{{Infobox_Prince| name = Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria
| image          =220px|center
| caption        =
| consort        =i) Princess Antoinette of Luxembourg
| issue          =Prince Luitpold<br>Princess Irmingard Maria<br>Prince Albrecht<br>Prince Rudolf<br>Prince Heinrich<br>Princess Irmingard<br>Princess Editha<br>Princess Hildegard<br>Princess Adelgunde <br>Princess Sophie
| royal house    =House of Wittelsbach
| father         =King Ludwig III
| mother         =Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria-Este
| date of birth  =
| place of birth =Munich, Bavaria
| date of death  =
| place of death =Schloß Leutstetten, Starnberg, Bavaria
| buried         =Theatinerkirche, Munich 
|}}
 
'''Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria''' or '''Crown Prince Rupert of Bavaria''' (German: ''Kronprinz Rupprecht von Bayern'') (18 May 1869 &ndash; 2 August 1955) was the last Bavarian Crown Prince.

His full title was ''His Royal Highness Rupprecht Maria Luitpold Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria, of Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine''.<ref name=turner>Turner, ''Cambrai 1917: The birth of armoured warfare, 15</ref> He was also the Jacobite heir to the thrones of England, Ireland, Scotland and France from the death of his mother in 1919. 

==Life==
===Childhood===
Rupprecht was born in Ludwig III, the last Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria-Este, niece of Duke Francis V of Modena. He was the eldest of thirteen children. His early education from the age of seven was conducted by Freiherr Rolf Kreusser, an Anglo-Bavarian. In his youth, he spent considerable time at ''Schloß Leutstetten'', Starnberg, and at the family's villa near Lindau, Lake Constance, where he was able to develop a keen interest in sports. His education was traditional and conservative, but he became the first member of the royal house of Bavaria to spend time at a public school, when he was educated at the ''Maximilian-Gymnasium'' in Munich, where he spent four years. Apart from his schooling and his training in horse riding and dancing, he was also obliged to learn a trade. His choice fell to carpentry.<ref name=kirchen></ref>

===Pre-first world war===
Rupprecht's grandfather, Luitpold, became de-facto ruler of Bavaria when King Ludwig II and his successor Otto both were declared insane in 1886. Rupprecht's own position changed somewhat through these events as it became clear that he was likely to succeed to the Bavarian throne one day. 

After graduating from high school, he entered the ''Bavarian Infanterie-Leibregement'' as a Second Lieutenant. He interrupted his military career to study at the universities of Munich and Berlin from 1889 to 1891. He rose to the rank of a Colonel and became the commanding officer of the ''2nd Infanterie Regiment Kronprinz'' but found enough opportunity to travel extensively to the Middle East, India, Japan and China. His early journeys were made with his Adjutant, Otto von Stetten. Later he was accompanied by his first wife. 

At the age of 31, Rupprecht married the Duchess Maria Gabrielle, with whom he had five children before her early death in 1912 at the age of 34.

In 1906, Rupprecht was made commander of the ''Bavarian I Army Corps'', with the rank of lieutenant general of the infantry, promoted to full general in 1913.<ref name=rickard>[http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/people_rupprecht_bavaria.html Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, 1869-1955], J. Rickard (6 November 2007)</ref>

In 1912, Luitpold was succeeded in the position of ''Prinzregent'' by his son Ludwig. On 5 November 1913, Ludwig was made king by vote of the Bavarian Senate, becoming Ludwig III. This decision also made Rupprecht the crown prince of Bavaria.<ref name=hlb1>[http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44648 Wittelsbacher (in German)], Historisches Lexikon Bayerns</ref>

200.px|left|thumb|Rupprecht in uniform during World War I

===First world war===
He commanded the Lorraine.  The appointment to command of the Sixth Army was as a result of his royalty, but the level of study he had performed before he took command was a factor behind his successful direction of the Sixth Army, and he proved to be a highly able commander.<ref name=turner/> Rupprecht succeeded in holding back the French attack in August 1914, in the Battle of Lorraine, and then launched a counteroffensive later that month.<ref name=turner/> Rupprecht failed to break through the French lines.  He was later in command of the 6th Army at Ypres, facing the British Expeditionary Force, and remained on the Western Front during the stalemate that would last until the end of the war.

Rupprecht achieved the rank of field marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) in July 1916 and assumed command of Army Group Rupprecht on 28th August that year, consisting of the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th Army. Rupprecht has been considered by some to be one of the best Royal commanders in the Imperial German Army of World War I, possibly even the only one to deserve his command. Rupprecht came to the conclusion much earlier than most other German generals (towards the end of 1917), that the war could not be won, seeing an ever increasing material advantage of the allies.<ref>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/glossary/glossary_r.htm The National Archives, UK]</ref> He also opposed the "scorched earth" policy during withdrawals, but his royal position made a resignation on those grounds impossible for him, even though he threatened it. He eventually resigned from his command on 11th November 1918.<ref name=rickard/>

He got engaged to the much younger Princess Antoinette of Luxembourg in 1918 but the German defeat made this marriage impossible and the engagement was canceled again.<ref name=hlb1/><ref>[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Pw_sGotJ4ooC&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=Rupprecht,+Crown+Prince+of+Bavaria&source=web&ots=xghxjqYz4Z&sig=JuN_kNnnR7-xhz_fXj09gHO_xdw&hl=en#PPA27,M1 The Kaiser's Warlords: German Commanders of World War I - Kronprinz Rupprecht von Bayern] google book review, pp. 27-29</ref>

===Inter war years===
Rupprecht lost his chance to rule Bavaria when it became a republic in the revolutions that followed the war. Although some royalists still referred to him as the King of Bavaria, the 738 years of Wittelsbach rule ended in 1918. Rupprecht escaped to Jacobite heir. This occurred upon her death on 3 February 1919. As such, under his anglicized name he would be King Robert I (King of England) and IV (King of Scotland), although he never claimed these crowns.

The changed political situation however allowed him finally to marry Princess Antoinette of Luxembourg on 7 April 1921. The ceremony was carried out by the papal nuncio to Bavaria, Eugenio Pacelli, later Pope Pius XII.

Shortly after the 1922 Washington Naval Conference, he made a statement regarding the possible ban of aerial bombing, poison gas, sea blockades and long range guns, blaming them for a majority of civilian casualties during the last war. He also advocated Germany's participation in future peace conferences, and he dismissed claims that Kaiser Wilhelm II was to blame for the first world war.<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9A0CEEDA1030EE3ABC4C53DFB7668389639EDE&oref=slogin The New York Times], January 4 1922</ref>

While opposed to the Weimar Republic and never having renounced his rights to the throne, Rupprecht envisioned a Constitutional monarchy for Bavaria. Upon his father's death in October 1921, Rupprecht declared his claim to the throne since his father had never formally renounced his crown in the Anif declaration. While never crowned king, he did become the head of the House of Wittelsbach after his father's death. He formed the ''Wittelsbacher Ausgleichfond'' in 1923, which was an agreement with the state of Bavaria leaving the most important of the Wittelsbach palaces, like Neuschwanstein and Linderhof, to the Bavarian people.

He was never enticed to join the far right in Germany, despite Hitler's attempts to win him over through King George V at a lunch in London in the Summer of 1934 that he considered Hitler to be insane.<ref name=google>[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=rJNoVaft2PoC&pg=RA1-PA72&lpg=RA1-PA72&dq=Rupprecht+von+Bayern&source=web&ots=3tZzClSo1n&sig=5EBVt2lX628Feoh9gTDGZlPlR7s&hl=en Royals and the Reich: The Princes Von Hessen in Nazi Germany] google book review, p. 72, author: Jonathan Petropoulos, accessdate: 29 April 2008</ref>

With the worsening of the Hindenburg and the hesitant Bavarian government under Heinrich Held ended all hopes for the idea.

Rupprecht continued to believe that restoration of the monarchy was possible, an opinion he voiced to the British ambassador Eric Phipps in 1935.

===Second world war===
Rupprecht was forced into exile in Italy in December 1939 (the last straw being the confiscation of ''Schloß Leutstetten'' by the Nazis) where he stayed as a guest of King Victor Emmanuel, residing mostly in Florence. He and his family were barred from returning to Germany. He continued to harbor the idea of the restoration of the Bavarian monarchy, in a possible union with Austria as an independent Southern Germany.<ref name=kirchen/> In a memorandum in May 1943, he voiced his opinion that Germany would be completely defeated in the war and hoped to spare the German people from the worst when the Nazi regime finally fell. He even mentioned his ambition for the German crown, which had been held by the House of Wittelsbach in the past.<ref name=google/>

In October 1944, when Germany occupied Hungary, Rupprecht's wife and children were captured, while he, still in Italy, evaded arrest. They were first imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp at Oranienburg, Brandenburg. In April 1945 they were moved to the Dachau concentration camp, where they were liberated by the United States Army. Crown Princess Antoinette never recovered completely from the captivity, and died a few years later in Switzerland, having vowed never to return to Germany after her ordeal. She was buried in Rome but her heart was, complying with Wittelsbach tradition, enshrined in the ''Gnadenkapelle'' (Chapel of the Miraculous Image) at Altötting.

===Post war===
Rupprecht continued to advocate the restoration of the Bavarian monarchy upon his return but found no support from the US occupation authorities, who however treated him courteously. General Dwight D. Eisenhower provided a special plane to fly him back to Munich in September 1945 and he returned to ''Schloß Leutstetten''. 

It is estimated that he had the support of 60 to 70% of the Bavarian population in his goal to restore the monarchy in the post-war years. Of the 170 members of the Bavarian parliament, 70 declared themselves to be monarchists in September 1954, a clear sign of support for the Crown Prince.<ref></ref>

{{Bio
|Titolo = Il Principe della Corona
|Nome = Rupprecht di Baviera
|Cognome = 
|PostCognome = (in tedesco ''Kronprinz Rupprecht von Bayern'')
|Sesso = M
|LuogoNascita = Monaco di Baviera
|GiornoMeseNascita = 18 maggio
|AnnoNascita = 1869
|LuogoMorte = Starnberg
|GiornoMeseMorte = 2 agosto
|AnnoMorte = 1955
|Categorie = Categoria:Wittelsbach
|FineIncipit = fu l'ultimo Principe della Corona di Baviera
}}
left|thumb|Rupprecht di Baviera 
Il suo titolo completo era '''''S.A.R. Rupprecht Maria Luitpold Ferdinand Principe della Corona di Baviera, Duca di Baviera, Franconia e Svevia, Conte Palatino del Reno'''''.
==Biografia==
Rupprecht nacque a Ludovico III, l'ultimo re di Lorena. Rupprecht riuscì a contenere l'offensiva francese dell'agosto francesi e si trovarono bloccate sul fronte occidentale in un'''impasse'' che durò sino alla fine della guerra. Rupprecht raggiunse il grado di imperiale tedesco della Prima guerra mondiale.

Rupprecht sposò nel Guglielmo IV.

Perse il diritto a regnare sulla Baviera quando questa divenne una repubblica nella rivoluzione seguita alla fine della guerra. Rupprecht si oppose al regime nazista e fu costretto all'esilio in Italia nel 1939, risiedendo a Roma e a Firenze.

Nell'ottobre Germania occupò l'Sachsenausen e quindi a Dachau, da cui furono liberati nell'aprile esercito statunitense. La principessa Antonia non si riprese mai dall'esperienza della prigionia, e morì pochi anni dopo.

Rupprecth morì nel 1955 nel suo castello presso Starnberg, in Baviera, e volle essere sepolto a Monaco, vicino alle sue spose.

Rupprecht era discendente della dinastia degli Stuart. I giacobiti lo riconobbero perciò come legittimo pretendente al trono britannico dopo la morte di sua madre nel 1919, e lo acclamarono come Roberto I, sovrano del Regno Unito di Gran Bretagna, d'Irlanda e di Francia. Ma Rupprecht non rivendicò mai il titolo e la sua posizione di erede degli Stuart fu trasmessa a suo figlio Albrecht di Baviera