Prince Ludwig of Bavaria announces engagement to Oxford student Sophie-Alexandra Evekink 

Prince Ludwig of Bavaria has announced his engagement to Oxford criminology student Sophie-Alexandra Evekink. 

The royal, 40, is the eldest son of Prince Luitpold and the great-great grandson of Bavaria’s last King Ludwig III, while Sophie was born in Singapore to a Dutch-Canadian family.

Rumours started mounting that the pair were set to marry after she was  spotted wearing a large emerald ring on her engagement finger at a wedding the couple attended last week. 

Speaking to Germany’s Bild newspaper, Prince Luitpold said he hoped the couple would ‘start a family soon’, adding: ‘Ludwig made a good choice. My future daughter-in-law is a very intelligent and educated woman.’

News of their engagement was shared by Office of the Bavarian Royal House alongside two pictures of the couple in which they can be seen posing in traditional outfits.  

Prince Ludwig, whose parents are Prince Luitpold and Princess Beatrix, is the eldest of five siblings. 

He spent much of his childhood at Schloss Kaltenberg, and attended the Rhabanus-Maurus-Gymnasium St. Ottilien in Eresing. 

As an 18-year-old, he founded his own IT company before he went on to study law in Göttingen, where he focused on human rights.

Since 2011, he has also shown a great interest in East Africa and specifically Kenya.   

Speaking to Germany’s Bild newspaper, Prince Luitpold said he hoped the couple would ‘start a family soon’

In 2015, he founded Startup Lions, which is described online as a ‘digital empowerment program, providing opportunities to learn, earn and innovate for young adults in rural Kenya.’

He now serves as CEO of the company, and spends ten months of the year in East Africa and two months in Bavaria.

While in the country, the royal is also already very involved in his family and regularly accompanies his father to public events.  

It is not known how or when Prince Ludwig met his future wife Sophie, who also has a high powered career of her own. 

Sophie was born in Singapore to a Dutch-Canadian family and is currently studying for a pHd at Oxford 

She is the daughter of Dorus Evekink, who works as a lecturer at Maastricht School of Business. 

The student, who has dual Dutch/Canadian citizen, has a Bachelor’s degree in Politics and East European Studies from University College London (UCL) and a Masters in Science from the University of Oxford. 

She is currently working towards a pHd at University of Oxford which focuses on justice for victims of conflict-related sexual violence.

She previously worked for seven years in New York at the United Nations in various roles. 

According to an online biography of the future royal, Sophie ‘has a keen interest in violence prevention and women’s human rights, themes on which she has conducted research in the Middle East and Caucasus, as well as a passion for efforts which help build global consensus and bridge voices of the Global North and South.

Sophie, who previously worked in New York for seven years, is currently working towards a pHd at University of Oxford which focuses on justice for victims of conflict-related sexual violence

According to an online biography of the future royal, Sophie ‘has a keen interest in violence prevention and women’s human rights’ (pictured left and right, at work) 

‘She has previously also written on terrorism and radicalisation, and human trafficking in Central and Eastern Europe.’ 

It is understood Prince Ludwig proposed to Sophie in Berchtesgaden and it is currently unknown where the couple will go on to live. 

Rumours of the couple’s engagement mounted last week after they attended a wedding with Sophie wearing a glittering ring on her engagement finger.

The jewel appears to be a large green rock set into a platinum band.  

The wedding date is yet to be scheduled.