Line of succession to the former Saxon thrones

Albertine Wettins

Royal House of Saxony
The Kingdom of Saxony was abolished in 1918 when King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony abdicated. The succession law until the abolition of the monarchy was semi-Salic primogeniture and required the successor to be born of an equal marriage, approved in advance by the head of the house. Accordingly, the last undisputed male member of the family was Prince Albert of Saxony, who assumed the headship of the royal house and the title Margrave of Meissen upon the death of his brother the Margrave Maria Emanuel in July 2012. This was challenged, however, by his nephew Prince Alexander of Saxe-Gessaphe who also claimed the headship based on a 1997 agreement, and who is said to have reached an agreement with Albert just prior to the funeral of Maria Emanuel which recognised Alexander as the dynasty's heir. With the death of Albert in October 2012 the dispute continued with Prince Rüdiger of Saxony, the only agnatic great grandson of the last King of Saxony, claiming the headship.
The conflict over the headship stems from the fact that the last undisputed head of the house Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen, and the other princes of his generation either had no children or, in the case of Prince Timo, had children (including Prince Rüdiger of Saxony) who were not recognised by Margrave Maria Emanuel as dynastic members of the Royal House of Saxony. The first designated dynastic heir of Maria Emanuel was his and Albert's nephew Prince Johannes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, only son of their youngest sister Princess Mathilde of Saxony by her marriage to Prince Johannes Heinrich of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, dynast of a ducal branch of the House of Wettin senior patrilineally to the royal branch.
Claim of Alexander, Margrave of Meissen
After the early death of Prince Johannes, the heirless Maria Emanuel then considered as potential heir another nephew, Alexander Afif, the eldest son of Princess Anna of Saxony and her husband Roberto Afif, despite the fact Alexander was only a female line Wettin descendant whose parents' marriage had, at the time, been morganatic,
On 14 May 1997 the Margrave of Meissen proposed his nephew Alexander Afif as heir and drew up a document that was signed by the other male and female members of the royal house (including previously non-dynastic spouses of princes) setting out that Alexander would succeed on his death. The document was signed by:
* Anastasia, Margravine of Meissen (born 1940), the Margrave's wife
* Prince Albert of Saxony (1934-2012), the Margrave's younger brother
* Princess Elmira of Saxony (born 1930), Prince Albert's wife
* Prince Dedo of Saxony (1922-2009), the Margrave's cousin. He also signed on behalf of:
** his brother Prince Gero of Saxony (1925-2003)
** his stepmother Princess Virginia of Saxony (1910-2002), widow of Prince Ernst Heinrich of Saxony
* Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony (born 1928), the Margrave's sister
* Princess Anna of Saxony (1929-2012), the Margrave's sister
* Princess Mathilde of Saxony (1936-2018), the Margrave's sister
* Princess Erina of Saxony (1921-2010), widow of the Margrave's cousin Prince Timo of Saxony.
Two years later on 1 July 1999 the Margrave adopted his nephew Alexander Afif.
Until his adoption, Alexander had used the title Alexander, Prince of Saxe-Gessaphe since 1972, based on his claim to patrilineal descent from a Maronite Christian family of historical emirs and sheikhs in Lebanon, the . retracted their support for the agreement. The following year Prince Albert wrote that it is through Prince Ruediger and his sons that the direct line of the Albertine branch of the House of Wettin will continue, and thus avoid becoming extinct. Until his death, however, the Margrave, as head of the former dynasty, continued to regard his nephew and adopted son, Prince Alexander, as the contractual heir entitled to succeed.
Immediately following the death of Maria Emanuel in July 2012, Prince Albert assumed the position of head of the Royal House of Saxony. In Albert's final interview, given after the funeral, he states Alexander still lacks official recognition as Margrave of Meissen. Prince Alexander, citing the 1997 agreement, has also assumed the headship. Albert, Margrave of Meissen died at a hospital in Munich on 6 October 2012 at the age of 77.
Prior to the requiem for Margrave Maria Emanuel, Ruediger, who had sought to be recognised by his uncle as a dynastic member of the House of Saxony but was refused, conducted a demonstration outside the cathedral with Saxon royalists in protest against the late Margrave Maria Emanuel's decision to appoint Alexander as heir. Following Albert's death, Prince Ruediger declared himself as the head of the house.
In a joint statement of 23 June 2015, the heads of the three remaining branches of the senior Ernestine line of the House of Wettin, Michael, Prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Konrad, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen, declared that, according to the house law of the House of Wettin and to traditional princely succession rules, Alexander Afif, bearing the name Prince of Saxony by adoption, were neither a member of nobility nor of the House of Wettin, nor had he succeeded Maria Emanuel as head of the Albertine branch (the Royal House of Saxony), nor were he entitled to style himself Margrave of Meissen.
The line of succession within the Saxe-Gessaphe line is:
* Margrave Alexander (born 1954)
** (1) Prince Georg Philipp (b. 1988) Prince Ruediger himself never accepted the 1997 agreement and when asked for his opinion on who the eventual successor to Maria Emanuel should be he replied that it should be himself.
Following the death of Maria Emanuel in July 2012, Prince Ruediger recognised Prince Albert as the new Margrave of Meissen and head of the Royal House of Saxony. According to the family website prior to his death Albert determined Ruediger to be his successor and instituted a clear succession plan. On this basis following Albert's death Prince Ruediger assumed the headship of the house.
** (3) Prince Arne (b. 1977)
** Prince Bernhard (1917-1986)
*** (1) Prince Wilhelm Ernst (b. 1946)<ref nameadg/><ref nameghda/>
Ducal House of Saxe-Meiningen
* 15px Duke Georg II (1826-1914)
** Prince Ernst (1859-1941), Head of the Ducal House (1928-1941)
*** Has living male non-dynastic descendants the Barons von Saalfeld
** Prince Friedrich (1861-1914)
*** Prince Bernhard (1901-1984), Head of the Ducal House (1946-1984)
**** Frederick, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (1935-2004), non-dynastical member by the first morganatical marriage of his father
***** Friedrich Constantin, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (born 1980), possible successor of the Head of the Ducal House
**** Prince Konrad (born 1952), Head of the Ducal House (since 1984)<ref name=adg/>
Ducal House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) in 1863, and Arthur, Duke of Connaught in 1899, both deferred their rights and those of their descendants to the ducal throne of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in favor of their nephew, Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany. These deferrals are not relevant to the royal Saxon succession, however British dynasts may have contracted marriages that would be considered morganatic by royal Saxon standards. If not, Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester is the senior descendant in the British male line of the Dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Otherwise, in 1932 Hereditary Prince Johann Leopold (son of Duke Charles Edward) made a non-dynastic marriage whereupon, under the then house laws, his descendants lost any rights to the succession of the ducal throne. The present Head of the Ducal House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is Prince Andreas, the grandson of Charles Edward, last reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
* 15px Duke Franz (1750-1806)
** 15px Duke Ernst I (1784-1844)
*** Prince Albert (1819-1861)
**** King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (1841-1910)
***** British Royal Family
**** Prince Leopold (1853-1884)
***** 15px Duke Carl Eduard (1884-1954)
****** Hereditary Prince Johann Leopold (1906-1972)
******* Has living male non-dynastic descendants
****** Prince Friedrich Josias (1918-1998), Head of the Ducal House (1954-1998)
******* Prince Andreas (born 1943), Head of the Ducal House (since 1998)<ref nameadg/><ref nameghda/>
******** (1) Hereditary Prince Hubertus (b. 1975)<ref nameadg/><ref nameghda/>
********* (2) Prince Philipp (b. 2015)<ref nameadg/><ref nameghda/>
******** (3) Prince Alexander (b. 1977)<ref nameadg/><ref nameghda/>
******* Prince Adrian (1955-2011)
******** Has living male non-dynastic descendants<ref nameadg/><ref nameghda/>
** Prince Ferdinand (1785-1851)
*** Prince August (1818-1881)
**** Prince Ludwig August (1845-1907)
***** Prince August Leopold (1867-1922)
****** Prince Philipp Josias (1901-1985)
******* Has living male non-dynastic descendants<ref nameadg/><ref nameghda/>
**** King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (1861-1948)
***** Bulgarian Royal Family<ref name=ghda/>
** King Leopold I of Belgium (1790-1865)
*** Belgian Royal Family
Lines of Succession in November 1918
Grand Ducal House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
* 15px Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1757-1828)
** 15px Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1783-1853)
*** 15px Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1818-1901)
**** Charles Augustus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1844-1894)
***** 15px William Ernest, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (born 1876)
****** (1) Charles Augustus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (b. 1912)
****** (2) Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (b. 1917)
** Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1792-1862)
*** Prince Hermann of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1825-1901)
**** (3) Prince Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (b. 1853)
Ducal House of Saxe-Meiningen
* 15px Duke Georg II (1826-1914)
**15px Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (born 1851)
** (1) Prince Ernst (b. 1859)
*** Had living male non-dynastic descendants the Barons von Saalfeld
** Prince Friedrich (1861-1914)
*** (2) Prince Georg (b. 1892)
*** (3) Prince Bernhard (b. 1901)
Ducal House of Saxe-Altenburg
* 15px Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (born 1871)
** (1) Georg Moritz, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Altenburg (b.1900)
** (2) Prince Frederick Ernst (b. 1905)
Ducal House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
* 15px Duke Franz (1750-1806)
** 15px Duke Ernst I (1784-1844)
*** Prince Albert (1819-1861)
****15px King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (1841-1910)
***** 15px King George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865) (British dynasts considered to forfeit succession rights)
****** 15px Edward, Prince of Wales (b. 1894)
****** 15px Prince Albert of the United Kingdom (b. 1895)
****** 15px Prince Henry of the United Kingdom (b. 1900)
****** 15px Prince George of the United Kingdom (b. 1902)
****** 15px Prince John of the United Kingdom (b. 1905)
**** 15px 15px Duke Alfred (1844-1900)
**** 15px Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (b. 1850)
***** 15px Prince Arthur of Connaught (b. 1883)
****** Prince Alastair of Connaught (b. 1912)
**** 15px Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (1853-1884)
***** 15px 15px Duke Carl Eduard (born 1884)
****** (1) Hereditary Prince Johann Leopold (b. 1906)
****** (2) Prince Hubertus (b. 1909)
** Prince Ferdinand (1785-1851)
*** 15px King Ferdinand II of Portugal (1816-1885)
**** 15px King Luís I of Portugal (1838-1889)
***** 15px King Carlos I of Portugal (1863-1908)
****** (3) 15px King Manuel II of Portugal (b. 1889)
***** (4) 15px Infante Afonso, Duke of Porto (b. 1865)
*** Prince August (1818-1881)
**** (5) Prince Philipp (b. 1844)
**** Prince Ludwig August (1845-1907)
***** (6) 15px Prince Pedro Augusto (b. 1866)
***** (7) 15px Prince August Leopold (b. 1867)
****** (8) Prince Rainier (b. 1900)
****** (9) Prince Philipp Josias (b. 1901)
****** (10) Prince Ernst (b. 1907)
***** (11) 15px Prince Ludwig Gaston (b. 1870)
****** (12) Prince Antonius (b. 1901)
**** (13) 15px King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (b. 1861)
***** (14) 15px King Boris III of Bulgaria (b. 1893)
***** (15) 15px Kiril, Prince of Preslav (b. 1895)
** 15px Leopold I of Belgium (1790-1865)
*** 15px Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders (1837-1905)
**** 15px King Albert I of Belgium (b. 1875) (Belgian dynasts considered to forfeit succession rights)
***** 15px Prince Leopold, Duke of Brabant (b. 1901)
***** 15px Prince Charles, Count of Flanders (b. 1903)

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