William, Prince of Hohenzollern

William
Prince of Hohenzollern

Head of the Princely House of Hohenzollern
Predecessor Leopold
Successor Frederick
Born (1864-03-07)7 March 1864
Schloss Benrath, near Düsseldorf, Rhine Province, Prussia
Died 22 October 1927(1927-10-22) (aged 63)
Sigmaringen, Province of Hohenzollern, Germany
Spouse Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Prince Adelgunde of Bavaria
Issue Augusta Victoria, Queen of Portugal
Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern
Francis Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern-Emden
Full name
German: Wilhelm August Karl Joseph Peter Ferdinand Benedikt
House Hohenzollern
Father Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern
Mother Infanta Antónia of Portugal

William, Prince of Hohenzollern[1][2] (German: Wilhelm August Karl Joseph Peter Ferdinand Benedikt Fürst von Hohenzollern[1][2]) (7 March 1864, in Schloss Benrath, near Düsseldorf[1][2] – 22 October 1927, in Sigmaringen[1][2]) was the eldest son[1][2] of Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern and Infanta Antónia of Portugal.[1][2] His maternal grandparents were Maria II of Portugal and her King consort Ferdinand II of Portugal.

William was an older brother of Ferdinand of Romania. His maternal first cousins included (among others) Carlos I of Portugal, Infante Afonso, Duke of Porto, Frederick Augustus III of Saxony, and Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony.

Between 1880 and 1886, William was heir presumptive to the Romanian throne. On 20 December 1886, he renounced the rights to succeed to the throne of the Kingdom of Romania.[3]

Presumably, William is referred to as W. Hohenzollern in Rudyard Kippling's 1890 poem, "An Imperial Rescript," a poem which speaks of mankind's capitalistic nature over socialism.

Family

Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

On 27 June 1889, William married Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.[1][2] Her parents were Prince Louis, Count of Trani and Mathilde Ludovika, Duchess in Bavaria. Louis was the eldest son of Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies and his second wife Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria. Mathilde was the fourth daughter of Maximilian, Duke in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria. William and Maria Teresa had three children:[1][2]

William succeeded his father as Prince of Hohenzollern on 8 June 1905. His wife died on 1 May 1909. On 20 January 1915, Wilhelm married secondly Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria. She was a daughter of Ludwig III of Bavaria and Maria Theresia of Austria-Este. There were no children from this marriage.

His title was effectively abolished with the collapse of the German Empire in 1918. He continued to use his princely surname anyway.

Romanian succession

On 22 November 1880, William's father, Prince Leopold, renounced his rights to the succession of the principality of Romania[4] in favour of his sons.

Having become familiar with the situation in Romania, the 22-year-old William renounced all rights to the succession of the kingdom (since 1881) of Romania by a letter in French dated on 20 December 1886.[3]

In 1914, upon the death of king Carol I of Romania, William's next brother Ferdinand succeeded in Romania.

Titles and styles

Ancestry

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lundy, Darryl (10 May 2003). "Wilhelm Fürst von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen". thePeerage.com. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Paul Theroff. "HOHENZOLLERN". Paul Theroff's Royal Genealogy Site. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
  3. 1 2 Renunciation letter of Guillaume de Hohenzollern, in French, dated on 20 December 1886
  4. ↑ Renunciation letter of Leopold de Hohenzollern, in French, dated on 22 November 1880"


William, Prince of Hohenzollern
Cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern
Born: 7 March 1864 Died: 22 October 1927
German nobility
Preceded by
Leopold		 Prince of Hohenzollern
8 June 1905 – 22 October 1927 		Succeeded by
Frederick
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
Leopold		 — TITULAR —
Prince of Hohenzollern
8 June 1905 – 22 October 1927
Reason for succession failure:
Principality annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1850		 Succeeded by
Frederick
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