Children Princess Leonie Spouse Dagmar Hennings (m. 1980) | Name Michael, of Issue Princess Leonie | |
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Reign 14 October 1988 - present Mother Baroness Elisabeth of Wangenheim-Winterstein House Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Parents Baroness Elisabeth of Wangenheim-Winterstein Grandparents William Ernest, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen Great-grandparents | ||
Heir-Presumptive Prince Wilhelm Ernst | ||
Michael, Prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (German: Michael Prinz von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) (born 15 November 1946) 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.
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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 of Wangenheim-Winterstein (1912–2010). 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 in 1988, Michael succeeded as Head of the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. In 1991 he inherited the leadership in the House of Saxe-Altenburg, as that line went extinct and since 2012 he regards the Albertine royal Saxon line to also be extinct.
In 2004 he withdrew his claim for restitution of numerous properties, archives (partly including those of Schiller and Goethe) as well as priceless artwork in a settlement with the Free State of Thuringia and acquired some forest estates in exchange.
Michael is in the line of succession to the British throne, being a great5-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 (b. 1946), followed by Wilhelm Ernst's son Prince Constantin (b. 1977).
Marriages
Prince Michael married Renate Henkel (b. Heidelberg, 17 September 1947), daughter of Konrad Henkel and wife Jutta von Hülsen and sister of Christoph Henkel, in a civil ceremony 9 June 1970 at Hamburg-Eimsbüttel. They were married 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 (b. Niederpöcking, 24 June 1948), daughter of Henrich Hennings and wife Margarethe Schacht, in London on 15 November 1980. They have one daughter: