Prince Wilhelm of Prussia

Prince Wilhelm of Prussia was the eldest child of the last Kaiser, Wilhelm II, German Emperor, and his consort Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein. He was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria and a distant cousin to many British royals. He became crown prince at the age of six in 1888, when his grandfather Frederick III died and his father became emperor. He was crown prince for 30 years until the fall of the empire on 9 November 1918. During World War I, he commanded the 5th Army from 1914 to 1916 and was commander of the Army Group German Crown Prince for the remainder of the war. After his return to Germany in 1923, he fought the Weimar Republic and campaigned for the reintroduction of the monarchy in Germany. After his plans to become president had been blocked by his father, Wilhelm supported Adolf Hitler's rise to power, but when Wilhelm realised that Hitler had no intention of restoring the monarchy, their relationship cooled. Wilhelm became head of the House of Hohenzollern on 4 June 1941 following the death of his father and held the position until his own death on 20 July 1951. He died of a heart attack at his home in Hechingen and was buried at Hohenzollern Castle. He was married to Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, with whom he had six children. His eldest son, Prince Wilhelm, was killed in action during World War II. His second son, Prince Louis Ferdinand, succeeded him as head of the House of Hohenzollern.