His Serene Highness Franz Alexander, Prince of Isenburg has died at the age of 74 after a long illness. Prince Franz Alexander, who died 5 May 2018, was born on 22 July 1943 in Birstein the only son of Prince Franz Ferdinand of Isenburg and his wife Countess Irina Tolstoy. Prince Franz Alexander was married in 1968 to Countess Elisabeth Christine von Saurma, Baroness von und zu der Jeltsch who survives him along with his five children and 14 grandchildren.
Through his mother Prince Franz Alexander was a grandson of Duchess Irina of Mecklenburg and her first husband Count Aleksandr Tolstoy, and thus a nephew of Duke Carl Gregor and first cousin of Duchess Elisabeth Christina, Duchess Marie Katharina, Duchess Irene and Duke Borwin who descend from her second marriage to Duke Georg of Mecklenburg.
In 1944 during World War II, Prince Franz Alexander’s parents provided their relatives in the Grand Ducal Family with shelter at their Birstein Palace after they had lost a second home during the conflict. In more recent years Prince Franz Alexander’s wife Princess Elisabeth Christine was a godmother to Hereditary Prince Alexander.