The headship of the
Royal House of Saxony is a matter of internal dispute. The conflict stems from the fact that the last undisputed head of the house
Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen, and his brother
Albert had no children whereas their first cousin, Timo, had children (including
Rüdiger) who were not deemed members of the Royal House of Saxony because of Timo's unequal marriage. The first designated dynastic heir of Maria Emanuel was his and Albert's nephew Johannes von Saxen-Coburg und Gotha-Koháry, only son of their youngest sister Mathilde von Sachsen by her marriage to Johannes Heinrich von Saxen-Coburg und Gotha, dynast of a
ducal branch of the
House of Wettin senior
patrilineally to the royal branch. On 14 May 1997 the Margrave of Meissen proposed his nephew Alexander Afif as heir and drew up a document that was signed by the other male and female members of the Royal House (including previously
non-dynastic spouses of princes) setting out that Alexander would succeed on his death. The document was signed by: Anastasia, Margravine of Meissen; Albert and his wife,
née Elmira Henke; Dedo (for himself, his brother Gero and for their stepmother
née Virginia Dulon - his brother Timo had died in 1982); Maria Josepha, Anna and Mathilde; and Timo's third wife,
née Erina Eilts. Two years later on 1 July 1999 the Margrave adopted his nephew Alexander Afif, who had used the title-in-pretense Alexander, Prince of Saxe-Gessaphe since 1972, based on his assumed patrilineal descent from the once-sovereign
Lebanese Assaf (or
Gessaphe) dynasty,
Emirs of
Keserwan, through the
Maronite Catholic Cheikhs Afif of
Bkassine. The 1997 agreement proved to be controversial and in the summer of 2002 three of the signatories, Albert, Dedo and Gero (the latter consented via proxy but had not personally signed the document) retracted their support for the agreement. The following year Albert wrote that it is through Rüdiger and his sons that the direct line of the
Albertine branch of the
House of Wettin should continue, and thus avoid becoming extinct. Until his death, however, the Margrave, as head of the former dynasty, continued to regard his nephew and adopted son, Alexander, as the contractual heir entitled to succeed. Immediately following the death of Maria Emanuel in July 2012, Alexander, citing the 1997 agreement, assumed automatically the title of Margrave of Meissen. Albert assumed also, unilaterally, the position of head of the Royal House of Saxony. However, this claim is contradicted by Albert himself in his final interview, given after the funeral, where he states that he needs recognition as Margrave of Meissen. Albert, Margrave of Meissen died at a hospital in Munich on 6 October 2012 at the age of 77. Prior to the requiem for Margrave Maria Emanuel, Rüdiger, who had sought to be recognised by his cousin as a dynastic member of the House of Saxony but was refused, conducted a demonstration outside the cathedral with Saxon royalists in protest against the late Margrave Maria Emanuel's decision to appoint Alexander as heir. The family website of Rüdiger states prior to his death Albert determined Rüdiger to be his successor and instituted a clear succession plan. On this basis following Albert's death Rüdiger assumed the headship of the house, having stated "We will not accept Prince Alexander as head of house". In a joint statement of 23 June 2015, the heads of the three remaining branches of the senior
Ernestine line of the House of Wettin,
Michael Prinz von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach,
Andreas Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha and Konrad Prinz von Sachsen-Meiningen, declared that, according to the historical princely and house laws of the House of Wettin, Alexander Prinz von Sachsen (formerly Alexander Afif,
aka Alexander Prinz von Sachsen-Gessaphe), bearing the name
Prinz von Sachsen by adoption, is not a noble and bears a non-noble name, is not a member of the
House of Wettin, nor did he succeed the Margrave Maria Emanuel of Meissen, Prince and Duke of Saxony, at his death on 23 July 2012 as head of the Albertine branch of the House of Wettin (the Royal House of Saxony), nor have the right to assume the title of the Head of House, Margrave of Meissen." ==References==