Louis' nearest legitimate next of kin was Prince Albert I's first cousin Wilhelm, 2nd Duke of Urach (1864–1928). He was born in Monaco in 1864, and was largely raised there as a Francophone Roman Catholic by his mother after her widowhood in 1869. He was educated at the former Jesuit School until 1882. He was, however, a Kingdom of Württemberg national, and his adult domicile and main assets (including Lichtenstein Castle) were in Württemberg. Although he was awarded the Grand Cross of Monaco's Order of Saint-Charles and was a knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, he also was awarded much later the Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Württemberg and was a knight of Kaiser Wilhelm II's Order of the Black Eagle. In 1871 Württemberg became a part of the German Empire, Wilhelm joined the Württemberg army in 1882, and by 1911 this coloured the status of his claim to Monaco.