Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia

infobox pretender
English name=Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia


birth_date=birth date and age|1976|6|10
birthplace=Bremen, Germany
regnal=
title=Prince of Prussia
throne=

pretend from=September 26, 1994
year=1918
king=William II
relationship=great-great-grandson
house=Hohenzollern
father=Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia ("Louis Ferdinand Jr.")
mother=Countess Donata of Castell-Rüdenhausen
spouse=
children=
predecessor=Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia ("Louis Ferdinand Sr.")
successor=|

Georg Friedrich Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia, (legal name: "Georg Friedrich Ferdinand Prinz von Preußen") (born June 10 1976) is the current head of the Imperial House of Hohenzollern, the former ruling house of the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia.

Early life

Georg Friedrich is the only son of the late Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1944-1977) and Countess Donata of Castell-Rüdenhausen (born a member of a mediatized princely family, she is now Duchess Donata of Oldenburg by her second marriage to her former sister-in-law's ex husband, Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg). He is also the great-great-grandson of William II, the last German Emperor and King of Prussia. Georg Friedrich attended grammar schools in Bremen and Oldenburg and completed his education at Glenalmond College near Perth, Scotland, where he passed his A-levels. Following a two-year stint in the German Army, Georg Friedrich studied business economics at the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology.

House of Hohenzollern

Georg Friedrich succeeded his grandfather, Prince Louis Ferdinand I of Prussia as Head of the House of Hohenzollern on 26 September 1994. As Head of the House he is occasionally styled His Royal Highness The Prince of Prussia (German: "Seine königliche Hoheit, der Prinz von Preußen"), or alternatively His Imperial and Royal Highness The Prince of Prussia (German: "Seine kaiserliche und königliche Hoheit, der Prinz von Preußen") and is sometimes referred to by the anglicisation of his name, George Frederick. German law does not officially recognise the existence of any Princely titles but, under German civil law, former non-primogeniture titles are considered to be part of a person's surname.

His position as head of the House of Hohenzollern was challenged by his uncles Prince Friedrich Wilhelm and Prince Michael who filed a lawsuit claiming that the loss of their places in the succession based on their marriages was discriminatory and unconstitutional. [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/royalty/hohenzollern_case.htm The Hohenzollern Succession Dispute] ] His uncles were initially successful with the Regional Court of Hechingen and the higher Regional Court of Stuttgart ruling in their favour in 1997, citing that the requirement to marry equally was "immoral". [Andrew Gimson, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1998/12/18/wkai18.html "Kaiser's rule on marriage still applies to heirs"] , "The Telegraph" (December 18 1998).] The Federal Court of Justice of Germany overturned the original rulings in favour of his uncles and the case returned to the courts in Hechingen and Stuttgart, which this time both ruled in favour of Georg Friedrich. His uncles then took their case to the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, which overruled the previous court rulings in favour of Georg Friedrich. On October 19 2005, a German regional court ruled that Georg Friedrich is the full heir of his grandfather, but that his uncles and the other children of Prince Louis Ferdinand are entitled to a portion of the Prussian inheritance. [ [http://www.nettyroyal.nl/newsoct05.html Royal news: October 2005] ]

Georg Friedrich is also the heir of the Prussian claimants of the title of Prince of Orange.Fact|date=March 2008 As a descendant of the United Kingdom's Queen Victoria, Georg Friedrich is in the line of succession to the British throne. He is also related to all of the current monarchs in Europe.

Ancestry

ahnentafel-compact5
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boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
1= 1. George Frederick, Prince of Prussia
2= 2. Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia
3= 3. Countess Donata of Castell-Rüdenhausen
4= 4. Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia
5= 5. Grand Duchess Kira Cyrillovna of Russia
6= 6. Siegfried, Prince of Castell-Rüdenhausen
7= 7. Countess Irene of Solms-Laubach
8= 8. William, German Crown Prince
9= 9. Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
10= 10. Cyril Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia
11= 11. Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
12= 12. Casimir, Prince of Castell-Rüdenhausen
13= 13. Countess Mechtilde of Bentinck
14= 14. George Frederick, Count of Solms-Laubach
15= 15. Princess Johanna of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich
16= 16. William II, German Emperor
17= 17. Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein
18= 18. Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
19= 19. Grand Duchess Anastasia Michailovna of Russia
20= 20. Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia
21= 21. Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
22= 22. Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
23= 23. Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia
24= 24. Wolfgang, Prince of Castell-Rüdenhausen
25= 25. Princess Emma of Ysenburg and Büdingen in Büdingen (1841-1926)
26= 26. Count William Charles of Bentinck
27= 27. Maria Cornelia van Heeckeren van Wassenaer
28= 28. Otto, Count of Solms-Laubach
29= 29. Princess Emma of Ysenburg and Büdingen in Büdingen (1870-1944)
30= 30. Charles, Prince of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich
31= 31. Princess Emma Caroline of Stolberg-Wernigerode

Quotes

infobox hrhstyles
royal name=Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia
dipstyle=His (Imperial and) Royal Highness
offstyle=Your (Imperial and) Royal Highness
altstyle=—


* "I do not see any reason for the political system in Germany to be changed. And I am very happy - probably happier than many of my forebears." [Hannah Cleaver, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/12/26/wkais26.xml "I don't envy Royal Family, says heir to German throne"] , "The Telegraph" (December 26 2001).]
* "The German people should think about bringing back the monarchy, I am sure it will happen." ["To Be Young and Royal", "Vanity Fair" no. 517 (September 2003): 426.]

References

External links

* [http://www.preussen.de/en/heute.html Official (English-language) website of the House of Hohenzollern]
* [http://www.preussen.de/en/family/george_frederick_the_prince_of_prussia.html Biography at preussen.de]

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