Photos from the 75th Birthday of Prince Franz-Friedrich of Prussia, Great-Grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II

The birthday cake with the Prussian coat of arms
Photograph © AM ENDE DES TAGES

While realising that this is a quite belated post, one wishes to note that Prince Franz-Friedrich of Prussia celebrated his seventh-fifth birthday on 17 October. The prince was joined by numerous family members and friends in celebrating his special day in a party on 19 October 2019. The prince’s only child, Princess Christine of Prussia (b.1968), helped to plan her father’s birthday celebration, which included a wild boar roast.

Prince Franz-Friedrich of Prussia and Margrave Alexander of Meißen, Prince of Saxony
Photograph © AM ENDE DES TAGES
Prince Franz-Friedrich of Prussia and Princess Christine of Auersperg
Photograph © AM ENDE DES TAGES 
(left to right) Princess Sibylle of Prussia, Margrave Alexander of Meißen, Countess Tini Rothkirch, & the birthday boy
Photograph © AM ENDE DES TAGES
 
Prince Georg-Dietrich of Schoenaich-Carolath and Prince Franz-Friedrich of Prussia
Photograph © AM ENDE DES TAGES
Duke Eduard of Anhalt, Princess Christine of Prussia, and her father Franz-Friedrich
Photograph © AM ENDE DES TAGES
Among others, Prince Franz-Friedrich was joined by the following guests: Duke Eduard of Anhalt (b.1941; first cousin once removed of Franz-Friedrich); Margrave Alexander of Saxony (b.1953), Princess Sibylle of Prussia (b.1952; née Kretschmer; widow of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia), Princess Christine of Auersperg, Prince Georg-Dietrich of Schönaich-Carolath (b.1943; first cousin of Franz-Friedrich), and Countess Christiane “Tini” von der Asseburg-Falkenstein-Rothkirch (b.1954; née Struck). The birthday party took place at Rudelsburg Castle in the village of Saaleck.

On 17 October 1944, Prince Franz-Friedrich Maximilian Hans Georg Joachim Ernst of Prussia was born at Grünberg. He is the third son of Prince Karl Franz Josef of Prussia (1916-1975) and his first wife Princess Henriette of Schönaich-Carolath (1918-1972), who married in 1940 and divorced in 1946. Franz-Friedrich had been preceded by twin older brothers: Prince Franz Wilhelm (b.1943) and Prince Franz Joseph (b. and d.1943). From his father’s third marriage to Eva Herrera-Valdeavellano, Franz-Friedrich has two half-sisters: Princess Alexandra (b.1960) and Princess Desirée (b.1961). From his mother, Franz-Friedrich has one half-brother: Udo Ernst Prinz von Schoenaich-Carolath-Schilden (b.1956).

Princess Christine of Prussia and her father Prince Franz-Friedrich of Prussia
Photograph © AM ENDE DES TAGES

In 1970, Prince Franz-Friedrich married Gudrun Winkler (b.1949); the couple had already had one child, daughter Christine (b.1968). Franz-Friedrich and Gudrun divorced in 1996. In 1998, Franz-Friedrich married Susann Genske (b.1964).

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