Archduke

Archduke is the title that was used only by members of the Imperial and Royal Family of Austria-Hungary. The feminine form of archduke is archduchess. Queen Marie Antoinette of France was born an archduchess of the Holy Roman Empire.

Until 1918, the royal family of Austria were the Habsburgs, who over years of very shrewd marriages had attained a status of world power. With the loss of World War I, the empire of Austria-Hungary collapsed as did the monarchy. However, the archdukes and archduchesses still exist, although legally it is not a title--since titles and the peerage system were abolished in Austria. The Habsburgs today live in Austria and Switzerland (with the exception of Katharine Margaret-Anne Zita Habsburg, who travels between Europe and the United States), which had been the ancestral lands of the Habsburgs for generations. Every royal family in existence today is in some way or another connected to the Habsburgs--which for a while was considered THE royal family. Today, however, the title of archduke is not official and its use is illegal in Austria. Katharine Habsburg attends school in the USA under a different surname, and is reputed to live in Pennslyvania.

See also list of rulers of Austria.