Prince Franz Josef Wenzel (1962-1991)


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bct88

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What happened to Prince Franz Josef "Wenzel?" He was born in 1962, and died in 1991. He was born 12 years after Princess Nora, and died two years after both of his parents. I have seen only one picture of him, ever. This is all the information I can find about him. It's as if he didn't exist there is so little information. If anyone could tell me anything about him, I'd appreciate it.
 
bct88 said:
What happened to Prince Franz Josef "Wenzel?" He was born in 1962, and died in 1991. He was born 12 years after Princess Nora, and died two years after both of his parents. I have seen only one picture of him, ever. This is all the information I can find about him. It's as if he didn't exist there is so little information. If anyone could tell me anything about him, I'd appreciate it.


I think this is the Prince who supposedly committed suicide. You are right, there isn't much information about him.
 
sommone said:
I think this is the Prince who supposedly committed suicide. You are right, there isn't much information about him.
Also hinted at was accidental. The Prince's sudden and unexpected death is not a subject that's discussed. At the time nothing was explained, and then and now it was/is very much 'Private Family Business'. Those who know aren't telling, and we can only speculate, which won't provide any answers.
 
Warren said:
Also hinted at was accidental. The Prince's sudden and unexpected death is not a subject that's discussed. At the time nothing was explained, and then and now it was/is very much 'Private Family Business'. Those who know aren't telling, and we can only speculate, which won't provide any answers.


You are also right about everything, Warren. I meant to include that it was also rumored to be accidentally...hence my use of the word supposedly.:eek: I had read that there were some bizarre circumstances surrounding his death. Don't know how true they were of course.
 
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sommone said:
You are also right about everything, Warren. I meant to include that it was also rumored to be accidentally...my use of the word supposedly.:eek: I had read that there were some bizarre circumstances surrounding his death. Don't know how true they were of course.


I thought I read somewhere that the prince had suffered from depression. Maybe there was some truth to that.
 
Thank you for all of your answers. I was wondering if there was a lot of press in and around Liechtenstein after his death? I have never seen a photo of a funeral in Liechtenstein, so I was wondering, are they private affairs in Liechtenstein? I assume that when Franz Josef II died, foreign royals attended the funeral service, and yet there seem to be no photographs of that event. It seems that the Liechtenstein royals are very private. The only time you really hear about them is if there is a birth, death, marriage, or National Day in Liechtenstein.
 
There were a fair amount people from the press around the time of the funeral for Prince Wenzel. The late Prince got a decent funeral and I wouldn't categorize it as a private at all. I recall seeing photos of several royals at the funeral including a few Hapsburgs and the Prince of Asturias.
 
Death and Funeral of Prince Wenzel

I have gone through my files and found this from Point de Vue, 14 March 1991 (paraphrased):

An Inexplicable Death

Prince Franz Josef Wenceslas of Liechtenstein (known as Wenzel) was found dead in his bedroom in Vaduz on 28 February 1991. An announcement from the Liechtenstein family Press Office stated that Prince Hans Adam "did not understand."

The circumstances of his death are most mysterious, and there are many rumours. Found in his bedroom were two chronometers (or timepieces) and an anesthesia mask. He may have been conducting a "medical experiment", or may have been experiencing a deliberate "temporary cessation of breathing", or he may have had a heart attack. His sudden death caused profound shock among his family and friends.

In 1982 Prince Wenzel entered the Military Academy at Sandhurst, and a year later was a lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards in London. He then studied medicine at Freiburg, and at the time of his death was an intern at a hospital in Rorschach in Switzerland, while still living in Vaduz. He was 28 years old and single.

Prince Wenzel's funeral was held in Vaduz on 6 March in the presence of the Princes of Liechtenstein, the Prince of the Asturias, Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg, Archduchess Walburga of Austria (using the title Duchess of Bar), Archduchess Regina of Austria [wife of the Archduke Otto, Head of the Imperial House], and representatives of the families of Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Hesse, Yugoslavia, and others. Photographs in the article show Prince and Princess Max of Bavaria [now Duke and Duchess in Bavaria], Erich, Erbgraf (Hereditary Count) von Waldburg zu Zeil und Trauchburg, and Prince Nicolas of Liechtenstein with his wife neé Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg and their daughter Princess Annunciata.

Prince Wenzel was interred in the family crypt where he lies with his parents Prince Franz Josef II and Princess Gina.

my ps.. I assume there would have been an autopsy carried out in Vaduz, so the cause of death would be known. It may be significant that it has not been made public.
 
Warren said:
The circumstances of his death are most mysterious, and there are many rumours. Found in his bedroom were two chronometers (or timepieces) and an anesthesia mask. He may have been conducting a "medical experiment", or may have been experiencing a deliberate "temporary cessation of breathing", or he may have had a heart attack. His sudden death caused profound shock among his family and friends.
my ps.. I assume there would have been an autopsy carried out in Vaduz, so the cause of death would be known. It may be significant that it has not been made public.


I would buy that he possibly had a heart attack as that is always possible. It's the medical experiment explanation that seems so bizarre.
 
There is such an aura of mystery surrounding this whole affair and I believe that we may never know the "truth".:confused:
 
Prince Franz Josef mysterious death.

sommone said:
I would buy that he possibly had a heart attack as that is always possible. It's the medical experiment explanation that seems so bizarre.

Might this have been a similar situation as in the movie "Flatliners" with Julia Roberts amongst other stars? Medical students experimenting with the afterlife where you would die in a controlled setting for about two minutes and awaken with life altering experiencess and dreams. Was he not or at some time studing medicine? Just a thought!.

MM :ermm:
 
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maidmarion said:
Might this have been a similar situation as in the movie "Flatliners" with Julia Roberts amongst other stars? Medical students experimenting with the afterlife where you would die in a controlled setting for about two minutes and awaken with life altering experiencess and dreams. Was he not or at some time studing medicine? Just a thought!.
MM :ermm:
He was an intern at a Swiss hospital at the time of his death.
"Flatliners", Michael Hutchence, accident, heart attack, "misadventure"... it's unlikely we will ever know, or need to know.
 
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Thank You Danjel. A very moving photo indeed. Too young to die at the very least!
MM
 
Danjel,
Thanks for the pic. Never thought we would ever see anything on Wenzel's funeral. I highly doubt that we would ever learn anymore on his death either.
 
Thank you for this photo. If anyone has any photographs of his actual funeral, particularly the guests present, I would very much appreciate it.
 
Prince Wenzel

I think this is the Prince who supposedly committed suicide. You are right, there isn't much information about him.

In the book, High Concept: Don Simpson and the Hollywood Cultures of Excess, the following appears: "Victoria Fulton Vicuna, a dark Chilean-born beauty, had been introduced to Simpson at Manhattan's trendy Canal Bar in 1988, at a dinner party attended by Simpson, Bruckheimer, a group of bright young socialites and the novelist Jay McInerney--whose best-seller, Bright Lights, Big City, Simpson and Bruckheimer wanted to turn into a movie. (The subsequent screen version was produced by Sydney Pollack and directed by James Bridges.) A twentysomething brunette with an appetite for high times and royalty--she was then involved with the Prince of Liechtenstein--Vicuna began dating Simpson, seeing him when she was in Los Angeles or when he was in New York. Vicuna became pregnant in 1992 and believed Simpson was the father. By then, however, she was involved with another man and was afraid to tell Simpson he had a daughter. When that relationship ended, she contacted Simpson, by telephone and by mail, and gave him the news. Simpson never responded, though he did blurt out to a friend who also knew Vicuna, "You think you've got troubles? Victoria had a baby, and I'm the dad!" Though Vicuna pressed her claim for several more years, Simpson never took or returned her calls, never admitted or denied that he was the father. After his death, and falling on hard times financially herself, Vicuna went to Simpson's brother, Lary, who with his parents grieved that night at Morton's. It would be two years before the family would respond to Vicuna's claims and offer her a financial settlement in the child's name."

According to Ms. Vicuna, the Prince did not commit suicide but died accidently while experimenting with a designer drug during sex by himself. There is no proof of this claim, but it supports the posting by Warren below.
 
Jodrell said:
According to Ms. Vicuna, the Prince did not commit suicide but died accidently while experimenting with a designer drug during sex by himself. There is no proof of this claim, but it supports the posting by Warren below.

This is exactly what I read at the time.......What a waste!
 
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The Prince loved men and that was a sin!

Answer is probably simple: Wenzel loved men and that was a sin in his Catholic Family. It seems that he commited suicide following a report of a Ex-Lover! No wonder he was depressive and no wonder you can't read more about his life!
 
It's still speculation, only an autopsy can determine cause of death and sometimes even those results come back as "cause of death undetermined". We will never know and although the Prince's death was tragic, his family wants privacy which I can understand and respect.
 
Prince Wenzel was a gorgeous man
 
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PräfectusHelveticus is fully right

Prince Wenzel was homosexuell oriented and in the eye of his brother the reining Prince of Liechtenstein, Hans Adam II, this had to be considered a death sin. The preasure he put on the poor Prince Wenzel caused depressions till the day Prince Wenzel preferred to suicide! His friends in St. Gallen are convinced that Prince Hans Adam is the one responsible for his death! < ed by Warren >
 
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He was a handsome guy. Good god that's awful what he was put through just because of his sexuality.
 
Warren said:
"The circumstances of his death are most mysterious, and there are many rumours. Found in his bedroom were two chronometers (or timepieces) and an anesthesia mask. He may have been conducting a "medical experiment", or may have been experiencing a deliberate "temporary cessation of breathing", or he may have had a heart attack. His sudden death caused profound shock among his family and friends.

my ps.. I assume there would have been an autopsy carried out in Vaduz, so the cause of death would be known. It may be significant that it has not been made public.

=========================================================

As Warren [our Administrator] has eluded to in Prince Wenzels' early and untimely death, much mystery and speculation still remains...

Moreover, friends and family love and miss him I'm sure ~ regardless.

I disclose the following, in the hope it may dispel some rumors as a result of too much heresay.

I was befriended by one of his closest "female" friends in 1990 who became very endearing to me at that time. As my house guest on her return to Aspen in the spring of '91 ~ was when she poured her Heart out as a result of Prince Wensel's death that year. At the time she called me her "confidente". With due respect, I wish it to remain as much and she shall remain nameless for that reason. She was allowed the needed time and space to heal and recover from her deep grief and shock. Yes, she was his lover... with a hope for something far more in their future. From all that was said, it appeared promising with the events occurring in 1990.

As time evolved, she opened her heart and told me what had occurred in detail:

Prince Wenzel, while attending medical school, had a penchant of experimenting with drugs amongst his fellow colleagues. A trend in the medical field in the 1980's was the use of "Nitrous-Oxide". This was so very common place back then, it was like a social norm in their environment ~ even on campuses of the United States. By those of us watching, to the extent of reckless disregard by those participating. One might think those with a higher state of "intelligence" would be the wiser, but much is lost on our youth. Perhaps better said, as "mis-spent youth". Carelessness knows nothing of social strata ~ we see this all the time in our world too often. First it's this trendy drug, then it's that one... we never learn. What's worse, we fail to enlighten others of its hazards or use.

In conclusion, from what I could glean in the conversations I had , Prince Wensel died as a result of an "accidental" overdose of Nitrous-Oxide which would ultimately result in respiratory/heart-failure. An autopsy report would bare this out if it were made public. Also from what I've been told, Prince Wenzel had a bright future to live for, in both, his private and professional life... not the one many wish to feed upon. A tragic loss either way, not unlike that of Michael Jackson last year. A LIFE what could have contributed so much if not for a simple, yet tragic, mistake.

He was a handsome young lad, who like so many in every generation, are simply too reckless. I know, I was one of them long ago. The only difference ~ I survived those turbulent times...

Such a sad tale for me to have to tell.

May this "Prince" now ~ Rest In Peace


Note: I encountered this thread as a result of trying to re-locate the woman involved here. From what I've gathered so far ~ tragedy continues to follow her. Saddened to discover this news as well.
 
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As I've stated, if there was an autopsy, and Jimz.Eye stated there was one, the family can request the results not be publicly released. If the police found no evidence of foul play by another person then the results can stay private and even if it were a suicide or accidental on the Prince's part, the family is under no obligation to release results or release info about his death as painful as it may be for his friends/acquaintances.
 
It's too bad the whole horrible situation occurred; but King George V's family had their share of 'homosexual encounters'. His older brother, Albert Victor, supposedly had his lover paid off by someone in the family, so his intended, Mary of Teck, didn't find out. One of George's sons, Prince George, Duke of Kent, supposedly liked to do 'feminine things' with his mother, like sewing, and his brother, Edward. paid his boyfriend off so he wouldn't blab about his secret life before he married Princess Marina, and supposedly, also ex-King Edward VIII, had a homosexual relationship when he was married to Wallis Simpson. Maybe he was trying to get back at her for cheating on him? Either way, Prince Hans Adam might have been too proud to pay off people who knew the truth about his youngest brother, or embarrassed to think a medical intern would experiment with drugs to get a high from them. Prince Wenzel might have felt he let his family down and figured the only way to make them not feel like that any more was to kill himself, but make it look like an 'accidental overdose'. Either way, it's a sad situation, and should have been explained as a 'personal reason'.
 
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