Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg, Credit – Wikipedia

Her Grand Ducal Highness Princess Marie-Adélaïde of Luxembourg (Marie-Adélaïde Thérèse Hilda Wilhelmine) was born on June 14, 1894, at Berg Castle in Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg.  At the time of her birth, her father was the Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg and her grandfather Adolphe was the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.  In 1905, her father became Grand Duke Guillaume IV of Luxembourg.  Marie-Adélaïde’s mother was Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal, daughter of the deposed King Miguel I of Portugal and Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.  Guillaume, who was Protestant, married the Catholic Marie Anne because he thought Luxembourg should have a Roman Catholic ruler.  All the rulers since have been Roman Catholic.

Marie-Adélaïde’s grandfather Adolphe had become Grand Duke of Luxembourg because of the Salic Law.  Up until 1890, the King of the Netherlands was also the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.  However, when Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands succeeded her father in 1890, she could not become Grand Duchess of Luxembourg because of the Salic Law which forbade female succession.  The Grand Duchy’s crown passed to Adolphe, Duke of Nassau via the Nassau Pact.

Ironically, Adolphe’s son Guillaume had six daughters and no sons and therefore, there was another succession problem.  There were only two male heirs, Guillaume’s uncle Prince Nikolaus-Wilhelm of Nassau and Prince Nikolaus-Wilhelm of Nassau’s son by a morganatic marriage, Count Georg Nikolaus von Merenberg.  In 1905, Prince Nikolaus-Wilhelm of Nassau died and in 1907 Grand Duke William declared the Counts of Merenberg were not dynasts and named his eldest daughter Marie-Adélaïde heiress-presumptive.

The five sisters of Marie-Adélaïde:

Marie-Adélaïde (seated on the right) with her mother (seated in the middle) and her five sisters in 1920. Photo credit – Wikipedia

Grand Duke Guillaume died on February 25, 1912, and Marie-Adélaïde became the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg at the age of 17.  Her mother served as regent until her 18th birthday.  Marie-Adélaïde had a great interest in politics and government and played an active role as Grand Duchess.  However, many of her political views were colored by her devout belief in Roman Catholicism.

In the early days of World War I, Germany violated the neutral stance of Luxembourg and invaded the country.  Marie-Adélaïde issued a formal protest which was not effective in preventing the military occupation by Germany. She decided not to resist the much stronger Germans but instead to maintain her country’s neutrality. However, during World War I,  Marie-Adélaïde developed a rather friendly relationship with the Germans, including hosting Wilhelm II, German Emperor at the palace. This caused her political opponents in Luxembourg to call her pro-German. Members of the parliament began to call for her abdication in January 1919. After consulting with the Prime Minister, Marie-Adélaïde abdicated on January 14, 1919.  Her sister Charlotte succeeded her.

After her abdication, Marie-Adélaïde entered a Carmelite convent in Modena, Italy.  Eventually, she became a nun, joining the Little Sisters of the Poor in Rome, taking the name Sister Marie of the Poor. Her health began to worsen so she left the convent and settled at Hohenburg Castle in Bavaria, Germany where she died of influenza on January 24, 1924, at the age of 29.  On October 22, 1947, her remains were returned to her home country and were buried in the Grand Ducal Crypt of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.

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