Princess Antonia of Luxembourg

Princess Antonia of Luxembourg (Antoinette Roberte Sophie Wilhelmine; 7 October 1899 – 31 July 1954)^[1] was a member of the Luxembourgish House of Nassau-Weilburg and the wife of the Prince Rupprecht, the last Crown Prince of Bavaria. Through her marriage, she was considered by some Jacobites as the rightful Queen Consort of England, Scotland, Ireland and France from 1921 to 1954.

Family

Born at Hohenburg Castle,^[1] in Upper Bavaria, Antonia was the fourth daughter of Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, who reigned between 1905 and 1912, and Marie Anne, a princess of the Portuguese House of Braganza. Her maternal grandparents were Miguel of Portugal and Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.

She was the younger sister of two successive Grand Duchesses: Marie-Adélaïde and Charlotte. In the family she was called "Toni".

Marriage and children

Antonia became the second wife of Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria. The two were engaged on 26 August 1918.^[2] At the time, Rupprecht was Generalfeldmarschall in the Imperial German army, and had successfully commanded the German Sixth Army at the Battle of Lorraine. This led to criticism of the close ties between the Luxembourgian Grand Ducal Family and the royalty of the German Empire at a time when Luxembourg was occupied by Germany. This added to the pressure already on Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde, who was forced to abdicate on 10 January 1919.^[3] Despite the abdication of her elder sister, and the overthrow of the Kingdom of Bavaria in favour of a republic, the two were married on 7 April 1921 at Hohenburg Castle.

As opponents of the Nazi regime, Antonia and Rupprecht were forced into exile in Italy in 1939. From here, they moved to Hungary. When Germany occupied Hungary in October 1944, Antonia and her children were captured, while Rupprecht, still in Italy, evaded arrest. They were imprisoned at Sachsenhausen. In early April 1945, they were moved to the Dachau concentration camp. Although liberated that same month, the imprisonment greatly impaired Antonia's health, and she died nine years later, at Lenzerheide, Switzerland.^[1]

Antonia and Rupprecht had the following children:

• Prince Heinrich Franz Wilhelm of Bavaria (1922–1958). Married Anne Marie de Lustrac (1927–1999). No issue.
• Princess Irmingard Marie Josefa of Bavaria (1923–2010). Married her cousin Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (1913–2008) and has issue.
• Princess Editha Marie Gabrielle Anna of Bavaria (born 1924). Married first Tito Tommaso Maria Brunetti (1905–1954) and second Prof. Gustav Christian Schimert (1910–1990). Has issue by both.
• Princess Hilda Hildegard Marie Gabriele of Bavaria (1926–2002). Married Juan Bradstock Edgar Lockett de Loayza (1912–1987) and has issue.
• Princess Gabriele Adelgunde Marie Theresia Antonia of Bavaria (born 1927). Married Carl, Duke of Croÿ, Lord of Dülmen, and has issue.
• Princess Sophie Marie Therese of Bavaria (born 1935). Married Jean-Engelbert, Prince and Duke of Arenberg and has issue.

Ancestors

Antonia's ancestors in three generations

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Schlim, Jean Louis. Antonia von Luxemburg: Bayerns letzte Kronprinzessin. München: LangenMüller, 2006. ISBN 3-7844-3048-1.
• (French) Thewes, Guy (July 2003) (PDF). Les gouvernements du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg depuis 1848 (Édition limitée ed.). Luxembourg City: Service Information et Presse. ISBN 2-87999-118-8. http://www.gouvernement.lu/publications/download/gouvernements_1848_2.pdf. Retrieved 2006-06-28. 

External links

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