Prince Sigismund of Prussia (1864–1866)

This page is about the Prince Sigismund born in 1864. For his nephew and namesake born in 1896, see Prince Sigismund of Prussia (1896-1978)

Prince Sigismund
Prince Sigismund of Prussia
Born	(1864-09-15)15 September 1864 New Palace, Potsdam, Prussia German Empire
Died	New Palace, Potsdam, Prussia, German Empire
Burial	21 June 1866 Friedenskirche, Potsdam, Prussia, German Empire
Full name Franz Friedrich Sigismund
House	Hohenzollern
Father	Frederick III, German Emperor
Mother	Victoria, Princess Royal

Prince Sigismund of Prussia (Franz Friedrich Sigismund) (15 September 1864 – 18 June 1866) was the fourth child and third son of Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia (later King of Prussia and German Emperor as Frederick III), and Victoria, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of the British Queen Victoria.

He was born at the New Palace in Potsdam, Germany, in 1864. His mother found him much cleverer and more intelligent than his three elder siblings and believed he would have great potential when he grew up. However, he died from meningitis at the New Palace on 18 June 1866, aged twenty-one months. He was buried in the royal mausoleum of the Friedenskirche at Potsdam. His mother's grief and despair were intense, as his father, leading the Prussian army into battle against Austria, had taken away all the available doctors thus making it impossible for her to alleviate the suffering of her child or to prevent his death, the memory of which would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Prince Sigismund was the first grandchild of Queen Victoria to die, almost 115 years before his last cousin Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, who died in 1981.

Ancestry

Family of Prince Sigismund of Prussia (1864–1866)

16. Frederick William II of Prussia               8. Frederick William III of Prussia                       17. Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt               4. William I, German Emperor                             18. Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz               9. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz                       19. Princess Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt               2. Frederick III, German Emperor                                   20. Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach               10. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach                       21. Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt               5. Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar and Eisenach                             22. Paul I of Russia               11. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia                       23. Princess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg               1. Prince Sigismund of Prussia                                         24. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld               12. Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha                       25. Princess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf               6. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha                             26. Emil, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg               13. Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg                       27. Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Schwerin               3. Victoria, Princess Royal                                   28. George III of the United Kingdom               14. Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn                       29. Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz               7. Victoria of the United Kingdom                             30. Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (= 24)               15. Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld                       31. Princess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf (= 25)