Albert Maria Joseph Maximilian Lamoral, 8th Prince of Thurn and Taxis (full German name: Albert Maria Joseph Maximilian Lamoral Fürst von Thurn und Taxis; 8 May 1867 – 22 January 1952) was the eighth Prince of Thurn and Taxis and Head of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis from 2 June 1885 until his death on 22 January 1952. Youth, education and marriage Albert was born at Regensburg, Germany, the youngest of four children of Maximilian Anton Lamoral, Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis (1831–1867) and Duchess Helene in Bavaria (1834–1890). His father died when he was less than two months old, so on the death of his grandfather, Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, his older brother Maximilian Maria, 7th Prince of Thurn and Taxis became Prince, under the guardianship of his mother who was regent until he should come of age. Prince Albert spent his childhood with his mother and three siblings in Prüfening Abbey, in Bismarckplatz, Regensburg. As was then typical for the aristocracy, he received a non-specific education, attending lectures in law, national economics and art history in Würzburg, Freiburg and Leipzig. On his brother's untimely death, aged 22, Prince Albert, then aged 18, inherited his brother's title, also under the guardianship of his mother as regent. At the time, his full title was Prince of Thurn and Taxis, Prince of Buchau und Prince of Krotoszyn, royal Count of Friedberg-Scheer, Count of Valle-Sassina, and of Marchtal, Neresheim etc., Hereditary general postmaster. In 1899 he acquired the additional Bavarian royal titles of Duke of Wörth und Donaustauf. He came of age on 8th May 1888 as full prince, head of the family of Thurn and Taxis. On 30 November 1889 he was made a knight of the Austrian Order of the Golden Fleece, along with ten other members of the European royal families, including the later father-in-law of his daughter, Frederick Augustus III of Saxony. The was the ninth member of the house of Thurn and Taxis to be honoured with this knighthood. At the time of his succession, Prince Albert had not yet married. On 15 July 1890 in Budapest, Hungary, Albert married Archduchess Margarethe Klementine of Austria (6 July 1870 – 2 May 1955), daughter of Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria. Albert purchased the 'Empress Eugenie Tiara' as a wedding present for Margarethe; the tiara, designed by Gabriel Lemmonier in 1853, was