List of Grand Dukes of Luxembourg

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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 1 House of Orange-Nassau 2 House of Nassau-Weilburg 3 See also 4 Footnotes 5 References

[edit] House of Orange-Nassau

Image	Name	Date of birth	Date of death	Monarch From	Monarch Until
Image:Willem I.jpg	William I	24 August 1772	12 December 1843	15 March 1815	7 October 1840
Image:WillemIINL3.jpg	William II	6 December 1792	17 March 1849	7 October 1840	17 March 1849
Image:William III of the Netherlands.jpg	William III	17 February 1817	23 November 1890	17 March 1849	23 November 1890

[edit] 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 the Nassau) were bound to use Salic law, which forbade inheritance by the female line. 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 could not pass to a woman, leaving the House of Orange-Nassau without a male heir. As a result, the throne went to Adolphe, the dispossessed Duke of Nassau and head of the House of Nassau-Weilburg.

At the death of his uncle, Nikolaus-Wilhelm in 1905, Guillaume IV named his daughter as his heir and changing the laws of succession; the only other legitimate male in the House of Nassau-Weilburg was Guillaume's cousin, Georg Nikolaus, Count of Merenberg, the product of a morganatic marriage. So, in 1907, Guilliame declared the Counts of Merenberg non-dynastic, naming his own eldest daughter Marie-Adélaïde as heir to the throne. She became Luxembourg'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. Charlotte's descendants have reigned until the present day.

Image	Name	Date of birth	Date of death	Monarch From	Monarch Until
	Adolphe	24 July 1817	17 November 1905	23 November 1890	17 November 1905
Image:Guillaume IV of Luxembourg.png	William IV	22 April 1852	25 February 1912	17 November 1905	25 February 1912
Image:Marie-Adélaïde.gif	Marie-Adélaïde	14 June 1894	24 January 1924	25 February 1912	14 January 1919
Image:Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.jpg	Charlotte	23 January 1896	9 July 1985	14 January 1919	12 November 1964
Image:Jeanoflux.PNG	Jean	5 January 1921	Living	12 November 1964	7 October 2000
Image:Henri of Luxembourg handshake.png	Henri	16 April 1955	Living	7 October 2000	Incumbent

[edit] See also

• List of Counts and Dukes of Luxembourg
• Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg
• Line of succession to the Luxembourgish throne

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] 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.

fr:Liste des grands-ducs de Luxembourg hu:Luxemburg nagyhercegeinek listája pl:Wielcy książęta Luksemburga pt:Lista de grão-duques do Luxemburgo fi:Luettelo Luxemburgin suurherttuoista sv:Lista över Luxemburgs regenter