 He was the first grandchild of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and one of the two grandchildren born in Albert's lifetime, but more importantly, the first son of the crown prince of Prussia.From 1861, Wilhelm was second in the line of succession to Prussia, and also, after 1871, to the newly created German Empire, which, according to the constitution of the German Empire, was ruled by the Prussian king.At the time of his birth, he was also sixth in the line of succession to the British throne, after his maternal uncles and his mother.