Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
Charlotte | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Prime ministers | |||||
Born | Berg Castle, Luxembourg | 23 January 1896||||
Died | 9 July 1985 Fischbach Castle, Fischbach, Luxembourg | (aged 89)||||
Burial | |||||
Spouse | Prince Félix of Bourbon-Parma (m. 1919; died 1970) | ||||
Issue |
| ||||
| |||||
Catholicism |
Charlotte (Charlotte Adelgonde Elisabeth Marie Wilhelmine; 23 January 1896 – 9 July 1985) was Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from 14 January 1919 until her abdication on 12 November 1964.
She acceded to the throne on 14 January 1919 following the abdication of her sister, Marie-Adélaïde, due to political pressure over Marie-Adélaïde's role during the German occupation of Luxembourg during World War I. A referendum retained the monarchy with Charlotte as grand duchess.
She married Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma on 6 November 1919. They had six children. Following the 1940 German invasion of Luxembourg during World War II, Charlotte went into exile: first in France, then Portugal, Great Britain, and North America. While in Britain, she made broadcasts to the people of Luxembourg. She returned to Luxembourg in April 1945.
She abdicated in 1964, and was succeeded by
Early life and tenure as Grand Duchess
Born in
Her older sister, Marie-Adélaide, had succeeded their father. However, Marie-Adélaïde's actions had become controversial, and she was seen as friendly to the German occupation of Luxembourg during World War I. There were calls in parliament for her abdication, and she was forced to abdicate on 14 January 1919.[2]
Luxembourg adopted a new constitution that year. In a referendum on 28 September 1919, 77.8% of the Luxembourgish people voted for the continuation of the monarchy with Grand Duchess Charlotte as head of state.[1] However, in the new constitution, the powers of the monarch were severely restricted, thus codifying actual practices dating from the end of the personal union with the Netherlands in 1890.
Reign
By 1935, Charlotte had sold her German properties, the former residential palaces of the
The Germans proposed to restore the Grand Duchess to her functions, but Charlotte refused, mindful of her sister's experiences of remaining in Luxembourg under German occupation during the
In 1943 Grand Duchess Charlotte and the Luxembourg government established themselves in London: her broadcasts became a more regular feature of the BBC schedules, establishing her as a focus for the resistance movements in Luxembourg.
Charlotte's younger sister
In the years after the war, Charlotte showed a lot of public activity which contributed to raising Luxembourg's profile on the international stage, by hosting visits from foreign heads of state and other dignitaries, such as
In 1951 Charlotte and her prime minister Pierre Dupong admitted by decree three Swedish relatives into the nobility of Luxembourg who were not allowed to use their birth titles in Sweden. They were then named as Sigvard Prince Bernadotte, Carl Johan Prince Bernadotte and Lennart Prince Bernadotte and also, with their legitimate descendants, were given the hereditary titles of Counts and Countesses of Wisborg there.[11]
Abdication and later life
On 12 November 1964, she abdicated in favour of her son Jean, who then reigned until his abdication in 2000.
Charlotte died at
A statue of the Grand Duchess is in Place Clarefontaine in the city of Luxembourg.[12]
Marriage and children
On 6 November 1919 in
The couple had six children:[14]
- Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1921–2019), who married HRH Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium (1927–2005) and had issue.
- Princess Elisabeth of Luxembourg (1922–2011), who married HSH Franz, Duke of Hohenberg(1927–1977) and had issue.
- Princess Marie Adelaide of Luxembourg (1924–2007), who married Count Karl Josef Henckel von Donnersmarck (1928–2008) and had issue.
- Princess Marie Gabrielle of Luxembourg (1925–2023), who married Knud Johan, Count of Holstein-Ledreborg (1919–2001) and had issue.
- Prince Charles of Luxembourg (1927–1977), who married Joan Douglas Dillon (born 1935), the former wife of James Brady Moseley, and had issue.
- Antoine, 13th Prince of Ligne(1925–2005), and had issue.
Honours
- National honours
- Luxembourg:
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau[15]
- Recipient of the Luxembourg War Cross[citation needed]
- Foreign honours
- Royal Order of Fidelity (1931)[16]
- Austria
- Austrian Imperial and Royal Family: Dame of the Order of the Starry Cross
- Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
- Denmark: Knight of the Order of the Elephant – 21 March 1955[17]
- France: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour – 22 June 1923[18]
- Holy See:
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX
- Cross of Honour of the "Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice"
- The Golden Rose
- Knight Grand Cross of the
- Italy:
- Parmese Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
- Order of Saint-Charles – 20 January 1949[19]
- Netherlands: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands[20]
- Norway: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of St. Olav – 1964[21]
- Portugal:
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword– 29 September 1933
- Grand Cross of the Sash of the Two Orders – 23 January 1949[22]
- Grand Cross of the
- Spain : Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Carlos III
- Sweden: Member Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Seraphim – 14 April 1939[23]
- Thailand: Knight of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri – 17 October 1965[24]
Gallery
-
The old Berg Castle (demolished 1906),Mersch, central Luxembourg, ducal residence where Charlotte was born
-
Fischbach Castle, Mersch, Charlotte's residence, and where she died
-
Statue of Grand-Duchess Charlotte in Clairefontaine square, side view
Notes and references
- ^ a b "H.R.H. Grand Duchess Charlotte | Cour grand-ducale". www.monarchie.lu. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ "H.R.H. Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde | Cour grand-ducale". www.monarchie.lu. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ "Charlotte". WW2DB. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ "'Léif Lëtzebuerger' Grand Duchess Charlotte's defiant WWII broadcasts". Luxembourg Times. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ Bernier Arcand, Philippe (2010). "L'exil québécois du gouvernement du Luxembourg" (PDF). Histoire Québec. 15 (3): 19–26 – via Erudit.
- ^ "Grand Duchess Charlotte's US Good-Will-Tours". Luxembourg Times. 14 April 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-61149-398-6.
- ^ "World War II". Allo Expat: Luxembourg. Archived from the original on 20 February 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
- ^ "No. 36191". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 1 October 1943. p. 4352.
- ^ Kreins, Jean-Marie. Histoire du Luxembourg. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2010. 5th edition. p. 105
- ^ "Mémorial A n° 48 de 1951 - Legilux" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ "Commemoration to mark return of Luxembourg monarch". Luxembourg Times. 11 April 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
- ^ "H.R.H. Grand Duchess Charlotte". Cour Grand-Ducale. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "H.R.H. Prince Félix of Bourbon-Parma". Cour Grand-Ducale. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ http://www.luxcentral.com/art/rulers/Charlotte.gif [bare URL image file]
- ^ Albanian Royal Court
- ISBN 978-87-7674-434-2.
- ISBN 978-2-35077-135-9.
- ^ https://journaldemonaco.gouv.mc/var/jdm/storage/original/application/481fcbccfcc1a320d5df3aa68661fe82.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "Het Geheugen". geheugen.delpher.nl.
- ^ "Den kongelige norske Sanct Olavs Orden", Norges Statskalender for Aaret 1970 (in Norwegian), Oslo: Forlagt av H. Aschehoug & Co. (w. Nygaard), 1970, pp. 1240–1241 – via runeberg.org
- ^ "Banda da Grã-Cruz das Duas Ordens: Carlota Aldegundes Elisa Maria Guilhermina (Grã-Duquesa do Luxemburgo e Duquesa de Nassau)" (in Portuguese), Arquivo Histórico da Presidência da República. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- ^ Sveriges statskalender (in Swedish), vol. II, 1940, p. 8, retrieved 2 April 2020 – via runeberg.org
- Royal Thai Government Gazette (28 December 1964). "แจ้งความสำนักนายกรัฐมนตรี พระราชทานเครื่องขัตติยราชอิสริยาภรณ์มหาจักรีบรมราชวงศ์" (PDF). www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th (in Thai). Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
External links
- Media related to Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg at Wikimedia Commons
- Charlotte's page on the official website of the Grand-Ducal House of Luxembourg