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Prince Karl of Leiningen (Karl Vladimir Ernst Heinrich; 2 January 1928 – 28 September 1990) was the second son of Karl, 6th Prince of Leiningen (1898–1946) and his wife,
Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation) ...
.Enache, Nicolas. ''La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg''. ICC, Paris, 1996. pp. 699, 703. (French). She was the elder daughter of
Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia (; ''Kirill Vladimirovich Romanov''; – 12 October 1938) was a son of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, a grandson of Emperor Alexander II and a first cousin of Nicholas II, Russia's last ...
and Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh. As such, Karl was a great-great-grandson of both
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days, which was longer than th ...
and Emperor Alexander II of Russia (as Victoria Melita and Kirill Vladimirovich were both grandchildren of Alexander II).


Biography


Career

Born in
Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...
, Germany, he worked mainly as a salesman in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
as a young man. With his wife, Karl subsequently resolved to take up a business career in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Canada. Eventually, he became an executive at a brokerage firm.


Marriage and issue

Karl met
Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria (; born 13 January 1933) also known as Marie Louise Borisova Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, is the daughter of Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria, Boris III and Tsaritsa Giovanna of Italy, Ioanna and the older sister of Simeon II ...
in
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, where she was living with her mother. She was the only daughter of
Boris III of Bulgaria Boris III (; 28 August 1943), originally Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver (Boris Clement Robert Mary Pius Louis Stanislaus Xavier), was the Tsar of the Kingdom of Bulgaria from 1918 until his death in 1943. The eldest son ...
by his wife Princess Giovanna of Italy. Karl announced his engagement to Marie Louise in December 1956. They married in a Bulgarian Orthodox Ceremony in
Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
on 19 February 1957, following a quiet civil ceremony on February 14 in
Amorbach Amorbach () is a town in the Miltenberg district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany, with some 4,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the small river Mud, in the northeastern part of the Odenwald. ...
, Germany. Amorbach had been the residence of the
House of Leiningen The House of Leiningen is the name of an old German noble family whose lands lay principally in Alsace, Lorraine, Saarland, Rhineland, and the Palatinate. Various branches of this family developed over the centuries and ruled counties with Imp ...
since 1803, and the town's streets were lined with hundreds of cheering spectators; Karl's family owns huge estates in South Germany, and was considered to be one of the wealthiest of Germany's noble families. As of 1957, his family's fortune was valued at $1.5 billion. The couple also married in a
Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...
religious ceremony in
Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
on 20 February 1957. After the couple's wedding, they lived in
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
until June 1958. Karl traveled to Canada early in their marriage, and the couple decided to settle there. The marriage produced two sons: *Prince Boris zu Leiningen (b. 17 April 1960), who married Millena Manov on 14 February 1987 and they were divorced in 1996. They have one son. Boris remarried Cheryl Riegler on 11 September 1998. They had two children. * Prince Hermann zu Leiningen (b. 16 April 1963), who married Deborah Cully on 16 May 1987. They have three daughters. The marriage was unhappy, and Karl and Marie Louise divorced on 4 December 1968. Later in life, Karl reminisced, "Princes are expected to marry princesses, so I married Marie-Louise, the daughter of Bulgarian ex-King Boris III". After the divorce, Marie Louise and their two sons moved to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, where they attended a military academy.


Later life

Karl eventually became a
naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
citizen. He later moved to
Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
. Persuaded by some
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
friends to visit
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, Karl eventually found a job through the help of new-found Israeli friends. He subsequently moved there, rarely leaving except for short visits with his family. He lived in Israel until his death on 28 September 1990 in Vered Hagalil.


Ancestry


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karl of Leiningen, Prince 1928 births 1990 deaths Leiningen family Princes of Leiningen People from Coburg