Prince Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Prince Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Dietmar Hubertus Friedrich Wilhelm Philipp; 24 August 1909 – 26 November 1943) was a German courier pilot and a member of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, which reigned over the eponymous duchy in the German Empire. Born a prince of Great Britain and Ireland as a great-grandson of Queen Victoria, Hubertus lost this title during the First World War. He became heir apparent to the headship of his house in 1932, and he never married. Hubertus joined the Nazi Party upon the outbreak of the Second World War despite his opposition to Adolf Hitler and Nazism. He served in the Luftwaffe on the Eastern Front until he was killed in action. He is the maternal uncle of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. Family Prince Hubertus was born on 24 August 1909 at Reinhardsbrunn Castle, German Empire. A 72-gun salute took place at Friedenstein Palace 40 minutes after the Prince's birth. The third child and second son of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, he was christened Dietmar Hubertus Friedrich Wilhelm Philipp on 21 September with his maternal grandfather, Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, serving as godfather. Besides ruling a state of the German Empire, Charles Edward was a British peer and a British prince as the grandson of Queen Victoria. Charles Edward lost his Coburg and Gotha throne during the German Revolution of 1918–19, and then was stripped of his British titles in 1919 for siding with Germany in the First World War. Hubertus had an older brother, Hereditary Prince Johann Leopold, who was heir apparent to their father, and three more siblings: Princess Sibylla, Princess Caroline Mathilde, and Prince Friedrich Josias. Though Charles Edward was brought up as an Englishman and the family mainly spoke English at home, Hubertus spoke German fluently, as did his siblings. He was hindered by timidity but was nevertheless the favourite of the family. He was especially close to his sister Sibylla and remained her confidant in adulthood. The children lived in fear of their father, who ran his family "like a military unit". Youth Little is known about the career of Prince Hubertus. He received a private education before enrolling at the Gymnasium Casimirianum in Coburg. He then studied law.