# Who is the king of Luxemburg? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2013, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-king-of-luxemburg/649206 "2013-02-03T10:26:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-king-of-luxemburg/649206/21 "2013-02-05T19:18:09Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > How frequently do they hold their elections for king? I think they use the Watery Tart method. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-king-of-luxemburg/649206/22 "2013-02-05T19:23:43Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > To be entirely pedantic, both the Grossherzogtum von Luxemburg and the Furstentum von Lichtenstein were fieffs… Wouldn’t a true pedant want to correctly spell “fiefs”? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-king-of-luxemburg/649206/23 "2013-02-05T19:26:42Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Wouldn’t a true pedant want to correctly spell “fiefs”? Yes, but I was using the spelling preferred in Banff. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-king-of-luxemburg/649206/24 "2013-02-05T20:06:22Z")
I hear the hasenpfeffer in Banff is ffantastic! ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@Bob\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_X)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-king-of-luxemburg/649206/25 "2013-02-06T05:23:07Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Liechtenstein retained independence when the German and Austrian Empires were dissolved at the end of World War I. It wasn’t technically part of Austria, yet wasn’t adjacent to Germany; perhaps it was just treated as too small to bother with. :dubious: I heard (may be wrong) that Liechtenstein applied for admission to the Swiss Confederacy at that time, but was told they would have to get rid of their Prince, who was popular, so they settled for entering into a currency and customs union. The road across the Rhine into Switzerland is called Alter Zoll because that is where the “old customs station” used to be (now the customs station is on the Austrian border instead). ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-king-of-luxemburg/649206/26 "2013-02-06T07:05:03Z")
Sorry for no pull cites but: “Personal union” as a political term was mentioned twice. Whatis? **Tamerlane** , I think, mentioned “pagi.” Ditto query. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-king-of-luxemburg/649206/27 "2013-02-06T08:29:43Z")
A personal union is when two (or more) countries share the same monarch, but remain seperate countries. Like how Elizabeth II is Queen of the UK, but also Queen of Canada/Australia/Jamaica/etc. Or how England and Scotland shared a monarch for a century before they united to from a single Kingdom of Great Britain. France and Andorra are an odd example; the French President is ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra (the other Co-Prince is a Spanish bishop). And no, Andorrans don’t get to vote in French elections. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-king-of-luxemburg/649206/28 "2013-02-06T08:36:35Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > “Personal union” as a political term was mentioned twice. Whatis? Multiple states united by being virtue of having the same ruler, but still remaining politically distinct from each other, with different laws and governing bodies. So for example George III of Great Britain was at accession king of Great Britain ( created from the 1707 merger of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland ) and Ireland, and Duke-Elector of Brunswick-Luneburg, all distinct states. Then in 1801 England and Ireland were joined to form the United Kingdom and were combined into one. But Brunswick-Luneburg, itself elevated to the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814, remained a separate political entity. > [@](#): > > **Tamerlane** , I think, mentioned “pagi.” Ditto query. Plural of [pagus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagus). Basically a Roman term for what came to be called a English shire, French pays or German gau. Often under the rule of counts/comte/grafs - so “counties” work as well. So for example this map of [Alamannia/Swabia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Alamannic_pagi) shows then extant boundaries of pagi/gaue. I just used that term because it correlates with the period I was talking about in the 10th century. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-king-of-luxemburg/649206/29 "2013-02-06T16:16:11Z")
Thanks to both. So you could say “Australia has a personal union with Jamaica?” \ Actually it’s a real English-usage question, when you use the states themselves as subject. You probably don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-king-of-luxemburg/649206/30 "2013-02-07T01:06:31Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > IIRC the von Liechtensteins didn’t even live in their principality until certain events forced them to move from Vienna in 1938. But what was the good of moving to Liechtenstein? Or did that country manage to stay out of the war, and out of Germany’s clutches? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-king-of-luxemburg/649206/31 "2013-02-07T01:34:35Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > But what was the good of moving to Liechtenstein? Or did that country manage to stay out of the war, and out of Germany’s clutches? Yes and no, not entirely: [History of Liechtenstein - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liechtenstein/History#Liechtenstein_during_the_World_Wars) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-king-of-luxemburg/649206.md?page=1)