Royal fury over fake German prince who has met Prince Charles after using legal loophole to gain access to high society
A fake German prince who has rubbed shoulders with Prince Charles has been slammed for using a legal loophole to gain access to high society.
His Serene Highness Dr Donatus, Prince of Hohenzollern, has spent the better part of two decades schmoozing with Britain's elite.
But Donatus, who is really a 64-year-old music teacher called Markus Hänsel, was only able to do this after paying to be adopted by a minor German royal in the House of Hohenzollern at the age of 42.
The real Prince of Hohenzollern, Karl Friedrich, the head of the House of Hohenzollern, has hit out at Donatus for using his family's name.
He told The Sun: 'It makes me angry and frustrated, it leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth.
'Donatus is not my blood, he is not a member of the German royal family, he is simply a non-royal name bearer.
'He certainly cannot use the moniker of Serene Highness.'
Donatus is connected to several music organisations and charities, alongside King Charles and Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent.
He is the Chairman of the Friends of the English Chamber Orchestra and is also ambassador of The Purcell School for Young Musicians, in Bushey, Hertfordshire, both of which are organisations that King Charles is a patron of.
Donatus is also a member of the International Board of Governors of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, of which the Duke of Kent is patron, and and Creative Benefactor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
On top of this, he was previously a Principal Supporter of London's Royal College of Music, and a founding patron of the Royal College of Music Prince Consort Orchestra.
In one clip taken from his Surrey home, a photo of him and King Charles was seen on the side.
Prince Karl told the Sun that he confronted Donatus over his claim to his family's name, and it was revealed that Katharina Feodora, Princess of Hohenzollern, adopted him in around 2003.
'I wrote to Donatus and said I know all the members of my family but I hadn't heard of him. He wrote back and said, 'yes I have been adopted by your aunt Katharina'.
'I then spoke to my aunt and she told me, 'yes well, he offered me such an amount of money I couldn't resist'. She was always short of money.
'There's nothing we as a family can do.'
Three years after he was adopted, he married Dr Viola Hallman, heiress of the Theis steel business, who later became Dr Viola Christa, Princess of Hohenzollern.
They lived in a castle in Haelen, the Netherlands. Viola died of cancer in 2012.
Donatus told The Sun in an emailed statement, written in the third person: 'Donatus has the same legal rank and rights represented in Germany's family law as Karl Friedrich of Hohenzollern, who does not have the authority to speak on behalf of all the members of the family.'
He also says he 'financially supports' his 'mother' Katharina.
Prince Karl said he is now seeking legal advice on the matter: 'We don't like somebody bringing the family name into a bad light.
'It's obvious he doesn't know me and the history of the Swabian branch of the Hohenzollerns. He's an uninformed man.
'He is not a member of the royal house of Hohenzollern.'
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