More from Marlene:
"Wilhelm II's will was written after he had left the throne. The idea was to protect the fortune from the tax man. Many former ruling families, including Leiningen and Hohenzollern (princely) set up family trusts in the 1920s. There are similar examples with Sayn-Wittgenstein and Hannover (Ernst August's son is now running the estates). Wilhelm's will was very specific - the heir and the next heir had to marry equally. The Crown Prince was excluded as he would be largely bypassed for the main inheritance - and before 1945, the family owned a lot of property in the east - and his eldest son Wilhelm's marriage was unequal. Thus the heir to the estate was the second of the Crown Prince's son -Louis Ferdinand. He married equally. The next heir (nach erbe) also had to marry equally in order to inherit. The nach erbe was the young Louis Ferdinand, but he died before his father, so GF became the nach erbe.
All the Kaiser's descendants were parties to the case although the case only affected Louis Ferdinand's children and grandson, who was the primary heir. In the 1960s, the two eldest sons, Friedrich Wilhelm and Michael married commoners and ceased to be dynasts. These marriages ended in divorce and both remarried. Their second marriages were irrelevant because both had already lost their positions. They knew this -- but neither of these men ever worked, ever had a career. Louis Ferdinand provided his sons and daughters with homes and with allowances. When Louis Ferdinand died in 1991, GF became the head of the house. He was a minor at the time. He would not come into his full inheritance until age 30. One of his Castell Rudenhausen uncles and Prince Christian Sigismund were the adminstrators although LF was very smart, and the C-R uncle was the real "Guardian" and Christian Sigismund was the admin on paper. His marriage was equal.
Each of LF's surviving children received a percentage of the estate. None were excluded under German law, but GF was the primary heir. Friedrich Wilhelm and Michael wanted more, and tried to claim that their second marriages were equal. For nearly 30 years they knew they had no claim - but they thought they could do something to get more money. It took several court rulings, but the final decision was in GF's favor. But the court cases cost a lot of money. Unlike other former ruling families, the Prussians don't have any of their palaces in Berlin and Potsdam. Georg Friedrich does not have a family seat. He has had to put up for sale the properties that Louis Ferdinand bought for his kids, where the lived largely rent free. Georg Friedrich cannot afford to maintain such appanages. He was raised by his mother, away from the other Prussians. He's well off, and, in time, one hopes that the estate will again grow.
There are no house laws on marriage. Wilhelm II was a private German citizen when he made his will. No child can be excluded but a person who makes a will, according to final ruling, can put in qualifications. This as the same for the Leiningens and, of course, the late Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berlenburg. Prince Gustav cannot marry Carina Axelsson because of his grandfather's will. If he marries her, he loses every thing. "
And it's rather ironic that the brides from the nobility are now considered equal when they caused heart palpitations and disinheritances back when the families were actually on thrones--even later as well. Many of the morganatic families (Battenberg, Tecks, etc) who were so sneered at--especially by the Prussians--were from noble families. It's not like they were shopkeepers!
