Principessa
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I am the Queen
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Why did Grand Duke Adolphe of Luxembourg serve as regent of Luxembourg for King Willem III of The Netherlands in 1889?
Probably due to him taking over Luxembourg after the death of Willem III. Due to salic law and the Nassau House Pact Wilhelmina couldn't succeed her father in Luxembourg and it went to distant cousin Adolphe. In 1866 the German Confederation disintegrated and the North German Confederation was established, of which the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Duchy of Limburg would no longer be part. When asked, William was prepared to sell Luxembourg to Emperor Napoleon III of France, with the tacit consent of Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck. However, when this transaction became public, Bismarck declared that the sale would be considered cause for war. At the 1867 Congress of London settling the Luxembourg question, it was agreed that Luxembourg would remain the patrimonial property of the House of (Orange) Nassau, but as a politically neutral territory. The Prussian troops were therefore withdrawn from the fortress and the castle of Luxembourg was demolished. In 1868, Luxembourg received a new constitution.Willem III's health deteriorated sharply in October 1888. In February 1889 he was no longer able to sign state documents with initials and on April 3 Willem was declared 'out of state' and the Council of State took over his duties. William recovered and on 3 May the regency was reversed. In August, while he was staying at Paleis Het Loo, his health deteriorated again. According to the court doctor, he had suffered a 'silent stroke'. He would never leave the Veluwe palace. The king suffered from diabetes and severe kidney disease. From his sickbed he gave long incoherent speeches. Willem decreed that someone from the court should always remain near him, because he was afraid that he would be murdered in his sleep. On August 31, 1890, his daughter's tenth birthday, he suffered another stroke and on September 25, his daughter got to see him for the last time. On October 29, Willem was again declared 'out of state' and the Council of State assumed its duties for the second time. On November 20, his wife Emma took over the royal authority. This regency lasted only a few days, because on November 23, 1890, the monarch died, aged 73. The monarchy then passed to the ten-year-old Princess Wilhelmina, for whom Emma was again sworn in as regent on December 8, 1890 "during her widowed state".
According to the Erneuerte Nassauische Erbverein, upon the extinction in the male line of the Ottonian Line of the House of Nassau, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg would be inherited by the head of the Walramse Line of the House of Nassau. Due to the death of Prince Alexander in 1884, it was foreseen that the Ottonian Line of the House of Nassau would die out in the male line upon the death of Willem III. In 1884 Willem III was still convinced that an arrangement could be made so that his daughter Wilhelmina could also succeed him in Luxembourg. However, Queen Emma assumed that Luxembourg would fall to the Walramse Line of the House of Nassau, so that Duke Adolf of Nassau, her maternal uncle, would succeed Willem III in Luxembourg. Luxembourg's minister of state, Félix baron de Blochausen, tried to persuade Emma to agree with the king's view, but in vain. Negotiations between Willem III and Adolf of Nassau for an agreement on the future settlement of matters such as the king's personal property in Luxembourg led to a treaty concluded between Willem III and Adolf on 30 September 1884, which definitively stipulated that after the death of Willem III, if he had no male descendants, the Grand Duchy would pass to Adolf of Nassau and his descendants, according to the Erneuerte Nassauische Erbverein. On the death of William III, Adolf of Nassau became the new Grand Duke of Luxembourg |
