Following the death of Maria Emanuel in July 2012 he assumed the headship of the Royal House of Saxony, based on a 1997 agreement that named him heir, but which was repudiated a few years later by a number of signatories.

[3] In July 2012 Alexander gave a controversial interview where he criticised what he saw as ingratitude and a lack of etiquette on the part of the people in the former East Germany (which includes Saxony).

[1][5] The first designated dynastic heir of Maria Emanuel was his and Albert's nephew Prince Johannes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, only son of their youngest sister Princess Mathilde of Saxony by her marriage to Prince Johannes Heinrich of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, dynast of a ducal branch of the House of Wettin senior patrilineally to the royal branch.

[1] After the early death of Prince Johannes, the childless Maria Emanuel then considered as potential heir another nephew, Alexander Afif, the eldest son of his elder sister Princess Anna of Saxony and her husband Roberto Afif, despite the Afif-Saxony marriage being contrary to the traditional laws of the House of Saxony which required equal marriages for descendants to inherit dynastic rights.

[11] Until his death, however, the Margrave, as head of the former dynasty, continued to regard his nephew and adopted son, Prince Alexander, as the contractual heir entitled to succeed.

Immediately following the death of Maria Emanuel in July 2012, Prince Alexander, citing the 1997 agreement, assumed automatically the title of Margrave of Meissen.