He was born in Straßburg, German Empire (which later became part of France),[1][3] as the third child and second son of Emich, Prince of Leiningen (1866–1939; son of Ernst, Prince of Leiningen and Princess Marie of Baden) and his wife, Princess Feodore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1866–1932; daughter of Hermann, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Leopoldine of Baden).

Through his father, he was a descendant of Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden.

He married on 25 November 1925 in Langenburg to Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia (1907–1951), eldest child of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia and his wife, Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (his third cousin through descent from Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld).

They had seven children: In 1937, he joined the Nazi Party (membership number 4.852.615),[4] and on the death of his father in 1939, he succeeded as the sixth Prince of Leiningen.

He was a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union, where he died in 1946 at Saransk.