Reply #16: More about that title

[tonysam]

Interview in Vanity Fair back in 2007:

Born Hans Robert Lichtenberg in Wallhausen, Germany, he was the son of a police detective and was, he once admitted, the village troublemaker. But he discovered a noteworthy talent early on. "I always knew how to handle women," he says.

An avid sportsman, he befriended the son of Princess Marie Auguste of Anhalt, a member of the German nobility and daughter-in-law of Kaiser Wilhelm II. "We played soccer together," Frédéric says. "He moved to Chile and had a big horse ranch. All of a sudden he had a car accident and he died."

This left an intriguing vacancy in the hereditary-title department, and Frédéric was soon consoling his friend's bereaved mother. "The princess was all alone," he explains. "Because I knew she was lonely, I called her and took her out sometimes for dinner."

Did they ever have a romantic relationship? "No, no, no!" he exclaims. "She was an old lady. But she liked conversation."

His ministrations also included other favors. "She called me and said, 'My brother in Switzerland died.' I said, 'No problem, I take you down,'" Frédéric reports. "I did things like that. I didn't have any parents anymore, so one day she said, 'I'm going to adopt you. You'll be Royal Highness. You'll have the highest title in Germany—everybody's going to be jealous of you!'"

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