Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal

Marie Anne of Portugal
Grand Duchess consort of Luxembourg
Tenure	17 November 1905 – 25 February 1912
Regent of Luxembourg
Tenure	19 November 1908 – 18 June 1912
Born	(1861-07-13)13 July 1861 Bronnbach Castle, Wertheim am Main, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Imperial Confederation
Died	31 July 1942(1942-07-31) (aged 81) New York City, U.S.
Burial	Notre-Dame Cathedral, Luxembourg
Spouse	William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (m. 1893; d. 1912)
Issue	Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg Hilda, Princess of Schwarzenberg Antonia, Crown Princess of Bavaria Princess Elisabeth of Thurn and Taxis Princess Sophie of Saxony
House	Braganza
Father	Miguel, King of Portugal
Mother	Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal (Portuguese: Maria Ana; 13 July 1861 – 31 July 1942) was Grand Duchess of Luxembourg as the wife of Grand Duke Guillaume IV and the country's regent in the name of their daughter, Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde. She was a member of the House of Braganza.

Family

Born at Schloss Bronnbach in Bronnbach, Wertheim am Main, Kingdom of Württemberg, Infanta Marie Anne (or Maria Ana) was the fifth child and second-youngest daughter of the deposed King Miguel of Portugal and his wife Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg. As such, she was titled and styled from birth as an infanta of Portugal. At the time of her birth, her father had been exiled, and the family lived as guests in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In spite of their straitened circumstances, the daughters of Miguel I made good marriages, some to reigning monarchs and deposed heads of Roman Catholic European dynasties.

Marriage and children

Before her marriage with William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, she was considered by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria as a suitable bride to his only son and heir, Rudolf, but Rudolf did not like her and she would remain single for the next years. Infanta Maria Ana was married on 21 June 1893 at Schloss Fischhorn, Zell am See, to the Protestant Wilhelm, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, the son and heir apparent of Adolf, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, head of the House of Nassau. It was agreed that the children would be raised in their mother's Catholic faith, the religion of the overwhelming majority of Luxembourg's population.

Grand Duchess Marie Anne with her daughters August 1920.

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 (Berg Castle, 15 February 1897 - Berg Castle, 8 September 1979), married in Berg Castle on 29 October 1930 Adolf 10te Fürst zu Schwarzenberg (Frauenberg, 18 August 1890 - Bordighera, 27 February 1950),^[1] without issue
• Princess Antonia (1899–1954), who married Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria as his second wife
• Princess Elisabeth (Luxembourg, 7 March 1901 - Schloss Hohenburg, 2 August 1950), married in Schloss Hohenburg on 14 November 1922 Prince Ludwig Philipp of Thurn and Taxis (Regensburg, 2 February 1901 - Schloss Niederaichbach, 22 April 1933), son of Albert I, Prince of Thurn and Taxis,^[2] and had issue
• Princess Sophie (Berg Castle, 14 February 1902 - Munich, 24 May 1941), married at Schloss Hohenburg on 12 April 1921 Prince Ernst Heinrich of Saxony (Dresden, 9 December 1896 - Coolamber, Ireland, 14 June 1971), youngest son of king Frederick Augustus III of Saxony,^[3] and had issue

Wilhelm IV became grand duke on the death of his father on 17 November 1905, and Marie Anne became grand duchess.

Because Wilhelm was the last agnate of the House of Nassau, he had Marie-Adelaide confirmed and proclaimed heir presumptive on 10 July 1907. Upon her father's death, she became the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. Following her abdication on 14 January 1919, her sister Charlotte succeeded her on the throne.

Grand Duchess Marie Anne was regent for her husband during his terminal illness from 19 November 1908 to 15 February 1912, and then regent for her daughter, Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde, during her minority from 25 February 1912 to 18 June 1912.

Dowager Grand Duchess Marie Anne died in exile in New York on 31 July 1942, the family having fled Germany because of World War II.

Titles and styles

• 13 July 1861 – 21 June 1893: Her Royal Highness Infanta Maria Ana of Portugal^[4]
• 21 June 1893 – 17 November 1905: Her Royal Highness The Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
• 17 November 1905 – 15 February 1912: Her Royal Highness The Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
• 15 February 1912 – 31 July 1942: Her Royal Highness The Dowager Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

See also

• Descendants of Miguel I of Portugal

Ancestry

References