(CS) In future, the first-born child of the Grand Ducal couple, whether boy or girl will be able to accede to the throne, the royal household announced on Friday.

The announcement comes just a year after the Grand Ducal household announced it was revising the “Pacte de famille” of the Luxembourg-Nassau house.

Grand Duke Henri, as head of the family, had started the procedure on June 23 last year, which came to a close in June 2012.

While the move signals a modernisation of the royal household, it also bears witness to the Grand Duchesses, who previously ruled the country. In 1912 Grand Duke William IV ruled that his daughter Marie-Adelaïde should take the throne. With six daughters, but no sons, he wanted to preempt a succession crisis by the move.

When Marie-Adelaïde abdicated in 1919, her sister Charlotte succeeded her, becoming a symbol of national unity during the Second World War, which saw her exiled from Luxembourg during the Nazi occupation.

The revision will not affect the current order of succession.