Duke of Leuchtenberg

Arms of Eugène de Beauharnais as Duke of Leuchtenberg

Duke of Leuchtenberg was a title created twice by the monarchs of Bavaria for their relatives. The first creation was awarded by Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria to his son Maximilian Philipp Hieronymus, upon whose death without children the lands passed back to his nephew Elector Maximilian II. It was re-created by Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria on 14 November 1817 and awarded to his son-in-law Eugène de Beauharnais. Eugène was the adopted stepson of the deposed Emperor Napoleon I of France, and Eugène had been his heir in Frankfurt and briefly in Italy. King Maximilian Joseph compensated his son-in-law after he lost his other titles and named him heir to the kingdom after the male-line descendants of the royal house and next in precedence after the Royal Family.

The companion title, also in the Bavarian peerage, was Prince of Eichstätt, which was resigned by the 4th Duke to the King of Bavaria in 1855. On 14 July 1839, Emperor Nicholas I of Russia granted the Russian and Finnish style Imperial Highness to the 3rd Duke, Maximilian, who had just married his daughter, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna.

Nicholas, 4th Duke of Leuchtenberg, was named as Duke of Leuchtenberg in the Russian Empire in 1890 by Alexander III of Russia, as they were by then members of the extended Russian Imperial Family. This creation elevated the style from Serene to Imperial Highness, and was to be carried by all male line descendants of Nicholas born of marriages of corresponding rank, of the incumbent Duke from 1852 to 1891. The title was largely ceremonial, with no lands or governance attached; the style and title became "Duke von (or of) Leuchtenberg, de Beauharnais".

Following the death of the 8th Duke in 1974, no remaining heirs of full dynastic status remained; the 8th Duke's parents' marriage was the last equal marriage entered into by a male dynast of the House of Beauharnais. The title is claimed by Nicolas de Leuchtenberg (born 1933), senior heir of the 4th Duke by a morganatic marriage, whose son Nicolas (1868–1928) was titled in 1890 Duke of Leuchtenberg (Russian branch) by edict of Tsar Alexander III of Russia.

Dukes of Leuchtenberg, 18th century to 1817

Duke Portrait Birth Marriages Death
Maximilian Philipp Hieronymus
16901705
30 September 1638
Munich, Bavaria
son of Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria and Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria
Maurita Febronia de la Tour d'Auvergne
1668
no children
20 March 1705
Turkheim, Bavaria
aged 66

Dukes of Leuchtenberg, 1817 to 1974

Duke Portrait Birth Marriages Death
Eugène de Beauharnais
18171824
styled Royal Highness by personal grant
French Prince (1804), Viceroy of Italy (1805), Prince of Venice (1807), heir to the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt (1810)
3 September 1781
Paris, France
son of Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and Joséphine Tascher de la Pagerie
Princess Augusta of Bavaria
14 January 1806
7 children
21 February 1824
Munich, Bavaria
aged 42
Auguste de Beauharnais
18241835
styled Serene Highness, created Imperial and Royal Highness by his father-in-law
Duke of Santa Cruz (1829), Prince Consort of Portugal (1834)
9 December 1810
Milan, Lombardy, Italy
son of Eugène de Beauharnais and Princess Augusta of Bavaria
Maria II, Queen of Portugal
1 December 1834
no children
28 March 1835
Lisbon, Portugal
aged 24
Maximilian de Beauharnais
18351852
styled Serene Highness, granted the style Imperial Highness by his father-in-law
2 October 1817
Munich, Bavaria
son of Eugène de Beauharnais and Princess Augusta of Bavaria
Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia
2 July 1839
7 children
1 November 1852
Saint Petersburg, Russia
aged 35
Nicholas Maximilianovich de Beauharnais
18521891
styled Imperial Highness
4 August 1843
son of Maximilian de Beauharnais and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia
Nadezhda Sergeevna Annenkova (morganatic)
October 1868
2 sons
6 January 1891
Paris, France
aged 47
Eugene Maximilianovich de Beauharnais
18911901
styled Imperial Highness
8 February 1847
Saint Petersburg, Russia
son of Maximilian de Beauharnais and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia
Daria Opotchinina (morganatic)
20 January 1869
1 daughter

Zinaida Skobeleva (morganatic)
14 July 1878
no children
31 August 1901
Saint Petersburg, Russia
aged 54
George Maximilianovich de Beauharnais
19011912
styled Imperial Highness
29 February 1852
Saint Petersburg, Russia
son of Maximilian de Beauharnais and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia
Duchess Therese Petrovna of Oldenburg
12 May 1879
one son

Princess Anastasia of Montenegro
16 April 1889
2 children
16 May 1912
Paris, France
aged 60 (15)
Alexander Georgievich de Beauharnais
19121942
styled Imperial Highness; reverted to Serene Highness following abolition of Russian titles in 1918; title held in pretense after abolition of German monarchy in 1919
13 November 1881
Saint Petersburg, Russia
son of George Maximilianovich and Duchess Therese Petrovna of Oldenburg
Nadezhda Nicolaevna Caralli (morganatic)
22 January 1917
no children
26 September 1942
Salies-de-Béarn, France
aged 60
Sergei Georgievich de Beauharnais
19421974
styled Serene Highness
4 July 1890
Peterhof, Russia
son of George Maximilianovich and Princess Anastasia of Montenegro
never married 7 January 1974
Rome, Italy
aged 83

Genealogy

Source:[1]

References

External links

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