William Albert, 1st Prince of Montenuovo (8 August 1819 – 7 April 1895) was an Italian prince and Field Marshal Lieutenant of the Austrian Empire.
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Early life
Count William Albert of Neipperg was born in 1819 at Parma, Duchy of Parma. He was the son of Adam Albert, Count of Neipperg (1775–1829), illegitimately (prior to his marriage in 1821) by his second wife, Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma (1791–1847). She was the daughter of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Princess Maria Teresa of Naples and Sicily.
His mother Marie Louise was the second wife and Empress consort of Napoleon I from 1810 to 1814. She subsequently reigned in her own right as Duchess of Parma from 1817 onward.
After the death of her husband Napoleon I, who died on St. Helena in 1821, she married morganatically to Adam Albert von Neipperg. As a result, William Albert was the half-brother of Napoleon II.
Military career
In 1838, he joined the ranks of the Austrian army and took part in the counterinsurgency battles of 1848 in Italy and Hungary, earning in 1854 the title of Second Lieutenant field marshal.
In 1859, he took part in the disastrous Battle of Magenta, where the Austrian army was defeated by the Franco-Sardinian army. In 1860, he became commander of a regiment, and he was moved in 1866 to Bohemia. In 1867, he was promoted to General of Cavalry, remaining in office until 1878.
Prince of Montenuovo
On 20 July 1864, he was elevated to the status of Prince of Montenuovo in Austria, which is the Italian translation of Neipperg. The title was heritable by all legitimate male line descendants, but it became extinct with the death of 3rd Prince Ferdinand Bonaventura of Montenuovo (1888–1951), who only had three daughters.
Marriage
William Albert married on 22 February 1851 in Vienna to Countess Juliana von Batthyány-Strattmann (10 June 1827 – 19 November 1871), youngest daughter of Count János Baptist von Batthyány-Strattmann (1784–1865) and his wife, Countess Marie Esterházy von Galántha (1791–1830).
They had three children:
Princess Albertine of Montenuovo (Vienna, 30 June 1853 – Chroberz Castle, 13 November 1895); married in 1873 to Marquis Zygmunt Wielopolski-Gonzaga-Myszkowski (1833–1902), had issue.
Alfred, 2nd Prince of Montenuovo (Vienna, 16 September 1854 – Vienna, 6 September 1927); married in 1879 to Countess Franziska Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau (1861–1935), had issue. They were grandparents of Countess Maria Drašković of Trakošćan, first wife of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, the Head of the House of Wittelsbach.
Princess Marie of Montenuovo (Vienna, 10 September 1859 – Vienna, 2 March 1911); married in 1878 to Count Antal Apponyi de Nagy-Appony (1852–1920), had issue.
Honours
Parma
Knight Grand Cross of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George
Commander Order of Merit under the title of St. Louis
Austria
Knight of the Golden Fleece, 1867
Knight of the Military Order of Maria Theresa, 1848
Knight of the Imperial Order of Leopold, 1849
Medal of War
Other
Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle, 25 September 1877
Knight of the Order of St. Anna
Knight of the Order of Saint Stanislaus
Knight 3rd class of the Order of St. Vladimir
Knight of the Nichan Iftikhar
Knight of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta