Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and his wife Sophie-Alexandra Evekink welcomed their first child.
The royal couple announced in an Instagram post on Tuesday that they welcomed a baby boy and also revealed his adorable name.
Ludwig, 42, and Sophie, 33, married in May 2023 in Munich, where Sophie made headlines after she fainted while exchanging their vows.
The Instagram account of the Bavarian royal family @hausbayern showed a telling illustration of a stork with a blue handkerchief, created by Alexandra Eltz.
In the caption, Ludwig and Sophie revealed that they named their firstborn Prince Rupprecht. The name is likely named after his great-grandfather, Crown Prince Rupprecht, the eldest child of Ludwig III and the last King of Bavaria, who died in 1955.
Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and his wife Sophie-Alexandra Evekink have welcomed their first child
The post read: ‘Princess Sophie and Prince Ludwig of Bavaria are delighted to announce the birth of their first child.
‘Prince Rupprecht Theodor Maria was born on August 6, 2024 in Munich.
‘Mother and child are healthy and the young family is now enjoying their first days together.’
The name Rupprecht means ‘radiant’ and ‘fame’ in German.
Fans of the royal family rushed to congratulate them on the happy news, writing: ‘Congratulations to Prince Ludwig and Princess Sophie, Welcome to the world Prince Rupprecht’;
‘Congratulations and lots of luck to the little one and his parents’;
‘Congratulations to the parents and the House of Wittelsbach.’
Sophie’s pregnancy was first announced in March, when she gave a lecture at the United Nations.
An official announcement on the Instagram account of the Bavarian royal family @hausbayern showed a cute illustration of a stork with a blue handkerchief by Alexandra Eltz
Ludwig, 42, and Sophie, 33, married in May 2023 in Munich, where she made headlines after fainting while exchanging their vows
The royal family announced the news by saying she would be unable to take part in the annual fundraising walk Löwenmarsh (Lion March) because the date was too close to her due date.
A spokesperson for the House of Bavaria subsequently confirmed the news to the German newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine.
The Kingdom of Bavaria was abolished during the German Revolution of 1918, which followed World War I, but the royal family continued to exist in solemn form.
The newborn baby is fourth in line to the throne, after his father, as the crown is passed down only to male descendants of the House of Wittelsbach.
The current head of the House is Franz, Duke of Bavaria, and his heir presumptive is his brother, Prince Max. Third in line is Ludwig’s father, Prince Luitpold.
Ludwig is the eldest son of Prince Luitpold and the great-great-grandson of the last King of Bavaria, Ludwig III. Sophie was born in Singapore into a Dutch-Canadian family.
The couple married last year at St. Kajetan in Munich, where hundreds of people lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the bride.
Sophie looked stunning in a classic white dress, featuring floral detailing on the princess skirt and sheer long sleeves.
Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, Sophie-Alexandra Evekink in St. Kajetan (Theatinerkirche) in Munich
Sophie looked stunning in a classic white dress, featuring floral detailing on the princess skirt and sheer long sleeves
Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, born in 1982, is the eldest son of Princess Beatrix and Prince Luitpold of Bavaria
She completed her elegant bridal ensemble with a long veil, which was also adorned with a number of delicate lace flowers, which perfectly matched her dress.
The ceremony did not go smoothly, however. It is said that the blushing bride fainted during the exchange of vows, and had to be rescued by her new husband.
A guest told a German publication Image: ‘The bride fell backward and the groom caught her.
‘The groomsmen rushed over. We’re glad she felt better right away!’
A royal family spokesman confirmed that Sophie had briefly lost consciousness during the ceremony and that Ludwig had jumped to catch her.
They added: ‘The bridesmaids rushed to her, the emergency services brought her water.
‘She felt well again immediately. Prince Leopold of Bavaria gave her a piece of glucose.’
Rumors that the couple were getting married started to grow after she was spotted wearing a large emerald ring on her engagement finger at a wedding the couple attended in August 2022.
Sophie-Alexandra Evekink and her partner Prince Ludwig von Bayern during the book presentation for “Zuschauer in der ersten Reihe” by Franz Herzog von Bayern in April 2023
It is not known how or when Prince Ludwig met his future wife Sophie, who also has a successful career of her own.
Speaking to the German newspaper Bild, Prince Luitpold said he hoped the couple would “start a family soon”, adding: “Ludwig has made a good choice. My future daughter-in-law is a very intelligent and well-educated woman.”
News of their engagement was shared a week later by the Bavarian royal family’s office, along with photos of the couple posing in traditional dress.
Prince Ludwig, whose parents are Prince Luitpold and Princess Beatrix, is the eldest of five siblings.
He spent much of his youth at Schloss Kaltenberg and attended the Rhabanus-Maurus-Gymnasium St. Ottilien in Eresing.
At the age of 18, he founded his own IT company and then went on to study law in Göttingen, where he focused on human rights.
Since 2011 he has also had a great interest in East Africa and specifically Kenya.
In 2015, he founded Startup Lions, described online as a “digital empowerment program that provides opportunities to learn, earn and innovate for young adults in rural Kenya.”
Today he is CEO of the company and spends ten months of the year in East Africa and two months in Bavaria.
Sophie-Alexandra, a PhD candidate in criminology, looked stunning in a classic white dress, featuring floral detailing on the princess skirt and sheer long sleeves
Sophie-Alexandra wore her hair half up, with the rest in curly ringlets around her shoulders, and had a beautiful diamond, botanical headpiece in her flowing locks
While he is in the country, the royal family is already very involved with his family. For example, he regularly accompanies his father to public events.
It is not known how and when Prince Ludwig met his future wife Sophie, who also has a successful career.
She is the daughter of Dorus Evekink, who works as a lecturer at the Maastricht School of Business.
The student, who has dual Dutch/Canadian nationality, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Eastern European Studies from University College London (UCL) and a Master’s degree in Science from the University of Oxford.
She is currently working on a PhD at the University of Oxford, focusing on justice for victims of conflict-related sexual violence.
Previously, she worked for seven years in New York at the United Nations in various positions.
According to an online biography of the future royal, Sophie “has a keen interest in violence prevention and women’s human rights, themes she has researched in the Middle East and the Caucasus. She is also passionate about efforts that help build global consensus and connect voices from the global North and South.”
‘She has also previously written about terrorism and radicalization, and human trafficking in Central and Eastern Europe.’