Archduchess Marie Astrid of Austria

Archduchess Marie-Astrid of Austria[1] (née Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg; born 17 February 1954 at Castle Betzdorf) is the elder daughter and eldest child of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg and Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium, and the wife of Archduke Carl Christian of Austria.

Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg
Born	(1954-02-17) 17 February 1954 Castle Betzdorf, Betzdorf, Luxembourg
Spouse	Archduke Carl Christian of Austria ​ ( m. 1982)
Issue	Marie Christine Imre Christoph Alexander Gabriella
Full name Marie-Astrid Liliane Charlotte Léopoldine Wilhelmine Ingeborg Antoinette Élisabeth Anne Alberte
House	Nassau-Weilburg (official) Bourbon-Parma (agnatic)
Father	Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Mother	Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Biography

Marie Astrid at her father's enthronement in 1964

Her godparents were King Leopold III of Belgium (her maternal grandfather) and Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg (her paternal grandmother).

In her youth, as one of the few eligible princesses from European reigning houses, she was considered an ideal candidate by match makers for marriage to Charles, Prince of Wales. Media reports in the 1970s speculated about the prospects of such a marriage, the Daily Express claiming in June 1977 that the couple's engagement was imminent.[2] (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 rumours 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and the Roman Catholic princess was unlikely, as the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701 would have had to have been repealed or modified.

Marie-Astrid 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.

Marriage

On 6 February 1982 in Luxembourg she married her second cousin Archduke Carl Christian of Austria (born in Belœil, 26 August 1954), younger son of Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria (himself the fourth son of Emperor Charles I of Austria) and his wife Princess Yolande of Ligne, of the prominent Belgian noble family, the House of Ligne. They have five children.

Marie-Astrid is also godmother to Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Archduke Joseph of Austria and Anna Maria von Auersperg-Trautson.

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

Honours

National honours

As Princess of Luxembourg, at 18 years old :

•  Luxembourg: Knight Grand Cross of Order of Adolphe of Nassau (by birth, on 18 years old)[3]
•  Luxembourg : Commemorative Silver Jubilee Medal of His Royal Highness The Grand Duke Jean (12 November 1989).

Foreign honours

•  Iran : Commemorative Medal of the 2500th Anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire (14 October 1971).
•  Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (8 July 1980).[4][5]

References

1. Grand Ducal Court of Luxembourg
2. "the royals and the press". pbs.org.
3. Honorary distinctions of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, publication of the government of Luxembourg : Princes and Princesses of the Grand-Ducal House of Luxembourg are Grand Crosses of the Order by birth but the decoration is worm only after they reach their majority (18 years old).
4. Boletín Oficial del Estado
5. Boletín Oficial del Estado