Since 2011, the crown of Luxembourg descends according to absolute primogeniture 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 Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from 14 January 1919 until her abdication on 12 November 1964. She acceded to the throne on 14 January 1919 foll ...

(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 (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) ** ''

(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 ...

), the Treaty of Vienna made in 1815, and the Treaty of London of 1867. In April 1907 Grand Duke William IV decreed (approved in July 1907 by legislature of Luxembourg and thereafter enacted) amendments to the

House law House law or House laws (''Hausgesetze'') are rules that govern a royal family or dynasty in matters of eligibility for succession to a throne, membership in a dynasty, exercise of a regency, or entitlement to dynastic rank, titles and styles. ...

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 ...

, 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 youn ...

, 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 on 20 June 2011 by decree of

.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

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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Luxembourg throne, List of succession Luxembourgish monarchy

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.