Long Live the Duke

Other crowned heads may lie uneasy, but not Luxembourg's Grand Duchess Charlotte. Though the smallest country in the U.N. with an area of 999 sq. mi., Luxembourg is the world's tenth largest steel producer. Its 322,000 citizens are the most prosperous in Europe; unemployment rarely exceeds one dozen. Its biggest postwar crisis came when the victorious Allies granted Luxembourg 2 sq. mi. of German territory. Defending its territorial integrity, Luxembourg refused to take the land. Charlotte has ruled her serene, bucolic land for 42 years, making her the world's most durable head of state.

Last week the Grand Duchess, now 65, took steps to ensure that the goodly inheritance of Luxembourg would go to her first son and rightful heir, Prince Jean Benoit Guillaume Marie Robert Louis Antoine Adolphe Marc d'Aviano de Nassau-Weiburg. Under an obscure 110-year-old article in the Luxembourg constitution, she swore in Prince Jean, 40, as Lieutenant of the Grand Duke. It bestows on him all the powers of the Grand Duchess as head of state, leaving Charlotte only the title--and presumably peace of mind that when she abdicates or dies, the title of Grand Duke will pass to Prince Jean.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.