Luxembourg
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is an independent state since the death of the Dutch King William III in 1890. From 1815, after the defeat of Napoleon’s troops near Waterloo, until 1890, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was ruled by the King of the Netherlands, who had received the Grand Duchy as compensation for the loss of his German lands. King William III died without leaving a male heir, making his daughter Wilhelmina the first of three generations of Queens Regnant. However, the succession to the Luxembourg throne was ruled by Salic law, excluding female heirs to succeed. This resulted in the Grand Duchy being passed on to another branch of the Nassau family, the cadet branch of Nassau-Weilburg, who had ruled the Duchy of Nassau until 1866. These succession rules had been stipulated in the Nassau Family Pact.
With the accession of Adolphe of Nassau to the Luxembourg throne, the country became independent of the Netherlands. The current Grand Duke, Henri, is a direct descendant of Grand Duke Adolphe.
