Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia

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. 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". 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.

Georg Friedrich is also the heir of the Prussian claimants of the title of Prince of Orange. 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

Quotes

• "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.

• "The German people should think about bringing back the monarchy, I am sure it will happen.

References

External links

• Official (English-language) website of the House of Hohenzollern
• Biography at preussen.de

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