Prince Georg of Bavaria (; 2 April 1880 – 31 May 1943) was a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach and a Catholic priest. Birth and family Georg was born in Munich, Bavaria, the elder son of Prince Leopold of Bavaria and his wife Archduchess Gisela of Austria. The New York Times described him as the favourite grandson of both the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and the Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria. Military career Georg entered the Bavarian army as a Second Lieutenant (German: Leutnant) a day before his 17th birthday on 1 April 1897; he was assigned to Infanterie-Leib-Regiment. On 8 February 1903 he was promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant (German: Oberleutnant) and then reassigned to the 1st Royal Bavarian Heavy Cavalry “Prince Charles of Bavaria”. Two years later, on 27 October 1905, he was promoted to Rittmeister and on 26 October 1906 to Major. From 17 August 1908 he was also a Rittmeister and later Major in the 11th "Moravia" Austro-Hungarian Dragoons. While in the army, he became a champion boxer. Marriage In December 1911 Georg became engaged to Archduchess Isabella of Austria (b. 17 November 1888 in Pressburg), daughter of Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen, and his wife, Princess Isabella of Croy. The wedding took place on 10 February 1912 in the Mariä Vermählung (Marriage of the Virgin Mary) Chapel in the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, officiated by Cardinal Franz Nagl. The couple honeymooned in Wales, Paris and Algiers, but separated before the end of the honeymoon. There were several unsuccessful attempts at reconciliation. On 17 January 1913 the union was dissolved by the Royal Bavarian Supreme Court; on 5 March 1913 the union was annulled by the Holy See on the grounds of non-consummation. Isabella became a nurse in the Austrian army during World War I. During the war, she fell in love with the surgeon Paul Albrecht (1873–1928) and was briefly engaged to him until Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria forbade the marriage. She never married again, and died in La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland on 6 December 1973. World War I During World War I, Georg fought both on the Western Front (including the First Battle of Arras and the First Battle of Ypres) and on the Eastern Front. He started the war as commander of the Bavarian mechanized troops and eventually served under General Erich von Falkenhayn in