Liechtenstein abolishes 400-year-old Salic law, opens throne to women

End of four centuries of Salic law

On 15 August 2026, Liechtenstein's National Day, Hereditary Prince Alois announced that the princely family had voted to abolish the Salic law that had barred women from the throne since 1606. The change, approved by a two-thirds majority of voting family members on the preceding Wednesday, shifts succession from male primogeniture to absolute primogeniture, meaning the firstborn child regardless of sex will inherit. Liechtenstein had been the last European state to retain the male-only succession rule.

The princely house described the reform as strengthening its long-term orientation. Alois, 58, has exercised sovereign powers since 15 August 2004, when his father, Prince Hans-Adam II, now 81, delegated those duties without formally abdicating. Hans-Adam II did not attend the public festivities due to heat.

What changes and what does not

The reform grants all female descendants of the princely house the same participation rights in house-law matters as male members. However, the immediate line of succession remains unchanged: after Hans-Adam II comes Alois, then Prince Joseph Wenzel, 31, Alois's eldest child, born in 1995.

A dispute emerged among sources over whether Princess Marie Caroline, 29, Joseph's younger sister, could become the first ruling princess. Several outlets reported that if Joseph remained childless or renounced the throne, Marie Caroline would move up. However, Blick issued a correction stating that the princely house clarified the new rule applies only to the next, not-yet-born generation. Under that clarification, Marie Caroline would be passed over in favor of her younger brothers if Joseph exited the line, since the old male-preference rule still governs the current generation. Marie Caroline married Venezuelan-born Leopoldo Maduro Vollmer, 35, in 2025.

Alois's reversal

The reform represents a reversal for Alois himself. In a 2019 interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, he spoke out against women as ruling princesses, saying the family was opposed "for stability reasons." The princely house resumed internal discussions on the topic at the end of 2025, culminating in the two-thirds vote on Wednesday.

“With this amendment to the house law, we want to ensure that both the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Princely House are governed by the person who has been best prepared for this task.”

“These are fundamentally the sons and daughters of the ruler who grow up in Vaduz and are made familiar from their youth with the particularities of the Principality and the Princely House.”

Context and limits

The princely family, which originated in Lower Austria and purchased the territory of present-day Liechtenstein around 1700, comprised slightly over 120 members as of March 2021. Alois is married to Duchess Sophie of Bavaria, and they have four children: three sons, including the firstborn Joseph Wenzel, and one daughter, Marie Caroline. Liechtenstein has roughly 40,000 inhabitants and belongs to the European Economic Area and the Schengen zone but not the European Union.

The reform does not extend to all areas where the princely house holds conservative positions. Abortion remains banned in Liechtenstein, and the princely veto would continue to block any popular vote to lift the prohibition.