Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria Herzog von Bayern (born 14 July 1933, as Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria Prinz von Bayern), styled as His Royal Highness

Royal Highness

Royal Highness is a style ; plural Royal Highnesses...

 The Duke of Bavaria, is head of the Wittelsbach

Wittelsbach

The Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria.Members of the family served as Dukes, Electors and Kings of Bavaria , Counts Palatine of the Rhine , Margraves of Brandenburg , Counts of Holland, Hainaut and Zeeland , Elector-Archbishops of Cologne , Dukes of...

 family, the former ruling family of the Kingdom of Bavaria

King of Bavaria

King of Bavaria was a title held by the hereditary Wittelsbach rulers of Bavaria in the state known as the Kingdom of Bavaria from 1805 until 1918, when the kingdom was abolished...

. His great-grandfather Ludwig III

Ludwig III of Bavaria

Ludwig III , was the last King of Bavaria, reigning from 1913 to 1918.-Early life:...

 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

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

, and thus is considered by Jacobites

Jacobitism

Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...

 to be the legitimate heir of the House of Stuart

House of Stuart

The House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland...

 as king of England, France, Scotland, and Ireland. "HRM the Duke generally does not comment on issues concerning his familial relationship to the Royal House of Stuart," a spokesman told the media.

Life

Franz was born in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, the son of Albrecht

Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria

Albrecht Luitpold Ferdinand Michael, Duke of Bavaria, of Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine , was the son of Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria and his first wife, Duchess Marie Gabrielle in Bavaria. He was the one surviving child from that marriage...

, Duke of Bavaria and his morganatic wife, Countess Maria Draskovich of Trakostjan

Countess Maria Draskovich of Trakostjan

align="right"|Countess Maria Draskovich of Trakostjan was the first wife of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, head of the House of Wittelsbach and pretender to the Kingdom of Bavaria from 1955 to 1996 as well as the Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England, Scotland, Ireland and France...

 (of the House of Drašković

House of Draškovic

The House of Drašković, also spelled Draskovich in English, is one of the oldest Croatian noble families, originally descended from lower-rank nobility of the Lika region.There are no reliable data on them before the 15th century...

, an ancient Croatian noble family). On 18 May 1949, when Franz was sixteen, his grandfather Crown Prince Rupprecht

Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria

Rupprecht or Rupert, Crown Prince of Bavaria was the last Bavarian Crown Prince.His full title was His Royal Highness Rupprecht Maria Luitpold Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria, of Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine...

 recognised the marriage of Franz's parents as dynastic and Franz became a prince of Bavaria.

The Wittelsbachs were opposed to the Nazi

Nazism

Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

 regime in Germany, and in 1939 Franz's father Albrecht took his family to Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

. They lived in Budapest

Budapest

Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

 for four years before moving to Somlovar Castle in late 1943. In March 1944, Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 occupied Hungary. On 6 October 1944, the entire family including Franz, then aged 11, were arrested. They were sent to a series of Nazi concentration camps

Nazi concentration camps

Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...

 including Oranienburg

Oranienburg

Oranienburg is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Oberhavel.- Geography :Oranienburg is a town located on the banks of the Havel river, 35 km north of the centre of Berlin.- Division of the town :...

 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

Ettal Abbey

Ettal Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in the village of Ettal close to Oberammergau and Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. With a community of more than 50 monks, with another five at Wechselburg, the Abbey is one of the largest Benedictine houses and is a major attraction for...

. He then studied business management at the University of Munich and in Zurich

Zürich

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake 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

Pinakothek der Moderne

The Pinakothek der Moderne is a modern art museum, situated in the city centre of Munich, Germany. Together with its two predecessors Alte Pinakothek and Neue Pinakothek The Pinakothek der Moderne (= "(Art) Gallery of the Modern"; from Greek: "pinax" = "board", "tablet") is a modern art museum,...

 in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

.

Franz lives in an apartment in Nymphenburg Palace

Nymphenburg Palace

The Nymphenburg Palace , i.e. "Nymph's Castle", is a Baroque palace in Munich, Bavaria, southern Germany. The palace was the main summer residence of the rulers of Bavaria.-History:...

, the former summer residence of the kings of Bavaria, in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

.

Franz is the current Grand Master of the Royal Order of Saint George for the Defense of the Immaculate Conception

Royal Order of Saint George for the Defense of the Immaculate Conception

The Royal Military Order of Saint George for the Defense of the Faith and the Immaculate Conception was founded by Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria in 1726 to provide for a means of honouring the nobility and recognizing distinguished civil and military service...

. He is also Grand Master of the Order of Saint Hubert

Order of Saint Hubert (Bavarian)

The Bavarian Order of Saint Hubert was founded in 1444 or 1445 by Gerhard V, Duke of Jülich and Count of Ravensberg. He sought to commemorate his victory over the House of Egmond at the Battle of Linnich on 3 November, which is Saint Hubert's day....

 and the Order of Saint Theresa (for Ladies)

Order of Theresa

The Order of Theresa was an order for noble ladies in the Kingdom of Bavaria. It continues to function today as an honorary society to which belong the princesses of the House of Wittelsbach as well as other ladies from Bavarian noble families....

. He is a 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.

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 (German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 for 'Prince of Bavaria'). In 1997, after the death of his father, he changed his surname to Herzog von Bayern (German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 for 'Duke of Bavaria').

Succession rights

Franz has remained unmarried. Unless he marries and sires 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

Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria

Max-Emanuel Ludwig Maria Herzog in Bayern, sometimes styled Prince Max of Bavaria, Duke in Bavaria, born 21 January 1937 as son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, is the heir presumptive to both the headship of the former Bavarian Royal House and the Jacobite Succession...

. Because Max has no sons, the Bavarian titles will pass after his death to his second cousin Prince Luitpold of Bavaria

Prince Luitpold of Bavaria (b.1951)

Prince Luitpold of Bavaria is a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach and a CEO of König Ludwig GmbH & Co. KG Schlossbrauerei Kaltenberg.-Early life:...

 and his descendants.

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.

Jacobites refer to him as His Majesty The King of England, Scotland, Ireland, and France.

Ancestry