Description:

French lighter with a caricature of the German crown prince Wilhelm of Prussia. One side features a caricature of the crown prince crying with the inscription 'Verdun' (referring to the failed attacks on Verdun during WWI), the other side features a caricature of the crown prince laughing with the inscription 'Paris'.
Wilhelm of Prussia (1882-1951) was the eldest son of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II and Empress Augusta Victoria, making him the last crown prince of Prussia and the German empire.
In 1907, Wilhelm of Prussia was appointed an army officer, and he was known as a fierce nationalist until 1914. During the First World War, his army had an important role in the failed attack on Verdun in 1917. The Allied press described him as the 'Butcher of Verdun'.
Wilhelm of Prussia had a very bad reputation among his officers. It soon became clear that he would never be designated heir to the throne by the German people and the German government due to his sometimes debauched behaviour. Like his father, the German kaiser, he fled to the neutral Netherlands in mid-November 1918. On 1st December 1918, the crown prince renounced his right to the German throne. He returned to Germany in 1923 after his exile in the Netherlands ended. He died of a heart attack in 1951. The German crown prince received various awards from different German and foreign monarchs. As Prince of the Hohenzollern, he was made a Knight of the High Order of the Black Eagle and Grand Commander of the House Order of Hohenzollern.