Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Adorable Amalia or How She Makes Headlines

Photo: Olivier Polet / Cour grand-ducale
"Princess Amalia of Luxembourg is adorable" - now, find the mistake! Well, of course the baby daughter on Prince Félix of Luxembourg and his wife Princess Claire of Luxembourg is adorable. And of course she is a princess; just not - in difference to her parents - of Luxembourg. However, she still is a Princess of Nassau and a Princess de Bourbon de Parme, the title her great-great-grandfather was incorporated into the Luxembourgish nobility with (and I have my doubts that the Bourbon-Parmese head of the family ever had any - for lack of a better word - 'jurisdiction' about, but that's a wholly different story).

If we want to be perfectly correct, the little princess' whole name, style and title is Her Royal Highness Amalia de or zu Nassau, Princess de or zu Nassau, Princess de Bourbon de Parme (or von Bourbon von Parma). Whether you choose the German or French versions of titles simply depends which of the Grand Duchy's official languages you prefer. With these name, style and titles she fits right into the grand scheme of things when it comes to grand ducal names, styles and titles. (Why yes, I do like to be holier than the Pope sometimes. And yes again, I do know that the use of titles isn't always 100 percent correct on this blog, There is no such person as Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume; it's either "The Hereditary Grand Duke" or "Prince Guillaume, the Hereditary Grand Duke", if you want to throw the name into the mix. The explanation why we do it is in our FAQ.)

While we do make this "mistake" very consciously, we don't give people territory designation they don't have and never had. However, as adorable Amalia has been making the headlines in the last few days for, well... her adorableness, she also often did so as a Princess of Luxembourg, a title she does not carry.

According to the Arrêté grand-ducal published on September 21, 1995 and in accordance with the changes made to the family bylaws concerning the house law published via the Arrêté grand-ducal of June 18, 2012, only the sons and daughters of the current, former, or future monarch hold the title Prince or Princess of Luxembourg.

This means that only the children of Grand Duke Jean, The Grand Duke (Henri) and the (future) children of The Hereditary Grand Duke (Guillaume) hold the title, while the children of younger sons of a (former/current/future) Grand Duke only bear the title of a Prince or Princess of Nassau. Examples of this are the children of Prince Guillaume (the younger brother of the current Grand Duke and son of the former), who all have the title of a Prince or Princess of Nassau. Princess Amalia and future children of Prince Félix (born of a consented marriage) and Prince Sébastien (born of a consented marriage) will be titled as Prince or Princess of Nassau with the style of Royal Highness as well, but, as they are not children of a former, current or hereditary Grand Duke, not the title of a Prince or Princess of Luxembourg. This is in accordance with the House Law.

Of course both the children of Prince Jean and Prince Louis also bear the titles of a Prince or Princess of Nassau but that isn't based on the House Law but individual conferral as their father's conducted marriages without consent (or they were born prior to any wedding taking place).

Or to say it with the Bylaws concerning the House Laws:
§ 4b. Name and title of Members of the Grand Ducal House and the Grand Ducal Family

Subject to the following, in paragraph 4 defined provisions, the members of the Grand Ducal House and the Grand Ducal Family, in all their official and private functions which may concern them, bear

1) the first grade marital descendants of the head of the house as well as those of the member of the house called upon to succeed to the throne according to the laws of primogeniture and their wives by marriage according to the rules of the house, have the style Royal Highness, their first name and the family name “zu Nassau” (“de Nassau”) as well as the title Prince or Princess of Luxembourg, etc. etc.

2) the second and further grade male line marital descendants of the head of the house; with the exception of the offspring of the member of the house called upon to succeed to the throne according to the laws of primogeniture (item 1); and their wives by marriage according to the house rules, have the style of Royal Highness, their first name and the family name “zu Nassau” (“de Nassau”) and the title Prince or Princess of Nassau, etc. etc.

3) those who conducted a marriage without the consent of the head of the house, the family name “zu Nassau” (“de Nassau”) as well as their previous title. The wives and legitimate offspring of this marriage bear their first name and the family name “zu Nassau” (“de Nassau”) as well as the title Count or Countess of Nassau.
For more on these questions, have a look at both our FAQ and the translation of the Bylaws concerning the House Law we provide. If any more questions arise, feel free to ask them and we will try our best to answer them.

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