Portrait of Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

Birthday profile

Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from 1919 to 1964

Born
January 23, 1896
Died
July 9, 1985
Zodiac sign
Aquarius
Birth year
1896

About Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

Charlotte (Charlotte Adelgonde Elisabeth Marie Wilhelmine; 23 January 1896 – 9 July 1985) was Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from 14 January 1919 until her abdication on 12 November 1964. Her reign is the longest of any Luxembourgish monarch since 1815 when the country was elevated to a Grand Duchy. She acceded to the throne on 14 January 1919 following the abdication of her sister, Marie-Adélaïde, due to political pressure over Marie-Adélaïde's role during the German occupation of Luxembourg during World War I. A referendum retained the monarchy with Charlotte as Grand Duchess regnant. She married Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma on 6 November 1919. They had six children. Following the 1940 German invasion of Luxembourg during World War II, Charlotte went into exile: first in France, then Portugal, Great Britain, and North America. While in Britain, she made broadcasts to the people of Luxembourg. She returned to Luxembourg in April 1945. She abdicated in 1964, and was succeeded by her son, Jean, later dying from cancer on 9 July 1985. She was the last agnatic member of the House of Nassau, and the last personal recipient of the Golden Rose. Since her death, there are no living personal recipients of that honour, which in modern times has been awarded by the Pope only to churches and shrines. She is to date the most recent Grand Duchess of Luxembourg in her own right. The Germans proposed to restore the Grand Duchess to her functions, but Charlotte refused, mindful of her sister's experiences of remaining in Luxembourg under German occupation during the First World War.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg timeline

  1. Her reign is the longest of any Luxembourgish monarch since 1815 when the country was elevated to a Grand Duchy.
  2. Following the 1940 German invasion of Luxembourg during World War II, Charlotte went into exile: first in France, then Portugal, Great Britain, and North America.

The world when Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg was born

Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg was born in 1896. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst modern Olympic Games held in Athens
  • Top headlinePlessy v. Ferguson — "separate but equal" upheld
  • Technology milestoneGuglielmo Marconi patents wireless telegraph (radio)
  • World population~1.56B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderGrover Cleveland
  • U.S. population69.0M

1896 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18962026
Population69.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.