King Charles III is mourning the loss of his first cousin Maximilian, Margrave of Baden, who died at the age of 89 on Thursday morning.
The House of Baden announced via a statement on its official website that he passed at Salem Castle in Germany.
Maximilian, who had been the head of the House of Baden since 1963, will be succeeded by his eldest son, Bernhard Margrave of Baden.
The royal – who was known simply as Max – was born to Prince Phillip’s eldest sister, Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark. This makes him first cousins with Charles, 74, Princess Anne, 72, Prince Andrew, 62, and Prince Edward, 58.
“Margrave Max always felt a great responsibility for the common good and was involved in many functions in the state of Baden-Württemberg,” the statement continued.
The House of Baden went into great detail on Max’s involvement which included overseeing the 20-year renovation of Salem Castle and cathedral, serving in the Germany army and eventually earning the colonel rank and founding GermanAid-Baden.
“His strong sense of social responsibility was also evident in the association ‘GermanAid-Baden’ he founded in 1982, a non-profit organization to support refugees in need in the third world. Here he earned particular services to Ethiopian refugees in Sudan,” the statement read.
The House concluded by emphasizing that Max “led a modest and reclusive lifestyle.”
“He was free from conceit and cultivated good contacts with the people of his homeland,” it read. “He always had an open ear for people in need, for people who asked him for help.”
Advertisement
Max wed Archduchess Valerie of Austria in 1966, and the two shared four children: Princess Marie Louise Elisabeth Mathilde Theodora Cecilie Sarah Charlotte, 53, his successor, Bernhard Max Friedrich August Gustav Louis Kraft, 52, Prince Leopold Max Christian Ludwig Clemens Hubert, 51, and Prince Michael Max Andreas, 46.
Advertisement
The House shared that they will hold two funeral services for the late margrave.
One service will be a more public service with “companions, friends and acquaintances as well as employees, former employees and retirees” while the second will be a closed funeral service for the “family circle, friendly houses as well as for the representatives of politics, economy and culture.”
They did not share the dates of either service.
King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla, 75, nor any other royal family members have commented on the passing.