Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern

Friedrich Wilhelm
Prince of Hohenzollern
Portrait by Günter Rittner, 2003.
Head of the Princely House of Hohenzollern
Tenure	February 6, 1965 – September 16, 2010
Predecessor	Frederick
Successor	Karl Friedrich
Born	(1924-02-03)February 3, 1924 Schloss Umkirch, Umkirch, Germany
Died	September 16, 2010(2010-09-16) (aged 86)
Spouse	Princess Margarita of Leiningen
Issue	Karl Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern Prince Albrecht Prince Ferdinand
Full name German: Friedrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Joseph Maria Manuel Georg Meinrad Fidelis Benedikt Michael Hubert
House	Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
Father	Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern
Mother	Princess Margarete Karola of Saxony

Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern^[1][2] (German: Friedrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Joseph Maria Manuel Georg Meinrad Fidelis Benedikt Michael Hubert Fürst von Hohenzollern^[1][2]) (February 3, 1924^[1][2]– September 16, 2010) was the head of the Princely House of Hohenzollern.

Biography

Friedrich Wilhelm was born in Schloss Umkirch.^[1][2] He was the eldest son^[1][2] of Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern (1891–1965) and his wife, Princess Margarete Karola of Saxony (1900–1962), the daughter of the last King of Saxony Frederick Augustus III.^[1][2] He became the head of the House of Hohenzollern on the February 6, 1965 following the death of his father Prince Friedrich, and remained so until his death on September 16, 2010.

According to the Romanian succession laws of the kingdom's last democratic Constitution of 1923, upon the demise of King Michael, provided he dies without any male children as is now likely, Friedrich Wilhelm's descendants have a claim to the Romanian throne (see "Line of succession to the Romanian throne"). In 2006, the prince publicly stated that the Hohenzollerns had 'no interest in the Romanian throne', and King Michael proclaimed an updated line of succession, with equal primogeniture, designating his eldest daughter 'Crown Princess'.

Marriage and issue

Friedrich Wilhelm married Princess Margarita of Leiningen (1932–1996) on February 3, 1951. She was a child of Karl, 6th Prince of Leiningen, and his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia.

They had three children:^[1][2]

• Prince Karl Friedrich of Hohenzollern (born 1952), who succeeded Friedrich Wilhelm as head of the House of Hohenzollern;
• Prince Albrecht of Hohenzollern (born 1954), married Nathalie Rocabado de Viets and had two children;
• Prince Ferdinand of Hohenzollern (born 1960), married Countess Ilona Kálnoky de Köröspatak and had three children.^[3]

Titles and styles

• February 3, 1924 – October 22, 1927: His Serene Highness Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Hohenzollern.
• October 22, 1927 – February 6, 1965: His Serene Highness The Hereditary Prince of Hohenzollern.
• February 6, 1965 – September 16, 2010: His Highness The Prince of Hohenzollern.

Honours

• Member of the Royal Order of the Seraphim (1961).^[4]
• Knight Grand Cross of Justice of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George.
• Knight Order of Saint Hubert.
• Officer's Cross (Merit Cross 1st Class) of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
• Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle.
• Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

Ancestry

See also

• Line of succession to the Romanian throne

References

Sources

• Obituary of His Highness Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, The Daily Telegraph, 13 October 2010

External links

• Hohenzollern website
• Theroff, Paul. "Hohenzollern genealogy". www.angelfire.com/realm/gotha/ (Paul Theroff’s Royal Genealogy Site).