Luxembourg · 100th anniversary of Grand Duchess Charlotte's accession to the throne and wedding

Charlotte was born in 1896 as the daughter of the Luxembourg Grand Duke Wilhelm IV. She came to head the state in a tense domestic and foreign political situation. Her elder sister Marie-Adelheid abdicated in January 1919. During the German occupation of Luxembourg in the First World War, she had been accused of a lack of neutrality because of her contacts with the occupation authorities and her political stance. After the end of the war, this also placed the monarchy under pressure.

A few months after Charlotte took office, the Luxembourg population voted in a referendum on the form of government. A clear majority voted to retain the monarchy and for Charlotte to remain head of state. At the same time, the political order was democratised in 1919: universal suffrage, including women’s suffrage, was introduced, and the Constitution stated more clearly that state authority emanates from the nation. As a constitutional Grand Duchess, Charlotte remained bound by the powers defined in the Constitution.

During the Second World War, she left the country with her family after the German invasion in 1940. From her exile, including through BBC radio broadcasts, she addressed the Luxembourg population. The grand ducal family and the government in exile helped represent Luxembourg as an independent state to the Allies. Charlotte returned in 1945 after the liberation.

Her reign ended in 1964 with her abdication in favour of her son Jean. The present Grand Duke Henri is her grandson. The joint depiction of the two heads of state therefore refers to the dynastic continuity of the House of Luxembourg-Nassau. The issue commemorating the anniversary also relates to Luxembourg’s remembrance of the 1919 state crisis, the confirmation of the monarchy by the referendum, and Charlotte’s role during the occupation.