William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg

William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (22 April 1852 - 25 February 1912) reigned as the sovereign Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 17 November 1905 until his death. He succeeded his father, Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He also held the titular title of Duke of Nassau.^[1]

William IV was a Protestant, the religion of the House of Nassau. He married Marie Anne of Portugal, believing that a Roman Catholic country ought to have a Roman Catholic monarch. Thus since William IV all other Grand Dukes have been Catholic.

At the death of his uncle, Prince Nikolaus-Wilhelm in 1905, the only other legitimate male in the House of Nassau-Weilburg was William's cousin, Georg Nikolaus, Count of Merenberg, the product of a morganatic marriage. So in 1907, William declared the Counts of Merenberg non-dynastic, naming his own eldest daughter Marie-Adélaïde (1894–1924) as heir to the grand ducal 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 (1896–1985). Charlotte's descendants have reigned until the present day.

He was the last monarch of Luxembourg to die in office.

Family

On 21 June 1893 in Fischhorn Castle, Zell am See, he married Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal, daughter of the deposed king Miguel I of Portugal and Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg. The couple had six daughters, but no sons:

• Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (1894–1924) who remained unmarried and childless
• Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (1896–1985) who married her first cousin Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma, a son of Marie Anne's younger sister.
• Princess Hilda Sophie Marie Adélaïde Wilhelmine (Berg Castle, 15 February 1897 - Berg Castle, 8 September 1979), married in Berg Castle on 29 October 1930 Adolf 10th Prince of Schwarzenberg (Frauenberg, 18 August 1890 - Bordighera, 27 February 1950),^[2] without issue
• Princess Antonia (1899–1954), who married Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria as his second wife
• Princess Elisabeth (Luxembourg, 7 March 1901 - Schloss Hohenburg, 2 August 1950), married in Schloss Hohenburg on 14 November 1922 Prince Ludwig Philipp of Thurn and Taxis (Regensburg, 2 February 1901 - Schloss Niederaichbach, 22 April 1933), son of Albert I, Prince of Thurn and Taxis,^[3] and had issue
• Princess Sophie (Berg Castle, 14 February 1902 - Munich, 24 May 1941), married at Schloss Hohenburg on 12 April 1921 Prince Ernst Heinrich of Saxony (Dresden, 9 December 1896 - Coolamber, Ireland, 14 June 1971), youngest son of king Frederick Augustus III of Saxony,^[4] and had issue

Titles an styles

• 22 April 1852 – 20 September 1866: His Highness The Hereditary Prince of Nassau^[5]
• 20 September 1866 – 23 November 1890: His Highness Prince Wilhelm Alexander of Nassau-Weilburg
• 23 November 1890 – 17 November 1905: His Royal Highness The Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg^[6]
• 17 November 1905 – 25 February 1912: His Royal Highness The Grand Duke of Luxembourg^[6]

Ancestry

References

External links

• Grand-Ducal House of Luxembourg and Ducal House of Nassau
• Royal House of Portugal