On 3 July 1779, he was made a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the first Prince of Leiningen. On 24 June 1749, he married his first cousin Christiane Wilhelmine Luise, daughter of Wilhelm Carl Ludwig, Count of Solms-R*delheim and Assenheim, by his wife Countess Maria Margareta Leopolda von Wurmbrand-Stuppach. She died on 6 January 1803, having borne him a son and three daughters:
Christiane Wilhelmine Luise
Countess Maria Margareta Leopolda von Wurmbrand-Stuppach