Prince Karl of Leiningen

Born in Coburg, Germany,[2] he worked mainly as a salesman in Paris as a young man.[2] With his wife, Karl subsequently resolved to take up a business career in Toronto, Canada.[3] Eventually, he became an executive at a brokerage firm.[1]

Karl met Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria in Madrid, where she was living with her mother.[2] She was the only daughter of Boris III of Bulgaria by his wife Princess Giovanna of Italy. Karl announced his engagement to Marie Louise in December 1956.[2] They married in a Bulgarian Orthodox Ceremony in Cannes on 19 February 1957, following a quiet civil ceremony on February 14 in Amorbach, Germany.[2][4] Amorbach had been the residence of the House of Leiningen 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.[2] As of 1957, his family's fortune was valued at $1.5 billion.[2] The couple also married in a Greek Orthodox religious ceremony in Cannes on 20 February 1957.[4]

After the couple's wedding, they lived in Madrid until June 1958.[3] Karl traveled to Canada early in their marriage, and the couple decided to settle there.[3] The marriage produced two sons:

• Prince Boris (Karl Boris Frank Markwart) of Leiningen (17 April 1960); married Millena Manov on 14 February 1987 and they were divorced in 1996. They have one son:
  • Prince Nicholas Alexander Karel Friedrich of Leiningen (b. 25 October 1991,Philadelphia)

Boris remarried Cheryl Riegler on 11 September 1998. They had two children:

• • Prince Karl Heinrich of Leiningen (b. 17 February 2001, Long Branch, New Jersey).
  • Princess Juliana Elizabeth Maria of Leiningen (b. 19 September 2003, Long Branch, New Jersey).[1]
• Prince Hermann Friedrich of Leiningen (16 April 1963) he married Deborah Cully on 16 May 1987. They have three daughters:
  • Princess Tatiana Victoria Maureen of Leiningen (b.Toronto 27 Aug 1989); m.17 Jun 2017 Clayton Reynolds,they had a son:
    • August Rhodes Robert Reynolds Leiningen (b.14 June 2021)
  • Princess Nadia Christiane Ruth of Leiningen (b.Toronto 16 Dec 1991)m. Ian Baker,they had a son:
    • Thomas James Baker Leiningen (b. 20 December 2021)
  • Princess Alexandra Sophia Maria of Leiningen (b.Oakville, Ontario 18 Dec 1997). [1]

The marriage was unhappy, and Karl and Marie Louise divorced on 4 December 1968.[5] Later in life, Carl reminisced, "Princes are expected to marry princesses, so I married Marie-Louise, the daughter of Bulgarian ex-King Boris III".[5] After the divorce, Marie Louise and their two sons moved to the United States, where they attended a military academy.

Karl eventually became a naturalized Canadian citizen.[5] He later moved to Zürich. Persuaded by some Jewish friends to visit Israel, 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.[5]