Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary

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Leopold Franz Julius of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary (b. Vienna, 31 January 1824 - d. Vienna, 20 May 1884), was a German prince of the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Born Prince Leopold Franz Julius of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duke in Saxony, he was the third son of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Maria Antonia Koháry.

Because he was the youngest son of his family and clearly he never inherited any state or title (except the titles who was born), Leopold entered in the Army; he was General Major to the service of the Austrian Empire. At one point Leopold was considered as a husband for the Spanish Queen Isabel II of Spain, however France and some of Europe was opposed as there was far to many Coburgs in European Thrones. There was one Coburg in England (Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert), Leopold I of Belgium was Queen Victoria's uncle and he was also a Coburg and King of Belgium, and finally King Ferdinand II of Portugal was a Coburg, husband of Queen Maria II of Portugal and a brother of Prince Leopold. So Queen Isabel II of Spain married her cousin Francis of Spain.

Later, he met Constanze Geiger, a common woman. She bore him a son, called Franz in Vienna on October 12, 1860. Leopold and Constanze married six months later, on 23 April 1861. Immediately, he recognized his son, who was created Freiherr von Ruttenstein on 24 July 1862. The same day, Constanze was created Freifrau von Ruttenstein by his own right. Because the marriage of his parents was unequall, Franz was barren of the succession of Kohary and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Nevertheless, he died childless and unmarried on 29 August 1899.