| Prince William of Schaumburg-Lippe | |
| Issue: | Charlotte, Queen of Württemberg Prince Franz Joseph Prince Friedrich Prince Albrecht Prince Maximilian Bathildis, Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont Adelaide, Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg Princess Alexandra |
| Full Name: | German: Wilhelm Karl August zu Schaumburg-Lippe |
| House: | House of Lippe |
| Father: | George William, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe |
| Mother: | Princess Ida of Waldeck and Pyrmont |
| Birth Date: | 12 December 1834 |
| Birth Place: | Bückeburg, Schaumburg-Lippe, German Confederation |
| Death Place: | Ratibořice, Bohemia, Cisleithania, Austria-Hungary |
Prince William of Schaumburg-Lippe (German: Prinz Wilhelm Karl August zu Schaumburg-Lippe; 12 December 18344 April 1906) was son of George William, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe and member of the House of Lippe.
William was born at Bückeburg, Schaumburg-Lippe on 12 December 1834. He was the seventh child, and third son, of George William, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe (1784–1860), and Princess Ida of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1796–1869). Among his siblings were Prince Adolphus I (reigning Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe) and Princess Adelheid (wife of Friedrich, reigning Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg).
His paternal grandparents were Philip II, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe and Landgravine Juliane of Hesse-Philippsthal. His maternal grandparents were George I, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and Princess Augusta of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.
The closest person to him was his mother, Princess Ida, and little Prince William also attached himself to her with deep love, a familiar, close relationship that lasted until the princess's death.[1]
Several trips with his royal parents had pleasantly interrupted the young prince's years of teaching and service. The related princely courts were visited and Prince William (as well as the other princely children) accompanied his parents several times to Nachod and Ratibořice Castle, which Prince Georg Wilhelm had purchased from Count Octavio zur Lippe in 1842. Prince William was last in Ratibořitz with his parents and Princesses Ida and his sister, Elisabeth in the summer and autumn of 1853. Princess Ida traveled back to Bückeburg in August, the others still stayed in Ratibořitz and had to postpone their departure because first, his father, George William, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe himself fell ill with a fever, which soon passed, but then Prince William became seriously ill with rheumatic fever, which degenerated into a malignant nervous fever.[2]
Prince William was an officer in the Austrian Army.
On 30 May 1862, William was married to Princess Bathildis of Anhalt-Dessau (1837–1902) at Dessau. The Princess was a daughter of Prince Frederick Augustus of Anhalt-Dessau, and his wife, Princess Marie Luise Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel. Together, they were the parents of eight children:
Prince William and his daughter-in-law, Princess Louise of Denmark, died five hours apart at the family castle in Náchod, Bohemia. His cause of death was from heart trouble while hers was from meningitis.[6]