Franz, Duke of Bavaria

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Franz, Duke of Bavaria : biography

14 July 1933 –

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Franz, Duke of BavariaAccording to of the Weimar Constitution which came into effect in Germany in 1919, royalty and nobility were mandated to lose their privileges, and hereditary titles were to be legally borne thereafter only as part of the surname. (born 14 July 1933, as Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria Prinz von Bayern), styled as His Royal Highness the Duke of Bavaria, is head of the Wittelsbach family, the former ruling family of the Kingdom of Bavaria. His great-grandfather Ludwig III was the last King of Bavaria before being deposed in 1918.

Franz is also the current senior co-heir-general of King Charles I of England and Scotland, and thus as King Francis II is considered by Jacobites to be the legitimate "King over the Water", the heir of the Stuart kings of England, France, Scotland, and Ireland. "HRM the Duke generally does not comment on issues concerning his familiar relationship to the Royal House of Stuart," a spokesman told the media.Walker, Tim, "", The Telegraph, 11 September 2011.

Life

Franz was born in Munich, the son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria and his morganatic wife, Countess Maria Draskovich of Trakostjan of the House of Drašković, an ancient Croatian noble family. On 18 May 1949, when Franz was sixteen, his grandfather Crown Prince Rupprecht recognised the marriage of Franz’s parents as dynastic and Franz became a prince of Bavaria.

The Wittelsbachs were opposed to the Nazi regime in Germany, and in 1939 Franz’s father Albrecht took his family to Hungary. They lived in Budapest for four years before moving to their Castle at Sárvár in late 1943. In March 1944, Nazi Germany occupied Hungary, and on 6 October 1944, the entire family including Franz, then aged eleven, was arrested. They were sent to a series of Nazi concentration camps including Oranienburg and Dachau. At the end of April 1945 they were liberated by the United States Third Army.

After the war Franz received his high-school education at the Benedictine Abbey of Ettal. He then studied business management at the University of Munich and in Zurich. Franz developed a passion for collecting modern art; today many items from his private collection are on permanent loan to the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.Carla Schulz-Hoffmann and Peter-Klaus Schuster, Deutsche Kunst seit 1960 aus der Sammlung Prinz Franz von Bayern (München: Prestel-Verlag, 1985).

Franz lives in an apartment in Nymphenburg Palace, the former summer residence of the kings of Bavaria, in Munich.

Franz is the current Grand Master of the Royal Order of Saint George for the Defense of the Immaculate Conception.ICOC Dynastic orders 2006 register He is also Grand Master of the Order of Saint Hubert and the Order of Queen Theresa (for Ladies). He is a Hereditary Senator of the University of Munich and an Honorary Member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He holds many honorary positions in civic and religious organisations in Bavaria. He supports charitable enterprises helping orphans in Romania.OIWW website http://oiww-history.blogspot.co.uk/2008/04/duke-of-bavaria-princess-and-oi-romania.html

Titles and styles

  • 14 July 1933 – 18 May 1949: Franz Prinz von Bayern
  • 18 May 1949 – 2 August 1955: His Royal Highness Prince Franz of Bavaria
  • 2 August 1955 – 8 July 1996: His Royal Highness The Hereditary Prince of Bavaria
  • 8 July 1996 – present: His Royal Highness The Duke of Bavaria

Franz’s full title is His Royal Highness Franz, Duke of Bavaria, of Franconia and in Swabia; Count Palatine of the Rhine.

Ancestry

Notes

Surname

Under German law royal titles are not recognised legally, but can be used as a part of a surname. Franz’s surname at birth was Prinz von Bayern.Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Band 50, Fürstliche Häuser Band IX. Limburg an der Lahn: C. A. Starke, 1971, page 7. In 1997, after the death of his father, he changed his surname to Herzog von Bayern (German for ‘Duke of Bavaria’).Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Band 141, Fürstliche Häuser Band XVIII. Limburg an der Lahn: C. A. Starke, 2007, page 2.

Link to the Stuarts

His link to the House of Stuart is follows:

  • Princess Henrietta of England, 1644 – 1670, youngest daughter of King Charles I of England
  • Anne Marie d’Orléans, 1669 – 1728, Queen consort of Sardinia, her daughter
  • Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia, 1701 – 1773, Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia, her son
  • Victor Amadeus III, 1726 – 1796, King of Sardinia, his son
  • Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia (October 6, 1819 – January 10, 1824), his son
  • Maria Beatrice, Princess of Sardinia and later by marriage Duchess of Modena (January 10, 1824 – September 15, 1840), his daughter
  • Archduke Ferdinand Karl Viktor of Austria-Este, 1821 – 1849), Archduke of Austria-Este and Prince of Modena, her son
  • Maria Theresia, Princess of Modena and later Queen consort of Bavaria (November 20, 1875 – February 3, 1919), his daughter
  • Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria (February 3, 1919 – August 2, 1955), her son
  • Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria (August 2, 1905 – July 8, 1996), Franz, Duke of Bavaria, his son

Succession rights

Franz has remained unmarried. Unless he marries, and fathers a legitimate heir in his remaining years, on his death his position as head of the House of Wittelsbach will pass to his brother Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria. Because Max has no sons, the Bavarian titles will pass after his death to his second cousin Prince Luitpold of Bavaria and his descendants.Genealogie des Hauses Wittelsbach. München: Verwaltung des Herzogs von Bayern, 2000.