Frederick William V of Prussia (The Once and Never Kings)

Frederick William IV (born: Frederick William Nicolas Louis) is the current reigning king of Prussia. He is the oldest son of the previous Prussian King, Frederick William IV (1943 - 2006), and his wife, Marisa of Baden (1948 - 1988).

Life
Frederick William Nicolas Louis was born on January 29, 1982 in the Königsberg castle in Königsberg, capital of East Prussia. When he was young, he quickly showed interest in administration, often asking to sit in his father's meetings with government leaders. While at first those leaders were annoyed for the king bringing his child to work, eventually they grew to enjoy young Frederick William's company.

When Frederick William IV suffered a stroke in 2003 that confined him to bed, Frederick William was appointed his regent, then only 21 years old. As his father, naturally, couldn't travel to Frankfurt for the regular meetings of the various heads of state of the Imperial members with other members, as well as the Holy Roman Emperor. Emperor Francis is said to have developed a good working relationship.

When Frederick William IV died comatose on September 2, 2006, Frederick William took the throne, and Prussia's two electoral votes, on that day. His actual coronation was seven months later in Königsberg Cathedral. Within his first year, he authorized an expansion of Prussia's standing army, as well as increased war games with Luxembourg and the Hanseastic Republic. He has also looked to expand Prussia's industrial compacity, starting with factory construction in Posen. The added benefits of industrializing Posen is that it lays outside the borders of the Holy Roman Empire, thus escaping taxes on Posen-made products.

Despite that, Frederick William has made several speeches before the Imperial Diet, looking for support for the inclusion of Posen. While states such as the Hansa and Austria don't appear bothered, a coalition of the Empire's lesser states have successfully blocked all proposed legislation, believing it will dilute their voice in the Diet

There is also talk that Emperor Francis is grooming Frederick William as his successor, which is promoted by the fact that the youthful Prussian King is liked across much of the Empire. The common criticism, however, is of Frederick William's well-known conservatism, as well as his military expansion. The latter, some say, isn't needed in current times.

Family
Frederick William met Eloise of Auvergne in late 2003. While he was in Frankfurt acting in his compacity as Regent of Prussia, the Grand Duke of Auvergne, Louis, as arguably the second ranking head of state in Francia, was making a state visit to the Imperial capital. While he never met Grand Duke Louis personally, he "fell in love" (as he himself would put it) upon seeing Eloise. As Eloise was sixth in line for the Auvergni throne, Louis didn't see a problem with them marrying, which they did in early 2005.

Titles
The full titles of King Frederick William V are as follows:

Frederick William, By the Grave of God, King of Prussia and its Dominions, Duke of Prussia, Duke of Pommerania, Duke of Posen, Duke of Cleves, Prince of Neuchatel, Count of Ravensburg, Count of Mark, County of Minden, Margrave of Brandenburg