Prince William Frederick of Wied was born at Neuwied near Koblenz, in the Prussian Rhineland, a province of the Kingdom of Prussia.

William Frederick married on 29 October 1898 in Stuttgart, Princess Pauline of Württemberg (1877–1965), only daughter of King William II of Württemberg and his first wife, Princess Marie of Waldeck and Pyrmont, daughter of George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont.

[1] The couple had two children: William Frederick inherited the title of Prince of Wied after the death of his father in 1907.

He became the titular Prince, or Fürst, until his death in 1945, upon which the title was inherited by his 14-year-old grandson Frederick William (1931–2000).

His son Hermann had predeceased him, having died of wounds received in action during World War II in Rzeszów, Poland.