Prince Eitel was born on 24 August 1874 in Brunswick. He was the second child born to Kanzler Wilhelm von Preußen by his wife Königin Maria I von Westphalen. Eitel was the Kaiser Wilhelm II's fourth nephew to be born since the beginning of the 20th century. His uncle Wilhelm II died in 1898, and his uncle asceded to the throne as Heinrich I. At the time of his uncle's ascension, Prince Eitel was third in line of succession to the German and Prussian thrones. On May 31, 1899, Eitel was brutally murdered by bandits on his way to Russia.