Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein

Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein (born Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg; 15 May 1957) is the fourth child and second and youngest daughter of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg and Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium.[1] As the sister of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg and the sister-in-law of Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein, she is a princess of two current realms and a member of the Luxembourg and Liechtenstein reigning dynasties.[1][2]

Princess Margaretha
Margaretha (standing) with her family, 1971
Born	Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg 15 May 1957 Betzdorf Castle, Betzdorf, Luxembourg
Spouse	Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein ​ ​ (m. 1982)​
Issue	Prince Leopold Princess Maria-Anunciata Princess Marie-Astrid Prince Josef-Emanuel
Full name Margaretha Antonia Marie Félicité
House	Nassau-Weilburg (official) Bourbon-Parma (agnatic)
Father	Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Mother	Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium
Religion	Roman Catholic

Biography

Princess Margaretha is the twin sister of Prince Jean of Luxembourg.[1] She was educated in the Grand Duchy, where she studied at the European School of Luxembourg (ESL), as well as in Belgium (her mother's native land), Great Britain and the United States.[3] She speaks Luxembourgish, French, English and German, having spent time in numerous countries as either student or tourist.[3] She has acquired a doctorate in the social sciences.[4]

Princess Margaretha is the patron of Dyslexia International.[5] She is also the Patroness of the Princess Margaretha Luxembourgeois Girl Guides of Leudelange and of the Crèche de Luxembourg.[6][3] She travels frequently between her home in Liechtenstein, her native Luxembourg, Brussels, where she attends conferences and meetings related to the EU-NGO in which she remains actively involved.[7] Other travel includes visits abroad with her husband, such as their 2011 visit to the University of Dallas, where the couple was hosted and interviewed on campus.[7]

Her main recreational interests and sport activities include riding, skiing, tennis, hunting, reading and modern and classical music.[3] Her reading emphasizes historical biographies and spiritual works.[7]

In 2011 Grand Duke Henri decreed that his female descendants would henceforth enjoy the right of succession to the throne without regard to gender, in accordance with absolute primogeniture.[8] Other princesses of the dynasty, descended from prior sovereigns, may still inherit the throne in the event of extinction of all male dynasts and of all dynasts descended from Grand Duke Henri, and in the order stipulated by the 1907 amendment to the 1783 Nassau Family Pact.[4][8][9]

Margaretha bears the marital titles Princess of Liechtenstein and Countess of Rietberg, as well as those due to her own royal descent, Princess of Luxembourg, Princess of Bourbon-Parma and Princess of Nassau.[1][10] As the issue of a dynastically approved marriage, her children are members of the princely House of Liechtenstein. Her son is in the line of succession to the throne of Liechtenstein, being a fraternal nephew of Prince Hans-Adam II.[1]

Marriage and children

On 20 March 1982, she married Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein at Notre Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg City.[1] He is the third son of Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein and Countess Georgina von Wilczek.[2] For the time being, this is the last dynastically equal marriage between two sovereign houses currently reigning in Europe. On her marriage in 1982 she became HRH Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein, Countess of Rietberg, the Principality of Liechtenstein recognising and retaining her use of the style Royal Highness.

They have had four children:[1]

• Prince Leopold Emmanuel Jean Marie of Liechtenstein (Brussels, 20 May 1984 - Brussels, 20 May 1984).
• Princess Maria-Anunciata Astrid Joséphine Veronica of Liechtenstein (b. Brussels-Uccle, 12 May 1985).
• Princess Marie-Astrid Nora Margarita Veronica of Liechtenstein (b. Brussels-Uccle, 26 June 1987).
• Prince Josef-Emanuel Leopold Marie of Liechtenstein (b. Brussels-Uccle, 7 May 1989).

Princess Margaretha is the godmother of her nephews, Archduke Imre of Austria and Prince Louis of Luxembourg, and of her cousin's daughter, Princess Louise of Belgium.

Honours

National

•  Liechtenstein:
  • Grand Star of the Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein
•  Luxembourg:
  • Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau[11]
  • Recipient of the Grand Duke Jean Silver Jubilee Medal

Foreign

• Portuguese Royal Family:
  • Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Isabel[12]
•  Sovereign Military Order of Malta:
  • Knight Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, 3rd First Class[4]
•  Spain:
  • Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic[13][14]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein[2]

8. Robert I, Duke of Parma 4. Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma 9. Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal 2. Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg 10. William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg 5. Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg 11. Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal 1. Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg 12. Albert I of Belgium 6. Leopold III of Belgium 13. Duchess Elisabeth of Bavaria 3. Princess Joséphine Charlotte of Belgium 14. Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland 7. Princess Astrid of Sweden 15. Princess Ingeborg of Denmark

References

1. Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels Band XVIII. Limburg an der Lahn, Germany: C.A. Starke Verlag. 2007. pp. 48, 55, 80, 82. ISBN 978-3-7980-0841-0.
2. Beeche, Arturo (2009). The Gotha: Still a Continental Royal Family, Volume 1. US: Eurohistory. pp. 39–40, 50.14, 152. ISBN 978-0-977-19617-3.
3. "Autres Membres de la Famille Grand-Ducale: La Princesse Margaretha". Informations et Actualités du Gouvernement Luxembourgeois. Le Gouvernement du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg: Service information et presse. 1 November 2006. Archived from the original on 9 August 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
4. Enache, Nicolas (1999). "La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg, Reine de Hongrie et de Boheme". L'Intermédiaire des chercheurs et curieux. Paris. pp. 62, 426. ISBN 2-908003-04-X.
5. "Dyslexia International launches new site". dyslexia-international.org. 13 October 2012. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
6. Crèche de Luxembourg
7. Howard, Christian, ed. (22 November 2011). "Royal Guests, the Prince and Princess of Liechtenstein". The University News (newspaper). Texas, US: University of Dallas. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
8. "Droits de Succession: Ordre successoral". Cour Grand-Ducale de Luxembourg. Maréchalat de la Cour. 20 June 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
9. de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal. Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. Le Petit Gotha. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery, Paris 2002, pp. 665-666 (French) ISBN 2-9507974-3-1
10. de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal. Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. Le Petit Gotha. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery, Paris 2002, pp. 632-634, 653, 666-668, 681-682 (French) ISBN 2-9507974-3-1
11. Honorary distinctions of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, publication of the government of Luxembourg: Princes and Princesses of the Grand-Ducal House of Luxembourg are Grand Crosses of the Order by birth but the decoration is worn only after they reach their majority (18 years old)
12. Order of Saint Isabel
13. Boletín Oficial del Estado
14. Boletín Oficial del Estado