Did Prince Max of Bavaria succeed to the title of his adopted father, Ludwig Wilhelm, Duke in Bavaria on his death in 1968 or did he succeed in 1973 on the death of Duke Luitpold in Bavaria?
Neither. Prince Max does not have the title "Herzog in Bayern". He has the surname "Herzog in Bayern" by German civil law according to his 1965 adoption by his great-uncle Duke Ludwig Wilhelm in Bavaria. His surname changed with the adoption and did not have to wait for anybody to die.
As Prince Max once said to me, "I'm really a von Bayern not an in Bayern."
The adoption was done for property/financial reasons, not to perpetuate a title.
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Noel S. McFerran
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