[January 24] Marie-Adélaïde, grand duchess of Luxembourg

True Name: Maria Adelheid Theresia Hilda Antonia Wilhelmina
Parents: William IV, grand duke of Luxembourg, and Marie Anna of Portugal

Date of Birth: 14 June 1894

Royal House: Nassau-Weilburg

Spouse: Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Reign: 1912 – 1919

Predecessor: William IV

Summary: Marie-Adélaïde was the first female reigning monarch of Luxembourg since it became an independent state in 1815. She was the eldest of six daughters of William IV and she became queen upon her father's death. Her mother served as her regent for the first year of her reign, as Marie-Adélaïde was only 17 at the time.

Unlike many modern monarchs, Marie-Adélaïde took an active role in politics, and it proved to be her undoing. She was a Catholic in a Protestant country, which set things off on a bad foot. In 1914, the German Empire invaded Luxembourg and Marie-Adélaïde took a stance of neutrality but was cordial with her German occupiers. This relationship caused the French to label her as pro-German and the Luxembourg parliament demanded her abdication in January 1919. France and Belgium also wished to annex the small grand duchy on their borders, so encouraged the abdication. Marie-Adélaïde abdicated on January 14, 1919 and was succeeded by her younger sister Charlotte. She went into exile and toured Europe for a year before joining a Carmelite convent in Italy in 1920. She moved to Bavaria in 1923 due to sickness, and died of influenza early the next year.

Date of Death: 24 January 1924

Successor: Charlotte

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Caligula, emperor of Rome (41)
• Stephen III, pope of Rome (772)
• Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor (1002)
• David IV, king of Georgia (1125)
• Alfonso IV, king of Aragón (1366)
• Ferdinand II, archduke of Austria (1595)
• Marie-Adélaïde, grand duchess of Luxembourg (1924)