Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Andreas Michael Friedrich Hans Armin Siegfried Hubertus, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born 21 March 1943) is a German landowner and nobleman who has been the head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha since 1998. He is the grandson of Charles Edward, the last ruling duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He is thus a great-great grandson of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by direct male line, and is a third cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, the last Saxe-Coburg and Gotha monarch of the United Kingdom. Since her death Belgium in the form of King Philippe of the Belgians, is the only reigning branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Early life
Prince Andreas was born at Schloss Casel in Lower Lusatia to Friedrich Josias, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and the former Countess Viktoria-Luise of Solms-Baruth; his parents divorced in 1946. In 1949, he moved to New Orleans in the United States, where he spent his childhood with his mother and her second husband, Richard Whitten.

Prince Andreas became heir apparent to the headship of the ducal house on 6 March 1954, when his father became the head. From the age of 16, he made regular visits to Germany in preparation for his future role as head of the ducal house, permanently returning in 1965. He completed his military service between 1966 and 1968 in the Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion 6 based in Eutin, Schleswig-Holstein. After leaving the army, he trained as a timber merchant in Hamburg from 1969 to 1971.

Prince Andreas is a first cousin of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. He is the godfather of the King's younger daughter, Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland.

Head of the house
Prince Andreas succeeded to the headship of the ducal house upon his father's death on 23 January 1998.

Prince Andreas is the owner of Callenberg Castle in Coburg and Greinburg Castle in Grein, Austria. He manages the family estates including farms, forests and real estate.

In 2015 along with the heads of the other Ernestine branches of the House of Wettin, Michael, Prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and Konrad, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, Prince Andreas signed a declaration relating to the succession of the Albertine line of the House of Wettin, declaring that, according to the house law of the House of Wettin and to traditional princely succession rules, Alexander Afif, bearing the name Prince of Saxony via adoption by his maternal uncle Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen, was neither a member of nobility nor of the House of Wettin, nor had he succeeded Maria Emanuel as head of the Albertine branch (the Royal House of Saxony), nor was he entitled to style himself Margrave of Meissen.

Marriage and issue
In Hamburg civilly on 18 June and religiously on 31 July 1971, Prince Andreas married Carin Dabelstein (b. Hamburg, 16 July 1946), daughter of Adolf Wilhelm Martin Dabelstein, manufacturer and merchant, and wife Irma Maria Margarete Callsen. The marriage, although unequal, is not morganatic, as it was authorized by Andreas's father.

They have three children, who inherit the ducal styles and titles:


 * 1) Princess Stephanie Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. Hamburg, 31 January 1972). Married Jan Stal in 2018
 * 2) Hubertus Michael, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. Hamburg, 16 September 1975), heir apparent to the headship. Married to Kelly Jeanne Rondesvedt civilly on 21 May 2009 in Coburg and religiously on 23 May 2009 at Callenberg Castle. Together they have three children:
 * 3) Princess Katharina Victoria Elizabeth Cheryl of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. Munich, 30 April 2014)
 * 4) Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. Munich, 15th July 2015)
 * 5) Princess Madeleine Aurelia Viktoria Carin (born February 22, 2017 in Munich)
 * 6) Prince Alexander Philip of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. Coburg, 4 May 1977).

Titles, styles and honours
As head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha his full title is Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke of Jülich, Cleves and Berg as well as Angria and Westphalia, Prince of Saalfeld, Landgrave in Thuringia, Margrave of Meissen, Princely Count of Henneberg, Camburg, Count of the March and Ravensberg, Lord of Ravenstein and Tonna etc, with the style His Highness. He is also the Grand Master of the Ducal Saxe-Coburg and Gotha House Order which he created in 2006 based on the extinct Ducal Saxe-Ernestine House Order.