Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg

William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (Wilhelm Alexander von Nassau; Biebrich, 22 April 1852 – Berg Castle, 25 February 1912) was the eldest child of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He became Grand Duke of Luxembourg and titular Duke of Nassau on the death of his father on 17 November 1905. William IV was a Protestant, the religion of the House of Nassau. He married Marie Anne of Portugal, believing that a Roman Catholic country ought to have a... more

William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (Wilhelm Alexander von Nassau; Biebrich, 22 April 1852 – Berg Castle, 25 February 1912) was the eldest child of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He became Grand Duke of Luxembourg and titular Duke of Nassau on the death of his father on 17 November 1905. William IV was a Protestant, the religion of the House of Nassau. He married Marie Anne of Portugal, believing that a Roman Catholic country ought to have a Roman Catholic monarch. Thus since William IV all other Grand Dukes have been Catholic. At the death of his uncle, Prince Nikolaus-Wilhelm in 1905, the only other legitimate male in the House of Nassau-Weilburg was William's cousin, Georg Nikolaus, Count of Merenberg, the product of a morganatic marriage. So in 1907, William declared the Counts of Merenberg non-dynastic, naming his own eldest daughter Marie-Adélaïde (1894–1924) as heir to the grand ducal throne. She became Luxembourg's first reigning female monarch upon her father's death in... less