Archduchess Marie Astrid of Austria
Encyclopedia
| {infobox hrhstyles|royal name=Archduchess Marie-Astrid of Austria |image=|dipstyle=Her Imperial and Royal Highness Imperial and Royal Highness Imperial and Royal Highness is a style possessed by someone who either through birth or marriage holds two individual styles, Imperial Highness and Royal Highness.... |offstyle=Your Imperial and Royal Highness|altstyle=Ma'am}} |
Archduchess Marie Astrid of Austria (née
NEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Princess Marie Astrid of Luxembourg; born 17 February 1954 at Castle Betzdorf), is the oldest daughter and the first child of Grand Duke Jean
Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg ruled Luxembourg from 1964 to 2000. He is the father of the current ruler, Grand Duke Henri, and the son of Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma...
and Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte, and the wife of Archduke Carl Christian of Austria
Archduke Carl Christian of Austria
Archduke Carl Christian of Austria is a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and Archduke and Prince of Austria, Prince of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia...
. Her godparents are King Leopold III of Belgium
Leopold III of Belgium
Leopold III reigned as King of the Belgians from 1934 until 1951, when he abdicated in favour of the Heir Apparent,...
(her maternal grandfather), and Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg was the reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from 1919 to 1964.-Early life and life as Grand Duchess:...
(her paternal grandmother).
Biography
In her youth, as one of the few eligible royal princesses from European reigning houses, she was considered an ideal candidate by royal watchers for marriage to Charles, Prince of WalesCharles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
. Media reports in the 1970s regularly speculated about the prospects of such a marriage, the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
claiming in June 1977 that the couple's engagement was imminent. (Unconfirmed media reports in the British press claimed that Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
had prevented a marriage by refusing under Ne Temere
Ne Temere
Ne Temere was a decree of the Roman Catholic Congregation of the Council regulating the canon law of the Church about marriage for practising Roman Catholics....
to accept that the children of the couple could not be brought up Roman Catholic.)
It has been since suggested that the marriage rumours were a result of efforts to detect a leaker in the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
. In reality, a marriage between the British heir and the Roman Catholic princess was unlikely, as the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701
Act of Settlement 1701
The Act of Settlement is an act of the Parliament of England that was passed in 1701 to settle the succession to the English throne on the Electress Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant heirs. The act was later extended to Scotland, as a result of the Treaty of Union , enacted in the Acts of Union...
would have had to have been repealed or modified.
The Archduchess studied in Luxembourg and also in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. She received her diploma as a registered nurse
Registered nurse
A registered nurse is a nurse who has graduated from a nursing program at a university or college and has passed a national licensing exam. A registered nurse helps individuals, families, and groups to achieve health and prevent disease...
in 1974, and finished her education in 1977, with a nursing certificate in tropical medicine from the Prince Leopold Institute.
She has been the President of the Red Cross for Luxembourg Youth since 1970.
Marriage
On 6 February 1982 in LuxembourgLuxembourg (city)
The city of Luxembourg , also known as Luxembourg City , is a commune with city status, and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers in southern Luxembourg...
she married her second cousin Archduke Carl Christian of Austria
Archduke Carl Christian of Austria
Archduke Carl Christian of Austria is a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and Archduke and Prince of Austria, Prince of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia...
(born in Belœil, 6 February 1954) also known as Christian, 1,289th Knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
of the Order of the Golden Fleece
Order of the Golden Fleece
The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...
in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, younger son of Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria
Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria (1918–2007)
Archduke Carl Ludwig Maria Franz Joseph Michael Gabriel Antonius Robert Stephan Pius Gregor Ignatius Markus d'Aviano of Austria, also known as Carl Ludwig Habsburg-Lothringen was...
(himself the fourth son of Emperor Charles I of Austria) and his wife Princess Yolande of Ligne, of the prominent Belgian noble family, the House of Ligne
House of Ligne
The House of Ligne is one of the oldest Belgian noble families, dating back to the eleventh century. It s name comes from the village in which it originated, between Ath and Tournai. The lords of Ligne belonged to the entourage of the Count of Hainaut at the time of the Crusades...
.
They have five children:
- Archduchess Marie Christine Anne Astrid Zita Charlotte of Austria (b. 31 July 1983), Countess of Limburg-Stirum: she married Count Rodolphe de Limburg-StirumHouse of Limburg-StirumThe house of Limburg-Stirum, which adopted its name in the 12th century from the castle of Limburg an der Lenne in what is now Germany, descends from the Ezzonen dynasty in the 9th century, making it one of the oldest families in Europe....
on 6 December 2008 in MechelenMechelenMechelen Footnote: Mechelen became known in English as 'Mechlin' from which the adjective 'Mechlinian' is derived...
, Belgium. They have one son:- Count Léopold de Limburg-Stirum (b. 19 April 2011).
- Archduke Imre Emanuel Simeon Jean Carl Marcus d'Aviano of Austria (b. 8 December 1985).
- Archduke Christoph Henri Alexander Maria Marcus d'Aviano of Austria (b. 2 February 1988).
- Archduke Alexander Hector Marie Karl Leopold Marcus d'Aviano of Austria (b. 26 September 1990).
- Archduchess Gabriella Maria Pilar Yolande Joséphine Charlotte of Austria (b. 26 March 1994).
Archduchess Marie-Astrid and her family live quietly, occasionally appearing at royal weddings and similar events.
Titles and styles
- 17 February 1954 - 6 February 1982: Her Royal Highness Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg, Princess of Nassau, Princess of Bourbon-Parma
- 6 February 1982 – present: Her Imperial and Royal Highness Archduchess Marie-Astrid of Austria, Princess Imperial of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, Princess of Luxembourg, Princess of Nassau, Princess of Bourbon-Parma