Michael, Prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach


Michael, Prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach is the current head of the Grand Ducal House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, as well as the most senior agnate of the entire House of Wettin.

Prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Prince Michael was born in Bamberg, Bavaria, the only son of Hereditary Grand Duke Charles Augustus of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Baroness Elisabeth von Wangenheim-Winterstein. Among his godparents were Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia imposter, Anna Anderson, who was living with his aunt Princess Luise of Saxe-Meiningen.
When his father died on 14 October 1988, Michael succeeded as Head of the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. On 13 February 1991 he inherited the leadership in the House of Saxe-Altenburg, as that line went extinct and since 23 July 2012 he regards the Albertine royal Saxon line to also be extinct.
In 2004 he withdrew his claim for restitution of numerous properties, archives as well as priceless artwork in a settlement with the Free State of Thuringia and acquired some forest estates in exchange.
According to Semi-Salic law of succession, as the most senior agnate of the House of Wettin, Prince Michael is the general heir to Margaret of Hohenstaufen in her claim to the Duchy of Swabia.
Michael is in the line of succession to the British throne, being a great-grandson of Princess Augusta, eldest sister of King George III. As he has no sons, the current heir to the headship of the grand ducal house is his cousin Prince Wilhelm Ernst, whose only son Prince Georg-Constantin, a banker, was killed in a horse riding accident on 9 June 2018. Therefore the Grand-Ducal House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach will in all probability become extinct in the male line.

Marriages

Prince Michael married Renate Henkel, daughter of industrialist Konrad Henkel and wife Jutta von Hülsen and sister of Christoph Henkel, in a civil ceremony on 9 June 1970 at Hamburg-Eimsbüttel, and religiously on 4 July 1970 at Linnep bei Breitscheid. The marriage was childless and dissolved by divorce at Düsseldorf on 9 March 1974.
He was married secondly to Dagmar Hennings, daughter of Henrich Hennings and wife Margarethe Schacht, in London on 15 November 1980. They have one daughter: