Emich Carl | |
Prince of Leiningen | |
Birth Date: | 27 September 1763 |
Birth Place: | Dürckheim |
Death Place: | Amorbach |
House: | Leiningen |
Father: | Karl Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Leiningen |
Mother: | Countess Christiane of Solms-Rödelheim-Assenheim |
Spouse: | |
Issue: |
Emich Carl, Prince of Leiningen (27 September 1763 – 4 July 1814) was the reigning Fürst of the Principality of Leiningen. After his death, his widow, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, married a son of George III of the United Kingdom and became the mother of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom.
Emich Carl was born at Dürckheim, the fourth child and only son of Carl Friedrich Wilhelm, Count of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hartenburg and his wife Countess Christiane Wilhelmine Luise of Solms-Rödelheim und Assenheim (1736–1803). On 3 July 1779, his father was made a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, and Emich Carl became Hereditary Prince of Leiningen. On 9 January 1807, he succeeded his father as second Prince of Leiningen.
Emich Carl was married firstly, on 4 July 1787, to Countess Henriette Sophie of Reuss-Ebersdorf (1767-1801), youngest daughter of Heinrich XXIV, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf and his wife, Countess Karoline Ernestine of Erbach-Schönberg. Henriette died on 3 September 1801. Emich Carl and Henrietta had one son, who died young and within the lifetime of his mother, being:
On 21 December 1803, two years after the death of his first wife, Emich married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, fourth daughter of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld by his wife, Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf. His second wife was a niece of his late wife. They had two further children:
Emich Carl died at Amorbach on 4 July 1814, and was succeeded by their only surviving son, Carl Friedrich.
Four years after his death, his widow married Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, fourth son of King George III of the United Kingdom. They had a daughter, Princess Victoria of Kent, who would later become Queen regnant of the United Kingdom.