October 11, 1915
Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide of Luxembourg is "reported to be on the eve of abdication," reports the Marquise de Fontenoy. The Grand Duchess, who "assumed the reins of government" when she turned 18, wants to abdicate in favor of her younger sister, Princess Charlotte, 19.
The 21-year-old Grand Duchess wants to join a religious order and "take up the work of a sister of charity." Like her mother, Grand Duchess Marie-Anne, a member of the Braganza family, and her younger sisters, Marie Adelheid is a devout Roman Catholic. She is said to be "terribly wrought" by the "appalling sufferings" during the present war.
Thousands of badly wounded soldiers are being treated in German-occupied Luxembourg, and the Grand Duchess, it is said, "would be happier caring for them and tending them than occupying her throne."
As the Germans rule Luxembourg, the young Grand Duchess is nothing more than a figurehead. She appears to have "tired of her crown and is anxious to exchange it for the coif and habit of a sister of charity."
Her mother and other family members and her ministers have given up on trying to have her change her mind, but Marie Adelaide remains determined to give up her crown.
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