Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen

H.R.H. Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen (born January 31 1926) is the head of the Royal House of Saxony. Born in Prüfenig, Germany as son of Hereditary Prince Frederick Christian of Saxony, Margrave of Meissen and Princess Elisabeth Helen of Thurn and Taxis. He married on the 31 January 1963 in Vevey, Switzerland to Princess Anastasia of Anhalt (Born 1940); they have no children.

Succession

Main article: Line of succession to the Saxon throne

As Maria Emanuel has no children he has acknowledged as his heir Prince Alexander of Gessaphe, the son of his eldest sister Princess Anna and her late husband Prince Robert of Gessaphe. Alexander is married with Princess Giselle of Bavaria. At the time it was said that the remaining male dynasts consented to the Margrave's decision, however the Margrave's brother Albert has recently stated that he does not accept the decision. The royal line of the House of Wettin utilises semi-salic law which allows for succession that passes through a female. If the Margrave or his brother Albert were the last male dynast then this would lead firstly to the children of their sisters Maria Josepha (unmarried), Maria Anna and Mathilde, however only the Mathilde's marriage uncontestedly met equality requirements and her only son died in 1987. Therefore, if Gessaphe marriage were non-dynastic, the succession would pass to the issue of the Margrave's paternal aunts, who are Margaret (1900-1962), Maria Alix (1901-1990) and Anna (1903-1976), all of these ladies left children. With Margaret being the eldest, the heir would be her son Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (born 1924), head of the princely line of the House of Hohenzollern. The Margrave's brother Albert, however, supports discarding equality requirements to allow his cousin Timo's morganatic-born son Rüdiger (born 1953) to eventually succeed. Rüdiger has with his first wife Astrid Linke (1949-1989) three sons Daniel (Born 1975), Arne (Born 1977) and Nils (Born 1978). It should be noted, however, that there are several extant lines of the House of Wettin who individually ruled the various Saxon Duchies and the Grand Duchy of Saxony (based at Weimar). Arguably, the male dynasts of the non-royal lines should be taken into account and can be included in the Saxon royal succession.

Ancestry

External links

• House Laws of the Kingdom of Saxony (German)
• Website of his brother Prince Albert of Saxony (German)