Last heir to the Ottoman throne dies in Syria aged 90

The last heir to the throne of the now-defunct Ottoman Empire died in a Damascus hospital on Monday after battling illness, Daily Sabah reported.

90-year-old Prince Dundar Abdulkerim Osmanoglu was born in the Syrian capital after his parents, like all descendants of the Ottman dynasty, were expelled from Turkey when the caliphate was abolished in 1924.

The great grandson of Sultan Abdulhamid II, Prince Dundar was the last surviving heir of the royal House of Osman which ruled over the Ottoman Empire for six centuries.

As the oldest member, he was also the head of the royal family of sultans’ grandchildren since 2017. Female members of the house of Osman were allowed to return to Turkey in 1952, but males were prevented until 1974.

Dundar lived alone in war-torn Syria after his wife’s death in 2017, with no children of his own.

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