Franz was the fourth child of Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia (later King of Prussia and German Emperor as Frederick III), and Victoria, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of the British Queen Victoria.He was born at the New Palace in Potsdam, Germany, in 1864. His mother found him much cleverer and more intelligent than his three elder siblings and believed he would have great potential when he grew up. However, he died from meningitis at the New Palace on 18 June 1866, aged twenty-one months. He was buried in the royal mausoleum of the Friedenskirche at Potsdam. His mother's grief and despair were intense, as his father, leading the Prussian army into battle against Austria, had taken away all the available doctors thus making it impossible for her to alleviate the suffering of her child or to prevent his death, the memory of which would haunt her for the rest of her life.