Royal Profile: Archduchess Marie Astrid of Austria, Princess by birth of Luxembourg

Archduchess Marie Astrid Lilian Charlotte Joséphine-Charlotte Carl Leopold Ingeborg Elisabeth Alberta of Austria, Princess of Luxembourg was born on 17 February 1954 as the first daughter and eldest child of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg & Princess Joséphine Charlotte of Belgium{Source}. She has the following younger siblings, siblings-in-law, nieces and nephews and their respective families:

1. Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg (1955)
1. Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg (1957, m. 1981)
1. Prince Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1981)
1. Princess Stephanie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (1984, m. 2012)
2. Prince Félix of Luxembourg (1984)
1. Princess Claire of Luxembourg (1985, m.2012)
1. Princess Amalia Gabriela Maria Teresa de Nassau (2013)
2. Prince Liam Henri Hartmut de Nassau (2016)
3. Prince Louis of Luxembourg (1986)
1. Tessy Antony (1985, m. 2007, separated 2016, divorced 2017)
1. Prince Noah de Nassau (2006)
2. Prince Gabriel de Nassau (2007)
4. Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg (1991)
5. Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg (1992)
2. Prince Jean of Luxembourg (1957)
1. Hélène Suzanne Vestur Nassau (1958, m. 1985, div prior to 2009)
1. Princess Marie-Gabrielle de Nassau (1986)
1. Antonius Benedikt Clemens Douglas Emanuel Willms (1988, m. 2017)
1. Zeno Philippe Leopold Marcus d'Aviano Willms (2018)
2. Prince Constantin de Nassau (1988)
1. Katie
1. Felix de Nassau (2018)
3. Prince Wenceslas de Nassau (1990)
4. Prince Carl-Johan de Nassau (1992)
2. Countess Diane de Nassau (1962m, m. 2009)
3. Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg, Princess of Liechtenstein (1957)
1. Prince Nikolaus of Liechtenstein (1947, m. 1982)
1. Prince Leopold Emmanuel Jean Marie of Liechtenstein (1984-1984)
2. Princess Maria-Anunciata of Liechtenstein (1985)
3. Princess Marie-Astrid of Liechtenstein (1987)
4. Prince Josef-Emanuel of Liechtenstein (1989)
4. Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg (1963)
1. Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg (1968, m. 1994)
1. Prince Paul Louis de Nassau (1998)
2. Prince Léopold de Nassau (2000, twin)
3. Princess Charlotte de Nassau (2000, twin)
4. Prince Jean André de Nassau (2004)

Her godparents were:

1. Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg (paternal grandmother)
2. King Leopold III of Belgium (maternal grandfather)

In her youth, as one of the few eligible royal princesses from European reigning houses, she was considered an ideal candidate by match makers for marriage to The Prince Charles of Wales. Media reports in the 1970s regularly speculated about the prospects of such a marriage, the Daily Expressclaiming in June 1977 that the couple's engagement was imminent{Source} (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 rumors 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.


On 6 February 1982 in Luxembourg she married her second cousin Archduke Carl Christian of Austria. Together, they have five children and six grandchildren:

1. Archduchess Marie Christine Anne Astrid Zita Charlotte of Austria, Countess of Limburg-Stirum (1983)
1. Count Rodolphe de Limburg-Stirum (1979, m. 2008)
1. Count Léopold de Limburg-Stirum (2011)
2. Count Constantin de Limburg-Stirum (2013)
3. Count Gabriel de Limburg-Stirum (2016)
2. Archduke Imre Emanuel Simeon Jean Carl Marcus d'Aviano of Austria (1985)
1. Archduchess Kathleen of Austria (b. 1986, m. 2012)
1. Archduchess Maria-Stella Elizabeth Christiana Yolande Alberta of Austria (2013)
2. Archduchess Magdalena Maria Alexandra Zita Charlotte of Austria (2016)
3. Archduchess Juliana Marie-Christine Wilhelmina Margaret Astrid of Austria (2018)
3. Archduke Christoph Henri Alexander Maria Marcus d'Aviano of Austria (1988)
1. Archduchess Adélaide of Austria (1989, m. 2012)
1. Archduchess Katarina Marie-Christine Fabiola of Austria (2014)
2. Archduchess Sophia of Austria (2017)
4. Archduke Alexander Hector Marie Karl Leopold Marcus d'Aviano of Austria (1990)
5. Archduchess Gabriella Maria Pilar Yolande Joséphine Charlotte of Austria (1994)
1. Prince Henri of Bourbon-Parma (engaged in October 2017)
1. Victoria Antonia Marie-Astrid Lydia de Bourbon-Parma (illegitimate, born prior to her parents marriage, 2017)

Marie-Astrid is also godmother to

• Prince Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg (her nephew, 1981)
• Archduke Joseph of Austria (her nephew through her husband, 1991)
• Anna Maria von Auersperg-Trautson (her adopted niece through her husband)

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