Who would be Queen of Württemberg today?

The Kingdom of Württemberg existed between 1806 and 1918 and was preceded by the Electorate of Württemberg. Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg and then Württemberg, became its first King. The kingdom operated under Salic law, which did not allow for the succession of women. The Queens mentioned are, therefore, consorts and not reigning Queens. Any claimed titles since the end of the kingdom are titular.

King Frederick I of Württemberg was married to Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in 1780, and they had four children before Augusta’s sudden death in the midst of divorce proceedings. She was never Queen of Württemberg as she died in 1788. King Frederick remarried in 1797 to the eldest daughter of King George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Charlotte, Princess Royal. She became the first Queen of Württemberg in 1806. They had one child together, a stillborn daughter.

King Frederick died on 30 October 1816, and he was succeeded by his eldest son by his first marriage, William I, King of Württemberg. William’s first wife was Caroline Augusta of Bavaria, but they divorced in 1814 before he succeeded as King. They had no children together. He remarried in 1816 to Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, just before he succeeded as King. She thus became the second Queen of Württemberg. They had two daughters together, including Sophie, future Queen of the Netherlands, before Catherine’s untimely death of erysipelas complicated by pneumonia in 1819. As he still had no male heir, William married for a third time to Pauline Therese of Württemberg, who was also his first cousin. She became the third Queen of Württemberg. They went on to have three children – two daughters and a son.

King William died on 25 June 1864 and was succeeded by his only son, King Charles I. He had married Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia in 1846, but they had remained without children, likely because Charles preferred men. Olga was thus the fourth Queen of Württemberg. When Charles died on 6 October 1891, he was succeeded by his nephew, King William II. William was the daughter of Charles’s elder sister, Catherine, and their first cousin, Prince Frederick of Württemberg.

King William II would be the last King of Württemberg. His first wife was Marie of Waldeck and Pyrmont. They had married in 1877 and had one surviving daughter together. Marie tragically died in 1882 after giving birth to a stillborn daughter. She was thus never Queen of Württemberg. Still in need of a son, he remarried in 1886 to Charlotte of Schaumburg-Lippe. She became the fifth Queen of Württemberg, but the couple did not have any children together.

In 1918, King William II was deposed, and he officially abdicated on 30 November 1918. He died on 2 October 1921 and left his claim to the Württemberg throne to Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg. The royal line had officially become extinct in the male line, and Albrecht was a descendant of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg. Albrecht had married Archduchess Margarete Sophie of Austria in 1893, and they had seven children together before her untimely death in 1902, before Albrecht inherited his claim.

When Albrecht died in 1939, his claim was inherited by their eldest son, Philipp Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg. He had married Archduchess Helena of Austria in 1923, but she died the following year, a week after giving birth to their first child. In 1928, he remarried his late wife’s sister, Archduchess Rosa of Austria. She became the first titular Queen of Württemberg. They went on to have six children together.

Philipp Albrecht died on 1 April 1975, and his claim was inherited by his second son, Carl, Duke of Württemberg. His eldest son, Ludwig Albrecht, renounced his rights when he made an unequal marriage. Carl had married Princess Diane of Orléans in 1960. She was the daughter of Henri, Count of Paris, Orléanist pretender to the throne of France. Diane became the second titular Queen of Württemberg. She and Carl had six children together.

Carl died on 7 June 2022, and he was succeeded by his grandson, Wilhelm, Duke of Württemberg. Carl’s eldest son and Wilhelm’s father, Duke Friedrich of Württemberg, had died in a car accident in 2018.

Wilhelm was born in 1994 and is unmarried, which means the title of titular Queen of Württemberg is currently vacant.