He was born 1 February 1905 in London, to Hans Heinrich XV, 3rd Prince von Pleß and his first wife Daisy, Princess of Pless.

Six men (Alexander, Werner von der Schulenburg, butcher apprentice Fritz Langner, typesetter Rudolf Nimptsch, office worker Fritz Wähner, tailor Ernst Dünnebier) were accused of composing "Lila Klub" that was to organize gay orgies in Fürstenstein Castle teahouse.

[1] Due to fiscal problems and indebtedness his estate was partly taken the Polish State (65% of the family's assets).

Following his father's death in 1938 he emigrated to Paris, where he later joined the Polish Army in the West in the latter stages of the war, becoming personal security guard for Prime Minister of Poland general Władysław Sikorski.

In the early 1950s, he befriended the American pulp author Gordon Merrick who described von Hochberg in his novel The Demon of Noon, disguising him as a Central European prince Alex.