Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and his wife Sophie-Alexandra Evekink have welcomed their first child.
The royal couple announced in an Instagram post on Tuesday that they had welcomed a baby boy and also revealed his sweet name.
Ludwig, 42, and Sophie, 33, tied the knot in Munich in May 2023, where she made headlines for fainting while exchanging vows.
An official announcement on the Bavarian royal family’s Instagram @hausbayern featured a meaningful illustration of a stork wearing a blue scarf by Alexandra Eltz.
In the caption, Ludwig and Sophie revealed that they named their firstborn Prince Rupprecht, after his great-great-grandfather, Crown Prince Rupprecht, the eldest son of Ludwig III and the last King of Bavaria who died in 1955.
Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and his wife Sophie-Alexandra Evekink welcomed their first child
The post read: ‘Princess Sofia and Prince Ludwig of Bavaria are delighted to announce the birth of their first child.
‘Prince Rupprecht Theodor Maria was born on 6 August 2024 in Munich.
‘Mother and child are in excellent health and the young family is now enjoying their first days together.’
The name Rupprecht translates from German as ‘brilliant’ and ‘fame’.
Royal fans were quick to express their congratulations on the happy news, writing: ‘Congratulations Prince Ludwig and Princess Sophie, Welcome to the world Prince Rupprecht’;
‘Our warmest congratulations and all the best to the little one and his parents’;
‘Congratulations to the parents and to the Wittelsbach house.’
Sophie’s pregnancy was first announced in March, when she gave a lecture at the United Nations.
An official announcement on the Bavarian royal family’s Instagram @hausbayern featured a sweet illustration of a stork wearing a blue scarf by Alexandra Eltz.
Ludwig, 42, and Sophie, 33, tied the knot in Munich in May 2023, where she made headlines for fainting while exchanging vows.
The royal revealed the news by saying she would not be able to take part in the annual Löwenmarsh (Lion March) fundraising run as it was too close to her due date.
A spokesman for the House of Bavaria confirmed the news to the German newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine.
The Kingdom of Bavaria was abolished during the German Revolution of 1918, after the First World War, but the royal family has continued ceremoniously.
The new baby is fourth in line to the throne, behind his father, as the crown is only passed on to male descendants of the House of Wittelsbach.
The current head of the House is Francis, 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 great-great-grandson of the last King of Bavaria, Ludwig III, while Sophie was born in Singapore to a Dutch-Canadian family.
The couple tied the knot last year at St. Kajetan in Munich, where hundreds of people lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the bride.
Sophie looked gorgeous in a classic white dress, with floral detailing on the princess-cut skirt and long sheer sleeves.
Prince Ludwig of Bayern and Sophie-Alexandra Evekink in the St. Kathedan Church (Theatinerkirche) in Munich
Sophie looked gorgeous in a classic white dress, with floral detailing on the princess-cut skirt and long sheer 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 decorated with a handful of delicate lace flowers, matching her dress.
But the ceremony did not go off without a hitch, as the blushing bride is said to have fainted while vows were being exchanged, requiring her new husband to rescue her.
A guest told a German publication Image:The bride fell backwards and the groom caught her.
“The groomsmen came running over. We’re glad he felt better right away!”
A royal spokesperson confirmed that Sophie had fainted briefly during the ceremony and that Ludwig had run to catch her.
They added: ‘The bridesmaid ran and paramedics brought her water.
“He felt better immediately. Prince Leopold of Bavaria gave him a piece of glucose.”
Rumors that the couple was getting married began to escalate 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 presentation of the book “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 high-profile career.
Speaking to German newspaper Bild, Prince Luitpold said he hoped the couple would “start a family soon” and added: “Ludwig made a good decision. My future daughter-in-law is a very intelligent and cultured woman.”
The news of their engagement was shared by the Bavarian Royal House Office a week later, along with photographs of the couple posing in traditional costumes.
Prince Ludwig, whose parents are Prince Luitpold and Princess Beatrix, is the eldest of five children.
He spent much of his childhood at Kaltenberg Castle and attended the Rhabanus-Maurus-Gymnasium St. Ottilien in Eresing.
At the age of 18, he founded his own IT company before studying law in Göttingen, where he focused on human rights.
Since 2011, he has also shown a keen interest in East Africa and specifically Kenya.
In 2015, he founded Startup Lions, which describes itself online as a “digital empowerment program that provides opportunities to learn, earn and innovate for young adults in rural Kenya.”
He currently serves as CEO of the company and spends ten months of the year in East Africa and two months in Bavaria.
Criminology PhD student Sophie-Alexandra looked gorgeous in a classic white dress, with floral detailing on the princess-cut skirt and sheer long sleeves.
Sophie-Alexandra wore her hair up half-way, with the rest in curls over her shoulders, and had a beautiful botanical headpiece with diamonds in her loose locks.
During his stay in the country, the King is also very involved with 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 very important career.
She is the daughter of Dorus Evekink, who works as a professor at the Maastricht Business School.
The student, who has dual Dutch and Canadian citizenship, holds a BA in Politics and Eastern European Studies from University College London (UCL) and a Master of Science from the University of Oxford.
She is currently working towards a PhD at the University of Oxford, focusing on justice for victims of conflict-related sexual violence.
Previously, he worked for seven years in New York at the United Nations, serving in a variety of capacities.
According to an online biography of the future royal, Sophie “has a keen interest in violence prevention and women’s human rights, topics on which she has conducted research in the Middle East and the Caucasus, as well as a passion for efforts that help build global consensus and unite voices from the global North and South.”
‘He has also previously written on terrorism, radicalisation and human trafficking in Central and Eastern Europe.’