Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen
| Maria Emanuel | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Margrave of Meissen | |||||
| Head of the Royal House of Saxony | |||||
| Period | 9 August 1968 – 23 July 2012 | ||||
| Predecessor | Friedrich Christian | ||||
| Successor |
Albert (disputed) Alexander (disputed) | ||||
| Spouse | Princess Anastasia of Anhalt | ||||
| |||||
| House | House of Wettin | ||||
| Father | Friedrich Christian, Margrave of Meissen | ||||
| Mother | Princess Elisabeth Helene of Thurn and Taxis | ||||
| Born |
31 January 1926 Schloss Prüfening, Prüfening, Bavaria, Germany | ||||
| Died |
23 July 2012 (aged 86)[1] La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland | ||||
| Burial |
30 July 2012 Royal Chapel in Königskapelle in Karrösten in North Tyrol | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||
Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen (31 January 1926 – 23 July 2012) was the head of the Royal House of Saxony.[2]
Life
Born at Schloss Prüfening in Regensburg, Bavaria, he was the eldest child of the then Hereditary Prince Frederick Christian of Saxony, later Margrave of Meissen, and Princess Elisabeth Helene of Thurn and Taxis.
At the age of 18 Emanuel was imprisoned and sentenced to death by the Nazis for being opposed to their rule. After escaping his sentence he next had to escape from the approaching Soviets as his homeland Saxony became a part of communist East Germany as World War II wound down. After the war he moved to Switzerland where he began working in the financial services sector. Also being a talented painter Emanuel had a number of his works exhibited.[3]
Although Marie Vassiltchikov recounts in her book The Berlin Diaries 1940-45 the story of the 16-year-old Hereditary Prince Maria Emanuel paying her a visit to seek her help in finding a bride, as he felt it was his dynastic obligation to start a family early,[4] Emanuel would not in fact marry until the day of 37th birthday. His wife was Princess Anastasia of Anhalt (born 1940) with the couple marrying on 31 January 1963 in Vevey, Switzerland. They had no children.
Maria Emanuel became head of the Royal House of Saxony upon the death of his father on 9 August 1968.
Succession
As Maria Emanuel fathered no legitimate children he had acknowledged as his eventual heir Prince Alexander of Saxe-Gessaphe, the son of his eldest sister Princess Anna and her late husband Prince Robert of Gessaphe (or "Assaphe"/"Afif", descendants of a Lebanese Christian family which ruled a province north of Beirut).[5][6] Alexander is married to Princess Gisela of Bavaria. In 1997 the surviving male dynasts of the Albertine line of Wettins consented to the Margrave's decision,"[7] Most importantly, his brother Albert has since stated that he does not accept the decision.
The royal line of the House of Wettin applies semi-salic law, which allows for inheritance through a female. Since the death of Maria Emanuel, if Albert is the last male dynast then this would lead firstly to the children of their sisters Maria Josepha (unmarried), Maria Anna and Mathilde, but only Mathilde's marriage uncontestedly met equality requirements and her only son died in 1987. Therefore, if the Gessaphe claim is invalid, the succession would pass to the issue of the Margrave's paternal aunts, who are Margarete Karola (1900–1962), Maria Alix (1901–1990) and Anna (1903–1976), all of whom left children. Margaret being the eldest, the heir would be her grandson Karl Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern (born 1932), head of the princely line of the House of Hohenzollern.
The Margrave's brother Albert, however, supports discarding equality requirements to allow his cousin Prince Timo of Saxony's morganatic son, Rüdiger (born 1953), to eventually succeed. Rüdiger has with his first wife Astrid Linke (1949–1989) three sons Daniel (born 1975), Arne (born 1977) and Nils (born 1978).
There are several extant lines of the House of Wettin who individually ruled the various Saxon Duchies and the Grand Duchy of Saxony (based at Weimar). It is possible that the male dynasts of the non-royal lines could claim inclusion in the Saxon royal succession.
Ancestry
References
- ↑ "Sächsische Zeitung [online] - Sachsen: Enkel des letzten sächsischen Königs ist tot". Sz-online.de. 2002-06-19. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
- ↑ Adam Bilinski. Have Poles pretender for their throne? (polish) [in:] Verbum Nobile. Nr 17. 2008. p. 8
- ↑ Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh, Burke's Royal Families of the World, vol.1: Europe & Latin America, p.171
- ↑ Marie Vassiltchikov. The Berlin Diaries 1940-1945, Page 71
- ↑ de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal. Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. Le Petit Gotha. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery, Paris 2002, p. 127 (French) ISBN 2-9507974-3-1
- ↑ Huberty, Michel; Alain Giraud; F. and B. Magdelaine (1991). L'Allemagne Dynastique Tome VI Bade-Mecklembourg (in French). France: Giraud. pp. 475–476. ISBN 978-2-901138-06-8.
- ↑ Willis, Daniel (1999). The Descendants of Louis XIII. Baltimore, MD: Clearfield Co. pp. pages 327–328, 765–766. ISBN 0-8063-4942-5.
External links
- House Laws of the Kingdom of Saxony (German)
- Website of his brother Prince Albert of Saxony (German)
- Website of the House of Wettin (German)
| Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen Born: 31 January 1926 | ||
| Titles in pretence | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Friedrich Christian |
— TITULAR — King of Saxony 9 August 1968 – 23 July 2012 Reason for succession failure: Kingdom abolished in 1918 |
Succeeded by Albert (disputed) |
| Succeeded by Alexander (disputed) | ||
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