Background
He was the youngest son of Duke Karl-Theodor in Bavaria and his second wife Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal, born in 1888 and was the brother of Queen Elisabeth of Belgium and Princess Marie Gabrielle of Bavaria.
Member of Parliament politician
He was the youngest son of Duke Karl-Theodor in Bavaria and his second wife Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal, born in 1888 and was the brother of Queen Elisabeth of Belgium and Princess Marie Gabrielle of Bavaria.
The Duke was a first lieutenant in Kaiser Wilhelm’s own regiment of Uhlans, and a special instructor in the royal military riding academy in Munich. He visited the United States in 1910 and hunted grizzly bears though the United States press speculated on a possible American match (so popular at the time). He also told the papers nothing would "stand in the way" of an American match though that wasn"t the purpose of the visit.
Before heading out west, he was widely feted in East Coast society.
Duke Franz Josef also spent time in New York City, where he stayed at the Plaza, and he was the "most-talked-about nobleman" to visit the United States of America since Prince Henry of Prussia. Franz did not stand on ceremony.
The local media hailed the duke as "the most democratic nobleman that had ever landed in New New York" Franz Josef was introduced to numerous American debutantes, but left the country without "tales of romance." He explained that he could not marry an American "unless he chose to lose his standing in the ducal family at home."
He was only 24 years old at the time of his death.