William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg

William IV (French: Guillaume Alexandre; 22 April 1852 – 25 February 1912) reigned as the Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 17 November 1905 until his death. He succeeded his father, Adolphe. Like his father, William mostly stayed out of politics despite being vested with considerable power on paper by the Constitution.

William IV
William IV of Luxembourg
Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Reign17 November 1905 –
25 February 1912
PredecessorAdolphe
SuccessorMarie-Adélaïde
RegentGrand Duchess Maria Anna
(1908–1912)
Prime MinisterPaul Eyschen
Born(1852-04-22)22 April 1852
Biebrich Palace, Wiesbaden, Duchy of Nassau
Died25 February 1912(1912-02-25) (aged 59)
Berg Castle, Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg
Burial
Schlosskirche ("Castle Church") in Weilburg since 1953
SpouseInfanta Marie Anne of Portugal
(m. 1893)
IssueMarie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
Hilda, Princess of Schwarzenberg
Antonia, Crown Princess of Bavaria
Elisabeth, Princess Ludwig Philipp of Thurn and Taxis
Sophie, Princess Ernst Heinrich of Saxony
HouseNassau-Weilburg
FatherAdolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
MotherPrincess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau
ReligionProtestantism

William was a Protestant, the religion of the House of Nassau. He married Princess Marie Anne of Portugal, believing that a Roman Catholic country ought to have a Roman Catholic monarch. Thus his heirs 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 presumptive to the grand ducal throne. She became Luxembourg's first reigning grand duchess 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 reign until the present day.

To date, William is the last monarch of Luxembourg to die on the throne.

Marriage

On 21 June 1893 in Fischhorn Castle, Zell am See, he married Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal, daughter of former King Miguel I of Portugal and Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg. The couple had six daughters:

Issue

Titles and honours

Titles and styles

Although the duchy of Nassau was annexed by Prussia after the Austro-Prussian war of 1866, the title of Duke of Nassau was retained by William and his heirs.[1]

Foreign honours

Ancestry

Notes and references
  1. Almanach de Gotha (1901), article "Luxembourg"
  2. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch für des Herzogtum Anhalt (1883), "Herzoglicher Haus-Orden Albrecht des Bären" p. 16
  3. "A Szent István Rend tagjai" Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1896), "Großherzogliche Orden" pp. 62, 77
  5. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Bayern (1908), "Königliche Orden" p. 8
  6. Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Herzogtums Braunschweig für das Jahr 1908. Braunschweig 1908. Meyer. p. 9
  7. Jørgen Pedersen (2009). Riddere af Elefantordenen, 1559–2009 (in Danish). Syddansk Universitetsforlag. p. 288. ISBN 978-87-7674-434-2.
  8. "Schwarzer Adler-orden", Königlich Preussische Ordensliste (supp. 1890–1891) (in German), vol. 1, Berlin, 1886, p. 5 – via hathitrust.org{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1900), "Großherzogliche Hausorden" p. 16
  10. Sveriges statskalender (in Swedish), 1905, p. 440, retrieved 2018-01-06 – via runeberg.org
  11. "Den kongelige norske Sanct Olavs Orden", Norges Statskalender (in Norwegian), 1906, pp. 791–792, retrieved 17 September 2021 – via www.nb.no
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