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Johann Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

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Johann Leopold
Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Johann Leopold aged 9 or 10
Born(1906-08-02)2 August 1906
Callenberg Castle, Coburg, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Germany
Died4 May 1972(1972-05-04) (aged 65)
Grein, Austria
SpouseFeodora von der Horst
(m. 1932; div. 1962)
Maria Theresia Reindl
(m. 1963; his death 1972)
IssuePrincess Caroline Mathilde
Prince Ernst Leopold
Prince Peter Albert
Names
John Leopold William Albert Ferdinand Victor Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
German: Johann Leopold Wilhelm Albert Ferdinand Viktor Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha
HouseSaxe-Coburg and Gotha
FatherCharles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
MotherPrincess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

Johann Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (in German: Johann Leopold William Albert Ferdinand Victor; 2 August 1906 – 4 May 1972) was the eldest son of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

Early life

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Johann Leopold was born 2 August 1906 at Callenberg Castle in Coburg as the eldest son of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

He was heir-apparent, from his birth, until the forced abdication of his father on 18 November 1918, to Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The abdication was a result of the German Revolution.

As a youth in Germany's politically unsettled post-World-War-I period Johann Leopold was involved in right wing paramilitary activity supported by his father.[1]

Marriage

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Charles Edward hoped to arrange a marriage between Prince Johann Leopold and Princess Juliana, heir presumptive to his first cousin Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. The match never materialized, with Charles Edward blaming his "useless" son.[1]

Johann Leopold's first wife was Baroness Feodora Marie Alma Margarete von der Horst (1905–1991), who divorced Wolf Sigismund, Baron Pergler von Perglas, in 1931. They married morganatically on 9 March 1932. The prince was forced to cede his own succession rights at the time of the marriage. The couple had three children and were divorced on 27 February 1962. His second wife was Maria Theresa Elizabeth Reindl (1908–1996), whom he married morganatically on 3 May 1963. They had no children.

Issue

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Name Birth Death Notes
By Baroness Feodora von der Horst
Caroline Mathilde Adelheid Sibylla Marianne Erika Prinzessin von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha 5 April 1933; Hirschberg, Thuringia
Ernst Leopold Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha 14 January 1935; Hirschberg, Thuringia 27 June 1996; Bad Wiessee
Peter Albert Friedrich Josias Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha 12 June 1939; Dresden

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ a b Urbach, Karina (2015). Go-Betweens for Hitler. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 155, 178. ISBN 978-0191008672.