Archduchess Marie-Astrid of Austria
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Archduchess Marie Astrid of Austria (née Princess Marie Astrid of Luxembourg; born 17 February 1954 at Castle Betzdorf) is the elder daughter and eldest child of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg and Princess Joséphine Charlotte of Belgium, and the wife of Archduke Carl Christian of Austria. Her godparents are King Leopold III of Belgium (her maternal grandfather) and Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg (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 Wales. Media reports in the 1970s regularly speculated about the prospects of such a marriage, the Daily Express claiming in June 1977 that the couple's engagement was imminent.[1] (Unconfirmed media reports in the British press claimed that Pope Paul VI had prevented a marriage by refusing under Ne Temere 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. In reality, a marriage between the British heir and the Roman Catholic princess was unlikely, as the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701 would have had to have been repealed or modified.
The Archduchess studied in Luxembourg and also in Belgium. She received her diploma as a registered nurse 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 Luxembourg she married her second cousin Archduke Carl Christian of Austria (born in Belœil, 6 February 1954) also known as Christian, 1,289th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Austria, younger son of Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria (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.
They have five children and five grandchildren:
- Archduchess Marie Christine Anne Astrid Zita Charlotte of Austria (b. Brussels, 31 July 1983), Countess of Limburg-Stirum after her marriage on 6 December 2008 in Mechelen, Belgium, to Count Rodolphe de Limburg-Stirum (b. Uccle, 20 March 1979).[2] They have two sons:
- Count Léopold Menno Philippe Gabriel François-Xavier Marie Joseph Ghislain de Limburg-Stirum (b. 19 April 2011).
- Count Constantin de Limburg-Stirum (b. 25 October 2013).
- Archduke Imre Emanuel Simeon Jean Carl Marcus d'Aviano of Austria (b. 8 December 1985) married on 8 September 2012 Kathleen Elizabeth Walker (b. Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 1986) in Washington, D.C..[3][4] They have two daughters:
- Archduke Christoph Henri Alexander Maria Marcus d'Aviano of Austria (b. Geneva, 2 February 1988), who married Adélaïde Marie Béatrice Drapé-Frisch (b. Lilas, 4 September 1989) on 28 December (civil) and 29 December 2012 (religious) in Nancy.[7] They have a daughter:
- Archduchess Katarina Marie-Christine Fabiola of Austria (b. 22 December 2014) [8]
- Archduke Alexander Hector Marie Karl Leopold Marcus d'Aviano of Austria (b. Meyrin, 26 September 1990).
- Archduchess Gabriella Maria Pilar Yolande Joséphine Charlotte of Austria (b. Geneva, 26 March 1994).
Marie-Astrid is also godmother to Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Archduke Joseph of Austria and Anna Maria von Auersperg-Trautson.
Archduchess Marie-Astrid and her family live quietly, occasionally appearing at royal weddings and similar events.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
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 and Princess Imperial Marie-Astrid of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Princess of Luxembourg, Princess of Nassau, Princess of Bourbon-Parma
Honours
National honours
See also List of honours of the Luxembourgish Grand-Ducal Family by country
As Princess of Luxembourg, at 18 years old :
Luxembourg : Grand Cross of Order of Adolphe of Nassau (by birth, on 18 years old)[9]- Luxembourg : Commemorative Silver Jubilee Medal of His Royal Highness The Grand Duke Jean (12 November 1989).
Foreign honours
Iran : Commemorative Medal of the 2500th Anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire (14 October 1971).[10][11]
Spain : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (8 July 1980).[12][13]
Ancestry
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References
- ^ "the royals and the press". pbs.org.
- ^ Paul Theroff's Royal News of 2008
- ^ Lux-arazzi, Archduke "marries American"
- ^ Tageblatt.lu (German), Photos from the wedding
- ^ http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/its-girl.html
- ^ http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2016/02/a-new-habsburg.html
- ^ Information given on the blog "Royalement-Blog" (French)
- ^ http://www.noblesseetroyautes.com/2015/01/naissance-de-larchiduchesse-katarina-dautriche/
- ^ 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 worm only after they reach their majority (18 years old).
- ^ Badraie
- ^ Badraie
- ^ Boletín Oficial del Estado
- ^ Boletín Oficial del Estado
Generations are numbered from the ascension of Adolphe as Grand Duke of Luxembourg in 1890. | ||
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All princesses of Luxembourg are also princesses of Nassau. *also a princess of Bourbon-Parma by birth | ||
The generations are numbered from the ascension of William as Duke of Nassau in 1816. | ||
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