Prince Constantin Dies ‘Unexpectedly’ Age 51, Says Royal House

His Serene Highness Prince Constantin of Liechtenstein died “unexpectedly” aged 51 this week, the Princely Family of the European nation said.

A statement from the Liechtenstein Fürstenhaus this week revealed the death of His Serene Highness Prince Constantin of Liechtenstein. The youngest son of the present reigning Prince of Liechtenstein Hans-Adam II, Constantin was seventh in line.

No cause of death was given and the family said the death had come “unexpectedly” to the 51 year old European royal and businessman. Radio Liechtenstein reports Constantin had studied law in Germany in the 1990s and was a member of the Austrian Council for Sustainable Development.

Liechtenstein is presently under two days of national mourning and residents have been asked to fly flags at half-mast, or with a mourning ribbon.

The business arm of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein, of which Constantin was a director, said in their statement that his death was a “terrible shock to all those who knew him” and that they were in deep mourning. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to his widow Princess Marie von und zu Liechtenstein, and their children Moritz, Georgina, and Benedikt”, they said.

At just 62 square miles Liechtenstein is one of the smallest countries in the world and one of the wealthiest, and is one of a handful of European micro-states which survived the wars of unification in the 19th century to remain theoretically independent. Liechtenstein has no military of its own and is in a common economic and currency area with neighbour Switzerland, which defacto acts as a guarantor of its neutrality.