Prince Leopold of Bavaria (born 1943)


Prince Leopold of Bavaria 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.

Early life

Leopold 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 who is only two months his senior. It was there the Prince developed his love for cars and racing.

Marriage

On 21 October 1977 Prince Leopold married Ursula Möhlenkamp, the daughter of Wilhelm 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:
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 of 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 a heart surgery.

Ancestry

Motor Racing career

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 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 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".

Racing record

Complete World Sportscar Championship results

;Footnotes:

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results

YearTeamCar123456789101112131415161718192021222324Pts
1984Brun MotorsportBMW 635 CSiZOL
4		HOC
Ret		AVU
5		AVU
2		MFA
12		WUN
Ret		NÜRNÜRNORNÜR
6		DIEHOC
Ret		HOC
8		ZOL
5		NÜR10th72.5
1988Euro RacingBMW M3ZOL
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		46th3
1989GS TeamBMW M3 EvoZOL
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		36th9
1990BMW Team IsertBMW M3 Sport EvoZOL
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		29th2
1991BMW Team IsertBMW M3 Sport EvoZOL
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		29th1
1992BMW Team IsertBMW M3 Sport EvoZOL
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		25th1

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

YearTeamCar1234567891011Pts
1987Schwaben MotorsportBMW M3MNZJARDIJNÜR
Ret		SPABRNSIL
Ret		BATCLD
Ret		WEL
12		FUJNC0

Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship results

YearTeamCar123456789101112131415161718Pts
1994BMW Team SchnitzerBMW 318iAUT
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		15th24
1995BMW Team SchnitzerBMW 318iFUJ
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		20th8

Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results

YearTeamCar1234567891011121314151617181920Pts
1996Isert BMW-TeamBMW 320iZOL
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		24th67
1997Isert BMW-TeamBMW 320iHOC
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		22nd85
1998Team IsertBMW 320iHOC
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		23rd98