| William IV | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Grand Duke of Luxembourg | |
| Reign | 17 November 1905 – 25 February 1912 |
| Predecessor | Adolphe |
| Successor | Marie-Adélaïde |
| Regent | Grand Duchess Maria Anna (1908–1912) |
| Prime Minister | Paul Eyschen |
| Born | (1852-04-22)22 April 1852 Biebrich Palace, Wiesbaden, Duchy of Nassau |
| Died | 25 February 1912(1912-02-25) (aged 59) Berg Castle, Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg |
| Burial | Schlosskirche ("Castle Church") in Weilburg since 1953 |
| Spouse |
Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal
(m. 1893) |
| Issue | Marie-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 |
| House | Nassau-Weilburg |
| Father | Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg |
| Mother | Princess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau |
| Religion | Protestantism |
William IV (French: Guillaume Alexandre; 22 April 1852 – 25 February 1912) was Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 17 November 1905 until his death in 1912. 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 was a Protestant, the religion of the House of Nassau. He married Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal, believing that a Catholic country ought to have a 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 heiress 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, and the last to bear a regnal number.
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:
- Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (1894–1924) who remained unmarried and childless
- Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (1896–1985) who married her first cousin Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma, a son of Marie Anne's younger sister.
- Princess Hilda (15 February 1897 in Berg Castle – 8 September 1979 in Berg Castle), married in Berg Castle on 29 October 1930 Adolf 10th Prince of Schwarzenberg (18 August 1890 in Frauenberg – 27 February 1950 in Bordighera), without issue
- Princess Antonia (1899–1954), who married Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria as his second wife
- Princess Elisabeth (7 March 1901 in Luxembourg – 2 August 1950 in Schloss Hohenburg), married in Schloss Hohenburg on 14 November 1922 Prince Ludwig Philipp of Thurn and Taxis (2 February 1901 in Regensburg – 22 April 1933 in Schloss Niederaichbach), son of Albert I, Prince of Thurn and Taxis, and had issue
- Princess Sophie (14 February 1902 in Berg Castle – 24 May 1941 in Munich), married at Schloss Hohenburg on 12 April 1921 Prince Ernst Heinrich of Saxony (9 December 1896 in Dresden – 14 June 1971 in Neckarhausen), youngest son of king Frederick Augustus III of Saxony, and had 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.
Foreign honours
Duchy of Anhalt: Grand Cross of Albert the Bear, 1868
Austria-Hungary: Grand Cross of St. Stephen, 1890
Baden:
- Knight of the House Order of Fidelity, 1885
- Knight of the Order of Berthold the First, 1885
Kingdom of Bavaria: Knight of St. Hubert, 1892
Brunswick: Grand Cross of Henry the Lion, 1873
Denmark: Knight of the Elephant, 23 April 1876
Netherlands: Grand Cross of the Netherlands Lion
Kingdom of Prussia: Knight of the Black Eagle, 14 December 1890
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: Grand Cross of the White Falcon, 1890
Sweden-Norway:
- Knight of the Seraphim, 19 June 1889
- Grand Cross of St. Olav, 27 September 1897
Ancestry
 | This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Ancestors of William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg |
|---|
Notes and references
- Almanach de Gotha (1901), article "Luxembourg"
- Hof- und Staats-Handbuch für des Herzogtum Anhalt (1883), "Herzoglicher Haus-Orden Albrecht des Bären" p. 16
- "A Szent István Rend tagjai" Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1896), "Großherzogliche Orden" pp. 62, 77
- Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Bayern (1908), "Königliche Orden" p. 8
- Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Herzogtums Braunschweig für das Jahr 1908. Braunschweig 1908. Meyer. p. 9
- Jørgen Pedersen (2009). Riddere af Elefantordenen, 1559–2009 (in Danish). Syddansk Universitetsforlag. p. 288. ISBN 978-87-7674-434-2.
- "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) - Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1900), "Großherzogliche Hausorden" p. 16
- Sveriges statskalender (in Swedish), 1905, p. 440, retrieved 2018-01-06 – via runeberg.org
- "Den kongelige norske Sanct Olavs Orden", Norges Statskalender (in Norwegian), 1906, pp. 791–792, retrieved 17 September 2021 – via www.nb.no
External links
| William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg House of Nassau-WeilburgCadet branch of the House of NassauBorn: 12 April 1852 Died: 25 February 1912 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byAdolphe | Grand Duke of Luxembourg 1905–1912 |
Succeeded byMarie-Adélaïde |
| Princes of Luxembourg | ||
|---|---|---|
| Generations are numbered from the accession of Adolphe as Grand Duke of Luxembourg in 1890. | ||
| 1st generation | .svg) | |
| 2nd generation | ||
| 3rd generation | ||
| 4th generation | ||
| 5th generation | ||
| 6th generation | ||
| *also a prince of Nassau ^also a prince of Bourbon-Parma §not a Luxembourgian prince by birth, but created Prince Consort | ||
| Princes of Nassau | ||
|---|---|---|
| Generations are numbered from the accession of William as Duke of Nassau in 1816. | ||
| 1st generation |  | |
| 2nd generation | ||
| 3rd generation | ||
| 4th generation | ||
| 5th generation | ||
| 6th generation | ||
| 7th generation | ||
| *also a prince of Luxembourg ^also a prince of Bourbon-Parma §not a Luxembourgian prince by birth, but created Prince Consort | ||
| Dukes and Duchesses of Nassau | |
|---|---|
| Titular |
|
| Monarchs (duchy of Nassau) |
|
| *also Grand Duke (Duchess) of Luxembourg # Also Prince of Nassau-Weilburg ¶ Also Prince of Nassau-Usingen | |
| Monarchs of Luxembourg | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
- House of Nassau-Weilburg
- Grand dukes of Luxembourg
- Members of the Council of State of Luxembourg
- Protestant monarchs
- Luxembourgian Protestants
- 1852 births
- 1912 deaths
- People from Wiesbaden
- Burials in the Royal Crypt of Weilburg Schlosskirche
- Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary
- 20th-century Luxembourgian people
- 19th-century Luxembourgian people