Hello. I’m Derek Scally, Berlin Correspondent of The Irish Times. I’m standing in for Denis while he is away.
Liechtenstein changes its heir ways after 400 years
When Europe’s last absolute monarchs speak, it’s always worth listening. And the House of Liechtenstein made history on Saturday by amending succession rules to allow, in future, for women to take the throne.
The announcement will not affect Prince Hans-Adam, ruler and head of state since 1989, nor his son and heir Prince Alois, but it brings to an end the last instance of male primogeniture in Europe.
“The order of succession is being changed from male primogeniture to absolute primogeniture,” said Prince Alois in a speech that gave an extra lift to last Saturday’s national day celebrations in the principality, population 41,000, tucked in between Austria and Switzerland.
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“In future the firstborn child, regardless of sex, will become heir to the throne and subsequently princess or prince of Liechtenstein”.
Prince Alois (58), declared regent by his father on the national holiday in 2004, added that the rule change would “ensure that both the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Princely House are led by the person who has been best prepared for this responsibility”.
With his wife, Princess Sophie, Alois has four children: Prince Joseph Wenzel (31), Princess Marie Caroline (29), Prince Georg Antonius (27) and Prince Nikolaus Sebastian (25). The change means that if Joseph Wenzel, the as-yet childless heir apparent, has a daughter, she will be next in line.
The change to the 400-year-old rules sees Liechtenstein follow Spain, Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands in ensuring that, sooner rather than later, Europe’s main royal houses will be women-led. Crown Princess Victoria is next in line in Sweden, as is Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth, Spain’s Princess Leonor and Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands.
Traditionally, Liechtenstein has been a slow mover on women’s rights. The conservative principality became the last European country to grant women the right to vote in national elections, in 1984.
It was another 41 years before the principality got its first woman prime minister in Brigitte Haas. The 61-year-old was on a language exchange in the UK when she heard news of the 1984 referendum result on BBC radio. “I cheered loudly while my landlady almost fell off the sofa,” Haas remembered last year.
“She was really shocked that, until that point, we didn’t have the vote for women.”
Haas has had a busy time since taking office in April 2025, in particular dealing with the fallout of a major computer hack of Liechtenstein’s banks. Earlier this month she announced that thieves had stolen a directory listing the names of about 31,000 Liechtenstein bank account holders. Haas was at pains to point out that no addresses, phone numbers or actual balance details were stolen – yet it remains a painful blow for a principality that prizes private banking and trades on a reputation for discretion.
While Liechtenstein waits for its first ruling princess, it is worth pointing out that Haas is not the first woman to take the reins of power in the capital, Vaduz.
That honour goes to Princess Franziska back in February 1859. When her husband Alois II died, she stepped in for 21 months until November 1860 to allow her son reach the age of 18 and complete his studies before becoming ruler Johann II.
Though Franziska’s time was limited, she set up the principality’s first orphan fund and a school for girls before retiring to Vienna’s grand Palais Alserbach. Still in family ownership, that gilded wonder is home today to the spectacular princely collection: an art lover’s must-see of 1,600 works by Cranach, Raphael, Rembrandt and Rubens.
Today’s most prominent Liechtenstein princess is without question Gisela, the 36-year-old cousin of Prince Hans-Adam and great-granddaughter of Charles I, the last emperor of Austria.
Last week Pope Leo XIV – Europe’s other remaining absolute monarch – appointed Princess Gisela to the Papal Council for the Economy.
It was established by Pope Francis in 2014 and given full authority over Holy See finances. She is one of seven lay people sitting alongside eight cardinals and bishops.
Gisela has had plenty of practice dealing with large sums of money in her day job heading the Industrie- und Finanzkontor, a wealth management business founded by her father, Prince Michael. That business exists in parallel to the LGT Group, the world’s largest private bank, owned via a foundation by ruling Prince Hans-Adam. That business has helped him become one of Europe’s richest royals, presiding over a personal fortune estimated at about €8.6 billion.
Liechtenstein may be small – you could fit it into Dublin six times – but it offers a considerable financial prize for its future royal heads, male or female. Princess Gisela may be far from the line of succession but, whether in Vaduz or the Vatican, she knows that plans, to paraphrase John Lennon, are the easiest way to make God laugh.
“I love tradition,” said told a panel last year, “but you can never be sure that there is a succession. From history we all know there are wars, expropriation and all kinds of things that can happen.” Indeed.
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