Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein, Count of Rietberg (Joseph Wenzel Maximilian Maria; born 24 May 1995) is the eldest child of

Prince Alois of Liechtenstein A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

, the Regent and Hereditary Prince of

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...

, and his wife

Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein, Countess of Rietberg (born Duchess Sophie in Bavaria; 28 October 1967) was born a member of the House of Wittelsbach, with the courtesy title of Duchess in Bavaria, and second in line for the Jacobit ...

, Duchess in Bavaria, he is also the eldest grandchild of the current ruling prince of Liechtenstein. He is second in the

line of succession to the Liechtensteiner throne Succession to the Liechtensteiner throne is governed by the house laws of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein, which stipulate agnatic primogeniture. In 2004, the head of state, Hans-Adam II, publicly responded to criticism from a committee of ...

through his father.

Biography

Prince Joseph Wenzel was born on 24 May 1995 at the

Portland Hospital The Portland Hospital for Women and Children is a private maternity hospital on Great Portland Street, City of Westminster, London, England, owned by the Hospital Corporation of America. History The Portland was conceived by Barry Lewis, a ...

in the West End of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to Hereditary Prince Alois and his wife Hereditary Princess Sophie (née Duchess Sophie in Bavaria). He has three younger siblings: Princess Marie Caroline, Prince Georg and Prince Nikolaus. The Prince is named Joseph Wenzel Maximilian Maria after his ancestor

Joseph Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein Josef Wenzel I (Josef Wenzel Lorenz; 9 August 1696 – 10 February 1772), often referred to as just Wenzel, was the Prince of Liechtenstein between 1712 and 1718, and 1748 and 1772, as well as regent of Liechtenstein between 1732 and 1745. He fir ...

, his maternal grandfather

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 the younger son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, is the heir presumptive to both the headship of the former Bavarian royal ...

, his paternal uncle and godfather

Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein Prince Maximilian Nikolaus Maria of Liechtenstein (born 16 May 1969), known professionally as Max von Liechtenstein, is a member of the Liechtenstein princely family and businessman. He is the second son of Prince Hans-Adam II and Princess Ma ...

, and

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

. He is informally known as Prince Wenzel. Prince Joseph Wenzel was educated at Malvern College, a coeducational boarding school in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

, England. He graduated from Malvern College in 2014. He spent a gap year pursuing an internship at the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

and travelling to

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

and Bolivia.

Dynastic ties

Since birth, Joseph Wenzel has borne the titles "

Prince of Liechtenstein The prince regnant of Liechtenstein (german: Fürst von und zu Liechtenstein) is the monarch and head of state of Liechtenstein.Principality of Liechtenstein Family - Die fürstliche Familie (in German) The Liechtenstein family, after which t ...

" and "

Count of Rietberg The County of Rietberg (german: Grafschaft Rietberg) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present-day German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was situated on the upper Ems in Westphalia, between the Prince-Bishopric of Pader ...

." He is second in line for the throne of

, preceded only by his father, who has been

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

since 15 August 2004.Country profile: Liechtenstein – Leaders
BBC News, 6 December 2006. Retrieved 29 December 2006. However, Joseph Wenzel's grandfather Prince Hans-Adam II formally remains

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

and of the

Princely House of Liechtenstein The House of Liechtenstein, from which the principality takes its name, is the family which reigns by hereditary right over the principality of Liechtenstein. Only dynastic members of the family are eligible to inherit the throne. The dynasty's me ...

. Upon the accession of his father, Joseph Wenzel would become the hereditary prince ('), i.e. the

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to the throne. Joseph Wenzel is also third in line in the

Jacobite succession The Jacobite succession is the line through which Jacobites believed that the crowns of England, Scotland, and Ireland should have descended, applying primogeniture, since the deposition of James II and VII in 1688 and his death in 1701. It is ...

as successor to the current heir, his maternal grand-uncle Franz, Duke of Bavaria.

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph Wenzel, Prince Of Liechtenstein 1995 births Living people Princes of Liechtenstein Liechtenstein Roman Catholics People educated at Malvern College People from London