Archduchess Marie Astrid of Austria

Archduchess Marie-Astrid of Austria ("Marie-Astrid Charlotte Léopoldine Wilhelmine Ingeborg Antoinette Elisabeth Anna Alberta von Habsburg-Lothringen") (born 17 February 1954 at Castle Betzdorf), is the oldest daughter and the first child of Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte. Her godparents are King Leopold III of Belgium (her maternal grandfather), and Charlotte, Grand Duchess 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. [cite web |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/royals/etc/cron.html |title=the royals and the press |publisher=pbs.org] (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and the Roman Catholic princess was unlikely, as the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701 would have had to have been repealed or modified.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 she married her second cousin Archduke Carl-Christian of Austria (born 6 February 1954) also known as "Christian", 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:
*Archduchess Marie Christine of Austria (31 July 1983) she is engaged to Count Rodolphe de Limburg-Stirum; [http://pages.prodigy.net/ptheroff/2008_1.html Paul Theroff's Royal News of 2008]
*Archduke Imre of Austria (8 December 1985)
*Archduke Christoph of Austria (2 February 1988)
*Archduke Alexander of Austria (26 September 1990)
*Archduchess Gabriella of Austria (26 March 1994)

Archduchess Marie-Astrid and her family live quietly, occasionally appearing at royal weddings and similar events.

Ancestry

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1= 1. Marie Astrid of Luxembourg
2= 2. Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
3= 3. Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium
4= 4. Felix of Bourbon-Parma
5= 5. Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
6= 6. Leopold III of Belgium
7= 7. Astrid of Sweden
8= 8. Robert I, Duke of Parma
9= 9. Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal
10= 10. William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
11= 11. Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal
12= 12. Albert I of Belgium
13= 13. Elisabeth of Bavaria
14= 14. Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland
15= 15. Princess Ingeborg of Denmark
16= 16. Charles III, Duke of Parma
17= 17. Louise Marie Thérèse of France
18= 18. Miguel of Portugal
19= 19. Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg
20= 20. Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
21= 21. Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau
22= 22. Miguel of Portugal (= 18)
23= 23. Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (= 19)
24= 24. Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders
25= 25. Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
26= 26. Duke Karl-Theodor in Bavaria
27= 27. Maria Josepha of Portugal
28= 28. Oscar II of Sweden
29= 29. Sofia of Nassau
30= 30. Frederick VIII of Denmark
31= 31. Lovisa of Sweden

References

External links

* [http://pages.prodigy.net/ptheroff/gotha/austria.html An Online Gotha: Austria]