic marriage
Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...
between Grand Duke William IV's uncle, Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau, and Natalia Pushkina (daughter of Russian author
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
, a member of the untitled
Russian nobility
The Russian nobility (russian: дворянство ''dvoryanstvo'') originated in the 14th century. In 1914 it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members (about 1.1% of the population) in the Russian Empire.
Up until the February Revolution ...
). The count's claim to be recognized as the heir to the Grand Duchy was dismissed on the grounds that he and his branch were non-dynastic despite his marriage to Princess Olga Alexandrovna Yurievskaya, a morganatic daughter of Tsar
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Gra ...
. The Merenberg line eventually also ran out of male heirs; the last surviving male-line descendant is Countess Clotilde von Merenberg, third cousin once removed of Grand Duke Henri.
Prince Jean of Luxembourg
Prince Jean of Luxembourg (given names: ''Jean Félix Marie Guillaume''; born 15 May 1957 at Betzdorf Castle), the second son of Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium. He is the twin brother of Princess Ma ...
, second son of Grand Duke Jean, renounced his right of succession for himself and his heirs on 26 September 1986.
Prince Louis of Luxembourg
Prince Louis of Luxembourg (Louis Xavier Marie Guillaume; born 3 August 1986) is the third son of Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.
Louis has two elder siblings, Guillaume and Felix; and two younge ...
, third son of Grand Duke Henri, renounced his right of succession for himself and his heirs upon his marriage in 2006.
Absolute primogeniture
The preference for men over women in succession to Luxembourg's throne was abandoned in favour of
absolute primogeniture
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
on 20 June 2011 by decree of
Grand Duke Henri
Henri (french: Henri Albert Gabriel Félix Marie Guillaume, ; born 16 April 1955) is the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He has reigned since 7 October 2000. Henri, the eldest son of Grand Duke Jean and Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium, is a f ...
.per http://legilux.public.lu/eli/etat/adm/dec/2010/09/16/n1/jo
Henceforth, any legitimate female descendant of the
House of Luxembourg-Nassau
The Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg constitutes the House of Luxembourg-Nassau, headed by the sovereign Grand Duke, and in which the throne of the grand duchy is hereditary. It consists of heirs and descendants of the House of Nassau-Weilburg, w ...
born of authorized marriage shall inherit the throne by order of seniority of line of descent and of birth as stipulated in Article 3 of the Constitution and the
Nassau Family Pact
The Nassau Family Pact was a mutual pact of inheritance and succession made in 1783 by princes of the House of Nassau. It confirmed that Salic Law was to operate in favor of all the agnatic lines of the family, specifically the two senior survivin ...
without regard to gender, applicable first to succession by the descendants of Grand Duke Henri. The Grand Duke's Marshal issued an addendum to the decree explaining the context of the change: pursuant to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
' 1979 call for nations to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women, in 2008 the Grand Duchy dropped the exception to gender non-discrimination it had declared in the matter of the grand ducal succession.
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
Line of succession
An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.