Maria Emanuel von Sachsen, Markgraf von Meißen

Golden Fleece - Knights: Austrian Branch

• Maria Emanuel, Margrave von Meissen
• Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen (born 31 January 1926) is the head of the Royal House of Saxony.

Born in Schloss Prüfening, Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany as son of Hereditary Prince Frederick Christian of Saxony, Margrave of Meissen and Princess Elisabeth Helene of Thurn and Taxis.

He and Princess Anastasia of Anhalt (born 1940) were married on 31 January 1963 in Vevey, Switzerland. They have no children.

As Maria Emanuel has no children he has acknowledged as his heir Prince Alexander of Saxe-Gessaphe, the son of his eldest sister Princess Anna and her late husband Prince Robert of Gessaphe. Alexander is married to Princess Gisela of Bavaria. At the time it was said that the remaining male dynasts consented to the Margrave's decision, however the Margrave's brother Albert has recently stated that he does not accept the decision. The royal line of the House of Wettin applies semi-salic law, which allows for inheritance through a female. If the Margrave or his brother Albert were the last male dynast then this would lead firstly to the children of their sisters Maria Josepha (unmarried), Maria Anna and Mathilde, but only Mathilde's marriage uncontestedly met equality requirements and her only son died in 1987. Therefore, if the Gessaphe marriage were non-dynastic, the succession would pass to the issue of the Margrave's paternal aunts, who are Margarete Karola (1900–1962), Maria Alix (1901–1990) and Anna (1903–1976), all of whom left children. Margaret being the eldest, the heir would be her grandson Karl Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern (born 1932), head of the princely line of the House of Hohenzollern. The Margrave's brother Albert, however, supports discarding equality requirements to allow his cousin Timo's morganatic-born son Rüdiger (born 1953) to eventually succeed. Rüdiger has with his first wife Astrid Linke (1949–1989) three sons Daniel (born 1975), Arne (born 1977) and Nils (born 1978). There are several extant lines of the House of Wettin who individually ruled the various Saxon Duchies and the Grand Duchy of Saxony (based at Weimar). Arguably, the male dynasts of the non-royal lines should be taken into account and can be included in the Saxon royal succession.