The following list contains current pretenders. During the monarchical period of some countries listed here, there was no
reigning house as it is known in the European sense — those are for example Tibet or the
Central African Empire. These countries have "—" in the column "House".
| Country |
Pretender
|
born
|
Pretender since
|
Link to past monarchy
|
House
|
Heir
|
born
|
 |
Albania |
Crown Prince Leka |
1939 |
1961 |
son of Zog I (self-proclaimed King from 1928 to
1939, afterwards unofficially in exile to
1961) |
Zogu |
Prince Leka |
1982 |
| Giorgio Castriota Scanderbeg |
c. 1955 |
1997 |
descendant of Scanderbeg |
Castriota-Scanderbeg |
— |
 |
Austria-Hungary |
Crown Prince Otto[1] |
1912 |
1922 |
son of Charles I (Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary etc. from
1916 to 1918) |
Habsburg-Lorraine |
Archduke Karl |
1961 |
 |
Bulgaria |
Simeon II |
1937 |
1946 |
Tsar from 1943 to 1946[2] |
Wettin (Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
line) |
Kardam, Prince of Turnovo |
1962 |
 |
Courland |
Prince Ernst-Johann Biron of Courland |
1940 |
1982 |
descendant of Ernst Johann von Biron (Duke from 1737 to 1740 and 1763 to 1769) |
Biron |
Prince Michael |
1944 |
 |
England (Jacobite) |
Franz, Duke of Bavaria |
1933 |
1996 |
great-grandson of Maria Theresia of Austria-Este, heir of the
House of Stuart |
Wittelsbach |
Max, Duke in Bavaria |
1937 |
 |
Finland |
Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse |
1926 |
1980 |
descendant of Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse (nominal King from
October to December 1918) |
Hesse |
Hereditary Prince Heinrich |
1966 |
 |
France (Legitimist) |
Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou |
1974 |
1989 |
10th-generation descendant of Louis XIV (King from 1643 to 1715) |
Bourbon |
Juan Carlos I of Spain |
1938 |
 |
France (Orléanist and Unionist) |
Henri, Count of Paris, Duke of France |
1933 |
1999 |
great-great-great-grandson of Louis-Philippe of France (King from
1830 to 1848) |
Orléans (sub-line of the House of
Bourbon) |
François, Count of Clermont |
1961 |
| France (Bonapartist) |
Charles Napoléon |
1950 |
1997 |
great-great-grandnephew of Napoléon I (self-proclaimed Emperor from
1804 to 1814 and in 1815) |
Bonaparte |
Jean-Christophe Napoléon |
1986 |
 |
Greece |
Constantine II |
1940 |
1973 |
King from 1964 to 1973 |
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
(sub-line of the House of Oldenburg) |
Crown Prince Pavlos |
1967 |
 |
Ireland (Jacobite) |
Franz, Duke of Bavaria |
1933 |
1996 |
great-grandson of Maria Theresia of Austria-Este, heir of the
House of Stuart |
Wittelsbach |
Max, Duke in Bavaria |
1937 |
 |
Lithuania |
Wilhelm Albert, Duke of Urach |
1957 |
1991 |
grandson of Mindaugas II (nominal King in 1918) |
Urach (a morgantic subline of the House
of Württemberg) |
Prince Karl Philipp |
1992 |
 |
Montenegro |
Prince Nikola |
1944 |
1986 |
great-grandson of Nikola I (King from 1910 to
1918) |
Petrović-Njegoš |
Hereditary Prince Boris |
1980 |
 |
Portugal |
Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza |
1945 |
1976 |
great-grandson of Miguel I (King from 1828 to
1834) |
Braganza (male-line descent from the House
of Capet) |
Infante Afonso, Prince of Beira |
1996 |
 |
Romania |
Michael I |
1921 |
1947 |
King from 1927 to 1930 and from 1940 to 1947 |
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen |
Frederick William, Prince of Hohenzollern |
1924 |
| Paul Lambrino |
1948 |
2006 |
grandson of Carol II (King from 1930 to
1940) |
Lambrino (descended of an annulled Hohenzollern marriage) |
Alexander Lambrino |
1961 |
 |
Russia |
Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna |
1953 |
1992 |
descendant of Alexander II (Tsar from 1855 to
1881) |
Romanov (a sub-line of the House of Holstein-Gottorp, a sub-line of the House of
Oldenburg) |
Grand Duke George Mikhailovich |
1981 |
| Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia |
1922 |
1992 |
descendant of Nicholas I (Tsar from 1825 to
1855) |
Prince Dmitri Romanovich Romanov |
1926 |
 |
Scotland (Jacobite) |
Franz, Duke of Bavaria |
1933 |
1996 |
great-grandson of Maria Theresia of Austria-Este, heir of the
House of Stuart |
Wittelsbach |
Max, Duke in Bavaria |
1937 |
 |
Spain (Carlist) |
Carlos Hugo, Count of Montemolin |
1930 |
1977 |
sons of Xavier, Duke of Parma, declared regent by Alfonso Carlos of Bourbon, Duke of San Jaime |
Bourbon |
Carlos, Duke of Madrid |
1970 |
| Sixtus, Duke of Aranjuez |
1940 |
1979 |
|
|
Warsaw |
Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen |
1926 |
1968 |
great great great grandnephew of Frederick Augustus I (Duke from
1807 to 1813) |
Wettin |
Prince Albert |
1934 |
 |
Yugoslavia[3] |
Crown Prince Alexander |
1945 |
1970 |
son of Peter II (King from 1934 to
1945) |
Karageorgevich |
Hereditary Prince Peter |
1980 |
Some of the former German monarchies are not listed here because the all eligible dynasts of the respective formerly reigning
houses are extinct (year of the dynasty's end in brackets): The duchy of Saxe-Altenburg
(1991). The principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (since 1909 in personal union with Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt), became extinct in the male line in 1971 but there are potential claimants to the principalities.
| Country |
Pretender
|
born
|
Pretender since
|
Link to past monarchy
|
House
|
Heir
|
born
|
| Empire |
 |
Germany |
Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia |
1976 |
1994 |
great-great-grandson of William II (Emperor from 1888 to 1918) |
Hohenzollern |
Prince Christian-Sigismund |
1946 |
| Kingdoms |
 |
Bavaria |
Franz, Duke of Bavaria |
1933 |
1996 |
great-grandson of Ludwig III (King from 1913 to
1918) |
Wittelsbach |
Max, Duke in Bavaria |
1937 |
 |
Hanover |
Ernst August V, Prince of Hanover |
1954 |
1987 |
great-great-grandson of Georg V (King from 1851 to
1866) |
Hanover (a sub-line of the House of
Welf, a sub-line of the House of Este) |
Prince Ernst August |
1983 |
 |
Prussia |
Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia |
1976 |
1994 |
great-great-grandson of William II (King from 1888 to 1918) |
Hohenzollern |
Prince Christian Sigismund |
1946 |
 |
Saxony |
Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen |
1926 |
1968 |
grandson of Frederick Augustus III (King from 1904 to 1918) |
Wettin |
Prince Albert |
1934 |
 |
Westphalia |
Charles Napoléon |
1950 |
1997 |
great-great-grandson of Jérôme Bonaparte (King from 1807 to 1813) |
Bonaparte |
Jean-Christophe Napoléon |
1986 |
 |
Württemberg |
Carl, Duke of Württemberg |
1936 |
1975 |
grand-nephew of William II (King from 1891
to 1918) |
Württemberg |
Hereditary Duke Friedrich |
1961 |
| Grand Duchies |
 |
Baden |
Maximilian, Margrave of Baden |
1933 |
1963 |
great-grandnephew of Frederick II (Grandduke from 1907 to 1918) |
Zähringen |
Hereditary Prince Bernhard |
1970 |
|
Frankfurt |
Nicolas, Duke of Leuchtenberg |
1933 |
1988 |
descendant of Eugène de Beauharnais (Grand duke in 1813) |
Beauharnais |
Prince Constantin |
1965 |
 |
Hesse and by Rhine |
Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse |
1926 |
1968 |
adoptive grandson (from the elder line of Hesse-Cassel) of Ernest Louis (Grand Duke from 1892 to 1918) |
Hesse |
Hereditary Prince Heinrich |
1966 |
 |
Hesse-Cassel (now united to Hesse and by Rhine, but actually an electorate and
landgraviate) |
 |
Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz |
Duke Georg Borwin of Mecklenburg, Count of Carlow |
1956 |
1996 |
morganatic descendant of Grand Duke Charles II
(Strelitz line); bears a ducal title of Russian creation; allegedly recognized as a dynast |
Carlow[citation needed] (a morganatic subline
of the House of Mecklenburg, a sub-line of the House of Nikloting) |
Duke Alexander |
1991 |
| Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia |
1976 |
2001 |
heir-representative of the Margraves of Brandenburg, to whom Mecklenburg would
have passed on the extinction of the house |
Hohenzollern |
Prince Christian-Sigismund |
1946 |
 |
Oldenburg |
Anton-Günther, Duke of Oldenburg |
1923 |
1970 |
grandson of Frederick Augustus II (Grand Duke from 1900 to
1918) |
Holstein-Gottorp (a sub-line of the House of Oldenburg) |
Duke Christian |
1955 |
 |
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Officially the Grand Duchy of Saxony) |
Michael, Prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach |
1946 |
1988 |
grandson of William Ernest (Grand Duke from
1901 to 1918) |
Wettin |
Prince Wilhelm Ernst |
1946 |
| Duchies |
 |
Anhalt |
Eduard, Prince of Anhalt |
1941 |
1963 |
son of Joachim Ernst (Duke from
April to November 1918) |
Ascania |
— |
 |
Brunswick |
Ernst August V, Prince of Hanover |
1954 |
1987 |
grandson of Ernest Augustus III (Duke from 1913 to 1918) |
Hanover (a sub-line of the House of
Welf, a sub-line of the House of Este) |
Prince Ernst August |
1983 |
 |
Nassau |
Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg |
1955 |
2000 |
great-great-grandson of Adolphe (Duke from 1839 to 1866) |
Bourbon |
Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume |
1981 |
 |
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
1943 |
1998 |
grandson of Charles Edward (Duke from 1900 to 1918) |
Wettin |
Hereditary Prince Hubertus |
1975 |
 |
Saxe-Meiningen |
Konrad, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen |
1952 |
1984 |
grandnephew of Bernhard III (Duke from 1914 to 1918) |
— |
| Principalities |
 |
Hohenzollern-Hechingen |
Frederick William, Prince of Hohenzollern |
1924 |
1965 |
great-great-grandson of Karl Anton (Prince from
1848 to 1849) |
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen |
Hereditary Prince Karl Friedrich |
1952 |
| Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen |
 |
Lippe |
Armin, Prince of Lippe |
1924 |
1949 |
son of Leopold IV (Prince from 1905 to
1918) |
Lippe |
Hereditary Prince Stephan |
1959 |
 |
Reuss-Köstritz (Junior Line) |
Heinrich IV, Prince of Reuss-Köstritz |
1919 |
1946 |
current head of the House after the extinction of the first hereditary line in 1945 |
Reuss |
Prince Heinrich XIV |
1955 |
 |
Reuss-Greiz (Senior Line) |
hereditary line ceased in 1928 through the death of Heinrich
XXVII (Prince from 1908 to 1918), so the claim passed to the
Köstritz line that year |
 |
Schaumburg-Lippe |
Alexander, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe |
1958 |
2003 |
grandnephew of Adolf II (Prince from 1911 to 1918) |
Lippe |
Hereditary Prince Heinrich-Donatus |
1994 |
 |
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen |
Friedrich Magnus, Count of Solms-Wildenfels |
1927 |
1984 |
heir via application of semi-salic law, descendant of Friedrich Günther (Prince of Rudolstadt from 1793 to 1863) |
Solms |
Hereditary Count Michael |
1949 |
| Philip, Prince of Stolberg-Wernigerode |
1967 |
2001 |
heir of Count Botho of Stolberg, to whom the Schwarzburg lands would have passed on the
extinction of the house via a pact between the two houses |
Stolberg |
Prince Georg Heinrich |
1970 |
 |
Waldeck and Pyrmont |
Wittekind, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont |
1936 |
1967 |
grandson of Friedrich Adolf (Prince from 1893 to 1918) |
Waldeck |
Hereditary Prince Carl Anton |
1991 |
