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Leopold Prinz von Bayern

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Leopold Prinz von Bayern
Leopold in 2011
Born (1943-06-21) 21 June 1943 (age 81)
Schloss Umkirch near Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Spouse
Ursula Möhlenkamp
​
(m. 1977)​
IssuePrince Manuel
Princess Maria del Pilar
Princess Maria Felipa
Prince Konstantin
Names
German: Leopold Rupprecht Ludwig Ferdinand Adalbert Friedrich Maria et omnes sancti Prinz von Bayern
HouseWittelsbach
FatherPrince Konstantin of Bavaria
MotherPrincess Maria Adelgunde of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen

Leopold Rupprecht Ludwig Ferdinand Adalbert Friedrich Maria et omnes sancti Prinz von Bayern (born 21 June 1943) is a member of the Bavarian royal house of Wittelsbach and a former champion race car driver. He descends from King Ludwig I of Bavaria in direct line and is a distant relative to the current head of the House of Wittelsbach, Franz, Duke of Bavaria and his brother, Maximilian, Duke in Bavaria. He also descends from Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elisabeth and from King George II of Great Britain, and is therefore a distant cousin of Elizabeth II. As a Roman Catholic he is excluded from the line for the British throne by the Act of Settlement 1701. He also descends from Isabella II of Spain, through her daughter, and Leopold's great-grandmother, María de la Paz. He has a claim to the Throne of Portugal.

Early life

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Leopold (aka "Poldi") was born on Schloss Umkirch near Freiburg im Breisgau in Baden-Württemberg. He is the eldest son of Prince Konstantin of Bavaria and his first wife Princess Maria Adelgunde of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.

Since his parents separated soon after he was born, Leopold was raised by his grandparents Prince Friedrich von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Princess Margarete Karola of Saxony. He grew up on Schloss Umkirch together with his uncle Prince Ferfried (aka "Foffie") who is only two months his senior. It was there the Prince developed his love for cars and racing.

Marriage

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On 21 October 1977 Prince Leopold married Ursula (Uschi) Möhlenkamp, the daughter of Wilhelm (Willi) Möhlenkamp and Ingeborg Brauckmann. The civil ceremony took place at Berg on Lake Starnberg in Bavaria. The religious ceremony followed a month later, on 19 November 1977 in Aufkirchen, Bavaria. Initially the union was considered morganatic, but on 3 March 1999 the marriage was decreed to be conditionally dynastic in accordance with the Bavarian house laws. The couple have four children:

  • Prince Manuel Maria Alexander Leopold Jörg of Bavaria (b. out of wedlock on 27 December 1972, Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany); married Princess Anna of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (b. 1978) in 2005. They have four children:
    • Prince Leopold Maria Bengt Karl Manuel of Bavaria (b. 13 June 2007).
    • Princess Alva Manuelle Maria Petra Yvonne of Bavaria (b. 5 January 2010).
    • Prince Gabriel Maria Abraham Ludwig Theodor of Bavaria (b. 11 November 2014).[1]
    • Prince Joseph Carlos Maria Paul Melchior of Bavaria (b. 18 July 2019).
  • Princess Maria del Pilar Birgitta Adelgunde Charlotte of Bavaria (b. 3 May 1978, Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany).
  • Princess Maria Felipa Karin Marion Gabriele of Bavaria (b. 1 February 1981, Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany); married Christian Alexander Dienst (b. 1978) at Wies Church, Steingaden, Bavaria, Germany on 12 May 2012.[2] They have three sons:
    • August Maria Jürgen Leopold Dienst (b. 2013).
    • Ferdinand Maria Konstantin Joachim Dienst (b. 2014).
    • Otto Dienst (b. 2017).
  • Prince Konstantin Eugen Alexander Max-Emanuel Maria Ludwig Ferdinand Leopold of Bavaria (b. 8 November 1986, Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany); married Deniz Kaya (b. 1990), at St. Moritz's Eglise au Bois church, St Moritz, Switzerland, on 1 September 2018.[3]
    • Prince Alexis of Bavaria (b. January 2020).
    • Prince Nikolaus of Bavaria (b. 10 August 2023).

Later life

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The Prince resides in a villa on the Lake Starnberg south of Munich, capital of Bavaria, and is often seen in the company of the current Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf, whom he has known since his teens. He is a godfather to King Carl Gustaf's only son, Prince Carl Philip of Sweden. His maternal uncle Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern was King Carl Gustaf's brother-in-law. Prince Leopold is also involved with charitable causes helping disabled children, such as the Special Olympics and organizations promoting the use of animal-assisted therapy. This is in part because his oldest daughter Princess Pilar has a form of autism, which she developed as a baby after she was given the wrong anesthetic during heart surgery.[4] On October 28, 2022, he was one of the two delegates who accompannied Elvis Presley's 1957 BMW 507, chassis # 70079, (and worth NOK 180,000,000, or $18,000,000), from its special exhibit at the BMW Welt Museum in Munich, Germany into that year's Oslo Motor Show, the other being Norbert Knerr from BMW Welt.

Motor Racing career

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Prince Leopold started his career with rallying and in 1969 moved to touring car racing winning the North American Championships with Porsche in 1972. In 1984 he also took part in the legendary sports car endurance race 24 Hours of Le Mans together with Walter Brun and Bob Akin, finishing fourth. In 1986, Leopold became a factory driver for the Munich based car manufacturer BMW and although he retired from competitive racing in 1998, he remains involved with the BMW racing team as an adviser.

As well as competing in Europe and America, Prince Leopold competed in Australia also with a drive the 1984 James Hardie 1000 driving a Group A BMW 635 CSi for Frank Gardner's factory backed JPS Team BMW, partnering 1967 Formula One World Champion Denny Hulme. In Australian touring car racing Group A was only a minor class introduced for the endurance races in 1984 before taking over as top class in 1985. After a troubled week which included losing a day after the Prince crashed the BMW at the top of The Mountain due to a lost front wheel, the pair finished the race in 15th place and 2nd in class, 4 laps behind the class winning TWR Rover Vitesse and 15 laps behind the race winning Holden Dealer Team Commodore. von Bayern (and Hulme) both had a new experience while racing at Bathurst in 1984. Their BMW was equipped with a racecam unit fitted in place of the left front headlight and both drivers were able to talk to the Channel 7 television commentary team while they were driving with the Prince saying at one point that "The race is very much fun for me".[5]

Racing record

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Complete World Sportscar Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pos. Pts
1971 International Martini Racing Team P
3.0 		Porsche 908/02 Porsche 908 3.0 F8 BUE DAY SEB BRH MNZ SPA TAR NÜR
DNS 		LMS ÖST GLN [N 1]
1972 Tony Fischhaber GT
+2.0 		Porsche 911S Porsche 2.4 F6 BUE DAY SEB BRH MNZ SPA TAR NÜR
14 		LMS ÖST GLN [N 1]
1973 Tony Fischhaber GT
+1.6 		Porsche 911 Carrera RS Porsche 2.7 F6 DAY VAL DIJ MNZ SPA TAR NÜR
14 		LMS ÖST GLN [N 1]
1977 Jörg Obermoser S
3.0 		Toj SC302 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 DIJ MNZ VAL PER EST LEC
Ret 		IMO SAL [N 2]
1981 Helmut Marko RSM GT BMW M1 BMW M88 3.5 L6 DAY SEB MUG MNZ RSD SIL NÜR LMS
Ret 		PER DAY GLN SPA MOS ROA BRH NC 0
1983 Brun Motorsport B BMW M1 BMW M88 3.5 L6 MNZ SIL NÜR
Ret 		LMS
Ret 		SPA FUJ 64th 4
R. Joest/Warsteiner C Porsche 936C Porsche 935 2.8 F6t KYA
7
1984 Brun Motorsport C1 Porsche 956B Porsche Type 935/76 2.6 F6t MNZ SIL LMS
4 		25th 25
Porsche 956 NÜR
9 		BRH
8 		MOS SPA
Porsche Kremer Racing Porsche 956B IMO
4 		FUJ KYA SAN
1985 Brun Motorsport C1 Porsche 956B Porsche Type 935/76 2.6 F6t MUG
DNS 		MNZ SIL LMS HOC MOS SPA BRH FUJ SHA NC 0
Footnotes
  1. ^ a b c No drivers' Championship.
  2. ^ In 1976 and 1977 the World Championship was divided into two series that ran simultaneously but separately: The World Sportscar Championship and the World Championship for Makes.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1981 Austria Helmut Marko RSM West Germany Christian Danner
West Germany Peter Oberndofer 		BMW M1 GT 49 DNF DNF
1983 Switzerland Brun Motorsport GmbH Switzerland Angelo Pallavicini
Denmark Jens Winther 		BMW M1 B 160 DNF DNF
1984 Switzerland Brun Motorsport GmbH Switzerland Walter Brun
United States Bob Akin 		Porsche 956B C1 340 4th 4th
Source:[6]

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Pos. Pts
1984 Brun Motorsport BMW 635 CSi ZOL
4 		HOC
Ret 		AVU
5 		AVU
2 		MFA
12 		WUN
Ret 		NÜR NÜR NOR NÜR
6 		DIE HOC
Ret 		HOC
8 		ZOL
5 		NÜR 10th 72.5
1988 Euro Racing BMW M3 ZOL
1 		ZOL
2 		HOC
1 		HOC
2 		NÜR
1 		NÜR
2 		BRN
1 		BRN
2 		AVU
1 		AVU
2 		MFA
1 		MFA
2 		NÜR
1 		NÜR
2 		NOR
1
16 		NOR
2
20 		WUN
1 		WUN
2 		SAL
1 		SAL
2 		HUN
1 		HUN
2 		HOC
1 		HOC
2 		46th 3
1989 GS Team BMW M3 Evo ZOL
1 		ZOL
2 		HOC
1 		HOC
2 		NÜR
1 		NÜR
2 		MFA
1
DNQ 		MFA
2
16 		AVU
1
Ret 		AVU
2
Ret 		NÜR
1 		NÜR
2 		NOR
1
25 		NOR
2
19 		HOC
1 		HOC
2 		DIE
1
DNQ 		DIE
2
18 		NÜR
1
23 		NÜR
2
25 		HOC
1
27 		HOC
2
14 		36th 9
1990 BMW Team Isert BMW M3 Sport Evo ZOL
1
15 		ZOL
2
Ret 		HOC
1
DNQ 		HOC
2
DNQ 		NÜR
1
15 		NÜR
2
11 		AVU
1
17 		AVU
2
13 		MFA
1
20 		MFA
2
19 		WUN
1
17 		WUN
2
15 		NÜR
1
14 		NÜR
2
17 		NOR
1
9 		NOR
2
18 		DIE
1
17 		DIE
2
21 		NÜR
1
24 		NÜR
2
24 		HOC
1
Ret 		HOC
2
DNS 		29th 2
1991 BMW Team Isert BMW M3 Sport Evo ZOL
1
26 		ZOL
2
Ret 		HOC
1
22 		HOC
2
Ret 		NÜR
1
27 		NÜR
2
Ret 		AVU
1
20 		AVU
2
22 		WUN
1 		WUN
2 		NOR
1
Ret 		NOR
2
DNS 		DIE
1
19 		DIE
2
10 		NÜR
1
21 		NÜR
2
Ret 		ALE
1
15 		ALE
2
DNS 		HOC
1
18 		HOC
2
22 		BRN
1 		BRN
2 		DON
1 		DON
2 		29th 1
1992 BMW Team Isert BMW M3 Sport Evo ZOL
1
18 		ZOL
2
Ret 		NÜR
1
25 		NÜR
2
Ret 		WUN
1
21 		WUN
2
14 		AVU
1
18 		AVU
2
14 		HOC
1
Ret 		HOC
2
13 		NÜR
1
16 		NÜR
2
17 		NOR
1
Ret 		NOR
2
15 		BRN
1
10 		BRN
2
14 		DIE
1
Ret 		DIE
2
Ret 		ALE
1
Ret 		ALE
2
DNS 		NÜR
1
13 		NÜR
2
14 		HOC
1
15 		HOC
2
Ret 		25th 1

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

[edit]
Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1984 Australia JPS Team BMW New Zealand Denny Hulme BMW 635 CSi Group A 148 15th 2nd

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos. Pts
1987 Schwaben Motorsport BMW M3 MNZ JAR DIJ NÜR
Ret 		SPA BRN SIL
Ret 		BAT CLD
Ret 		WEL
12 		FUJ NC 0

Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos. Pts
1994 BMW Team Schnitzer BMW 318i AUT
1
10 		AUT
2
9 		SUG
1
7 		SUG
2
7 		TOK
1 		TOK
2 		SUZ
1 		SUZ
2 		MIN
1
Ret 		MIN
2
DNS 		AID
1
10 		AID
2
6 		TSU
1
15 		TSU
2
DNS 		SEN
1
7 		SEN
2
8 		FUJ
1
DNS 		FUJ
2
DNS 		15th 24
1995 BMW Team Schnitzer BMW 318i FUJ
1 		FUJ
2 		SUG
1
9 		SUG
2
9 		TOK
1
13 		TOK
2
16 		SUZ
1
9 		SUZ
2
9 		MIN
1 		MIN
2 		AID
1 		AID
2 		SEN
1 		SEN
2 		FUJ
1 		FUJ
2 		20th 8

Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos. Pts
1996 Isert BMW-Team BMW 320i ZOL
1
11 		ZOL
2
12 		ASS
1
Ret 		ASS
2
DSQ 		HOC
1
15 		HOC
2
Ret 		SAC
1 		SAC
2 		WUN
1 		WUN
2 		ZWE
1
Ret 		ZWE
2
DNS 		SAL
1
18 		SAL
2
15 		AVU
1
Ret 		AVU
2
15 		NÜR
1
22 		NÜR
2
18 		24th 67
1997 Isert BMW-Team BMW 320i HOC
1
29 		HOC
2
17 		ZOL
1 		ZOL
2 		NÜR
1
15 		NÜR
2
14 		SAC
1
17 		SAC
2
10 		NOR
1
26 		NOR
2
DNS 		WUN
1
16 		WUN
2
21 		ZWE
1
26 		ZWE
2
18 		SAL
1
26 		SAL
2
23 		REG
1
17 		REG
2
15 		NÜR
1 		NÜR
2 		22nd 85
1998 Team Isert BMW 320i HOC
1
20 		HOC
2
6 		NÜR
1
20 		NÜR
2
20 		SAC
1
20 		SAC
2
16 		NOR
1
Ret 		NOR
2
16 		REG
1
18 		REG
2
Ret 		WUN
1
Ret 		WUN
2
16 		ZWE
1
17 		ZWE
2
21 		SAL
1
17 		SAL
2
Ret 		OSC
1
19 		OSC
2
18 		NÜR
1
17 		NÜR
2
Ret 		23rd 98

Notes

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  1. ^ "Sie erwarten ihr viertes Kind". GALA (in German). 28 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Princess Felipa, Bavarian Princess, Weds Christian Dienst In Germany". HuffPost. 12 May 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  3. ^ Sisavat, Monica (1 September 2018). "We're Mesmerised by Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia's Appearance at This Royal Wedding". PopSugar. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  4. ^ Ich habe einen Traum: Seine königliche Hoheit Prinz Leopold von Bayern gehört dem Adelsgeschlecht der Wittelsbacher an, das fast 800 Jahre lang regierte, bis 1918 die Monarchie abgeschafft wurde. Er träumt vom Fortleben seiner Seele als Geist | Nachr...
  5. ^ 1984 Bathurst 1000, The Prince Joins RaceCams 5th Birthday
  6. ^ "All Results of Leopold von Bayern". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved June 21, 2018.

References

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  • Die Wittelsbacher. Geschichte unserer Familie. Adalbert, Prinz von Bayern. Prestel Verlag, München, 1979
  • Prinz und Demokrat. Konstantin von Bayern: Ein Gedenkbuch. Konstantin, Prinz von Bayern and Arens, Hanns. München; Wien : Langen/Müller, 1970
  • Ich habe einen Traum. DIE ZEIT, 18 September 2003. Nr.39
  • Elvis Presley’s Historical BMW 507 On Display at the Oslo Motor Show! Daily Scandinavian, November 21, 2022.
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