German prince dies in riding accident at friend’s stately home
A GERMAN prince who once rode at the Cheltenham Festival was killed while horse riding at his friend’s stately home.
Prince Georg-constantin of Saxeweimar-eisenach, 41, died on Saturday at Apethorpe Palace, Northants, after he fell from his horse in what friends described as a tragic accident.
Police and ambulance crews attended the country estate at around 8.30pm following a 999 call. His death is not being treated as suspicious, police said.
The nobleman moved to London in 2015 after marrying Olivia Rachelle Page, and founded a sustainable energy firm. Prince Georg-constantin was part of the House of Saxe-weimar-eisenach, a senior branch of the House of Wettin and was a distant relative of the British royal family.
Countess Désirée Hoensbroech, his sister, told The Daily Telegraph: “The family is utterly shocked by what has happened to my brother.
“He was such a warm-hearted and loving person, a very good sport and dedicated his life to helping people in need.
“If you needed someone to listen to your problems he was there. Even in the busiest of times he would listen and his good humour would immediately help. He was loved by everybody and was a wonderful uncle to his nephews.
“My brother, me, and our mother had such wonderful times together which now helps us, although only very little, to deal with this nightmare.”
In 2014, Prince Georg-constantin rode in the St Patrick’s Derby at the Cheltenham Festival, a charity race in which he finished ninth.
Promotional material published before the event stated the aristocrat went riding “three to four times a week” and spent “up to 20 hours a week in the saddle” during hunting season.
Alexander Fiske-harrison, a close friend, told The Daily Telegraph that the prince had been “going out for a ride with his friend, on horses he knew, over land he knew.”
Prince Georg-constantin was believed to have been riding with Baron Jean Christophe Iseux von Pfetten, a French diplomat, who purchased Apethorpe Palace in 2014.