Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern
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Prince Leopold Stefan Karl Anton Gustav Eduard Tassilo von Hohenzollern (22 September 1835 – 8 June 1905) was the head of the Swabian branch of the House of Hohenzollern, and played a minor role in European power politics.
He was born into the dynasty's surviving Sigmaringen branch, which inherited all the dynasty's Swabian lands when the Hohenzollern-Hechingen branch went extinct.
Leopold's parents were Josephine of Baden and Karl Anton, Prince of Hohenzollern. Leopold was the older brother of King Carol I of Romania and father of future King Ferdinand I of Romania.
After the Spanish Revolution of 1868 that overthrew Queen Isabella II, Leopold was offered the Spanish crown by the new government. This offer was supported by the Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck, but opposed by the French emperor Napoleon III. Leopold was forced to decline the offer, but the extra demands made by the French government and the sending of the Ems Telegram resulted in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, which led to the fall of emperor Napoleon III and the setting up of the French Third Republic.
In 1861 Prince Leopold married Antonia of Portugal, daughter of Queen Maria II of Portugal and King Consort Ferdinand II of Portugal of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Kohary. They had the following children:
- Prince Wilhelm of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1864–1927) who succeeded as Prince of Hohenzollern
- Ferdinand (1865–1927), later King of Romania
- Karl Anton (1 September 1868–21 February 1919); married Princess Josephine Caroline of Belgium
| Preceded by Karl Anton, Prince of Hohenzollern |
Head of the House of Hohenzollern 1885–1905 |
Succeeded by Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern |
