Bernhard was born on 1 April 1851 at Meiningen in what was then the German Confederation, as the eldest son of Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and his first wife Princess Charlotte of Prussia.

[1] He married in Berlin on 18 February 1878 Princess Charlotte of Prussia, his second cousin, daughter of Frederick III, German Emperor and granddaughter of the Queen Victoria.

[1] They had one daughter: Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen (b. Potsdam, 12 May 1879 - d. Schloß Neuhoff, 26 August 1945), married on 24 September 1898 to Heinrich XXX of Reuss-Köstritz.

His wife's cousin and critic, Queen Marie of Romania, described him in her memoir: "Her husband, Bernard Erbprinz of Saxe-Meiningen, came with her; she never liked him, but for all that he was devoted to her and he imagined she was the most perfect of wives, which shows how clever she was.

Both passionate soldiers, Uncle and he would discuss military questions by the hour, but the King preferred still more talking politics with irresistible Charly.