William, Prince of Hohenzollern

William, Prince of Hohenzollern (German: Wilhelm August Karl Joseph Peter Ferdinand Benedikt Fürst von Hohenzollern) (7 March 1864 in Schloss Benrath, near Düsseldorf – 22 October 1927 in Sigmaringen) was the eldest son of Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern and Infanta Antónia of Portugal.

William
Prince of Hohenzollern
Tenure8 June 1905 – 22 October 1927
PredecessorLeopold
SuccessorFrederick
Born(1864-03-07)7 March 1864
Schloss Benrath, near Düsseldorf, Rhine Province, Prussia
Died22 October 1927(1927-10-22) (aged 63)
Sigmaringen, Province of Hohenzollern, German Reich
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1889; died 1909)​
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1915)​
    IssueAugusta Victoria, Queen of Portugal
    Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern
    Francis Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern-Emden
    Names
    German: Wilhelm August Karl Joseph Peter Ferdinand Benedikt
    HouseHohenzollern
    FatherLeopold, Prince of Hohenzollern
    MotherInfanta Antónia of Portugal

    William was an older brother of Ferdinand of Romania. His first cousins included (among others) Carlos I of Portugal, Albert I of Belgium, 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 his rights to the throne in favor of his brother Ferdinand.[1][2]

    Family
    Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
    Prince William and his second wife Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria (1870–1958), 1916

    On 27 June 1889, William married Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. 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:

    William succeeded his father as Prince of Hohenzollern on 8 June 1905. Maria Teresa 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.

    William's title was effectively abolished[3] with the collapse of the German Empire. He continued to use his princely surname, which was permitted by the constitution.

    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 there, 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.[1]

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

    Honours and awards
    German orders and decorations[5]
    Foreign orders and decorations[13]

    Ancestry

    References
    1. Renunciation letter of Guillaume de Hohenzollern, in French, dated on 20 December 1886
    2. (in French) Gheorghe Bengescu (1907)- Bibliographie franco-roumaine depuis le commencement du XIXe siècle jusqu'à nos jours.
    3. "Weimar Constitution of 1919". Cornell University. July 12, 2020.
    4. Renunciation letter of Leopold de Hohenzollern, in French, dated on 22 November 1880"
    5. Handbuch über den Königlich Preußischen Hof und Staat (1918), Genealogy p.6
    6. Justus Perthes, Almanach de Gotha 1922 (1922) p. 77
    7. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Herzogtums Anhalt (1894), "Herzogliche Haus-Orden Albrecht des Bären" p. 17
    8. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1896), "Großherzogliche Orden" pp. 62, 77
    9. Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Bayern (1906), "Königliche Orden" p. 9
    10. Staatshandbücher für das Herzogtum Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (1890), "Herzogliche Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden" p. 46
    11. "Ludewigs-orden", Großherzoglich Hessische Ordensliste (in German), Darmstadt: Staatsverlag, 1914, p. 6
    12. "Königliche Orden", Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Württemberg, Stuttgart: Landesamt, 1907, p. 31
    13. Handbuch über den Königlich Preussischen Hof und Staat, 1908, p. 5
    14. "Ritter-Orden", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, 1918, pp. 51, 55, 74, retrieved 5 July 2020
    15. Italy. Ministero dell'interno (1920). Calendario generale del regno d'Italia. p. 58.
    16. "Real y distinguida orden de Carlos III". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1910. p. 160. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
    • "The Book of Kings: A Royal Genealogy" by C. Arnold McNaughton.
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