Line of succession to the Luxembourgian Throne
Present monarch: HRH Grand Duke Henri (since
October 7,
2000), born
1955#
HRH Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, son of the Grand Duke, born
1981#
HRH Prince Félix, son of the Grand Duke, born
1984#
HRH Prince Louis, son of the Grand Duke, born
1986#
HRH Prince Sébastien, son of the Grand Duke, born
1992#
HRH Prince Guillaume, brother of the Grand Duke, born
1963#
HRH Prince Paul-Louis, son of Prince Guillaume, born
1998#
HRH Prince Léopold, son of Prince Guillaume, born
2000#
HRH Prince Jean, son of Prince Guillaume, born
2004Prince Jean, the current Duke's younger brother renounced his right of succession for himself and his heirs On 26 September 1986, therefore he and his sons are not listed. If this line went extinct, the line of succession would go to the heirs-male of one of the sisters of
HRH Grand Duchess Charlotte, namely Princess Sophie, whose son Prince Dedo of Saxony would become first in line.
The constitution of Luxemburg states that the crown is hereditary in the house of Nassau according to the pact of 1783 (the
Nassau Family Pact), the
Treaty of Vienna made in 1815, and the
Treaty of London of 1867.
In April 1907
William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg decreed (approved in July 1907 by legislature of Luxembourg and thereafter enacted) amendments to the
House Law of Nassau: the grand duke's eldest daughter will succeed (that provision is identical with the effect of the 1783 pact), and after her, her issue in male line born of marriages that abide the house laws; in default thereof, the grand duke's next daughters in similar fashion. Thus, issue of the grand duke's daughters received succession rights only in strict agnatic line - a male-line male descendant of a younger daughter will (presumably) have preference over female descendants of elder daughters. (Conceptually, this is not the so-called
Semi-Salic principle, since in that system, upon extinction of one daughter's male-line issue, the closest heir of the last one of that line succeeds, which means first a descendant in female line of that daughter and not yet descent from younger daughters.) The current law of succession in Luxemburg follows a special order among male lines issued from grand duke Guillaume IV's daughters.
The present law of succession is effectively the law of July 1907. It was never passed as an amendment to the Constitution, but as a regular law. The constitution of Luxembourg still stipulates only that the crown is inherited according to the pact of 1783, the 1815 treaty, and the 1867 treaty of London.
The position of husband is zero in constitutional terms from that 1907 decree onwards (identically with the position of wife of a male grand duke), as a marked contrast to medieval practice, where husband becomes reigning in wife's right.
Accordingly,
Felix of Bourbon-Parma, the husband of the second reigning grand duchess, received position and titles of effectively of that of
prince consort.
The law of July 1907 reserves for the Grand Duke the right to unilaterally amend the house laws. It has been reported that
Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg so enacted at least twice. Those amendments have not been published.