Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover (born 1914)

Ernest Augustus with his mother in 1914.

The christening of Ernst August in the summer of 1914 was the last great gathering of European monarchs before the start of World War I. He had an illustrious list of godparents: George V of the United Kingdom, Franz Joseph I of Austria, Nicholas II of Russia, Ludwig III of Bavaria, Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Prince Adalbert of Prussia, Prince Oskar of Prussia, Prince Maximilian of Baden, the 1st Royal Bavarian Heavy Cavalry Regiment, and all four of his grandparents: the German Emperor and Empress and the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland.

He ceased being heir to the duchy of Brunswick at the age of four, when his father abdicated in 1918. After his father's death in 1953, he became head of the House of Hanover.

During World War II, he fought at the Russian Front as Oberleutnant in the staff of Generaloberst Erich Hoepner. He was seriously injured near Kharkiv in spring 1943. After the 20 July plot in 1944, he was imprisoned for a few weeks by the Gestapo in Berlin.[3]

He had joined the SS in 1933 and remained a member for one year.[4] His official "denazification" certificate from 1949 vetting his Third Reich associations classified him as "a nominal Nazi supporter",[4] without being a Nazi party member,[4] and according to a Foreign Office record.[4]

In 1938 his sister, Princess Frederica had married the later King Paul I of the Hellenes and in 1946 his younger brother Prince George William married Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, thus becoming the brother-in-law of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

Ernest Augustus was himself an heir to the British titles of Prince of Great Britain and Ireland, recognised ad personam for Ernst August's father as well as for him and his siblings by King George V of the United Kingdom on 17 June 1914,[5] Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, Earl of Armagh, which however were all suspended under the Titles Deprivation Act 1917. In addition to being a German, he also held British nationality, after successfully claiming it under the Sophia Naturalization Act 1705 in the case of Attorney-General v. Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover.[6] Nonetheless, a problem arose as foreign royal titles can't be entered into a British passport. Therefore, the titles Prince of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg could not be mentioned there, nor could the British titles due to the Titles Deprivation Act of 1917. The name which was finally entered into his British documents, was thus Ernest Augustus Guelph, with the addition of His Royal Highness. Guelph is thus also the British last name of his siblings and children, all styled Royal Highnesses in the United Kingdom.[7]

In 1961 he sold his remaining properties at Herrenhausen Gardens, including the site of Herrenhausen Palace which had been destroyed by a British bombing raid in 1943. He kept however the Princely House, a small palace built in 1720 by George I of Great Britain for his daughter Anna Louise. Ernest Augustus converted Marienburg Castle into a museum in 1954, after having moved to nearby Calenberg Demesne, which caused a row with his mother, who was forced to move out. He also sold the family's exile seat, Cumberland Castle at Gmunden, Austria, to the state of Upper Austria in 1979, but his family foundation based in Liechtenstein kept vast forests, a game park, a hunting lodge, The Queen's Villa and other property at Gmunden. The family property is now managed by his grandson Ernst August.

During the Second World War, specifically in 1941, his cousin Prince Hubertus of Prussia married the noted society beauty and aristocrat Baroness Maria Anna von Humboldt-Dachroeden (1916–2003). The couple, however, divorced in 1943, after her affair with Ernest Augustus resulted in the birth of a son. Ernest Augustus however did not marry Maria Anna because his parents would not have approved, since she was considered of inadequate birth and was also a divorcée, and the marriage would have made his younger brother Prince George William heir to the headship of the House of Hanover. The child, christened Christian Ernst August Hubertus, Freiherr von Humboldt-Dachroeden, was born in 1943 and currently is a bank consultant.[8]

On 5 September 1951, Ernest Augustus married Princess Ortrud of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1925–1980).[9] The wedding was attended by many important royal figures, including his sister Queen Frederica and her husband King Paul of Greece, and the heads of the houses of Saxony, Hesse, Mecklenburg, Oldenburg, and Baden.[9] The wedding was followed with a reception in the Gallery Building at Herrenhausen Gardens, the only part of the House of Hanover's former summer palace still intact, as the palace itself had been burned down during World War II.[9]

His children by his first wife[1] are:

• Princess Marie of Hanover (born 1952), married Count Michael Georg von Hochberg-Fürstenstein (b. 1943) and had issue.
• Prince Ernst August of Hanover (born 1954), married firstly Chantal Hochuli (b. 1955) and had issue, married secondly Princess Caroline of Monaco and had issue.
• Prince Ludwig Rudolph of Hanover (1955–1988), married Countess Isabelle von Thurn und Valsassina-Como-Vercelli (1962–1988), with whom he had one son. Ludwig committed suicide shortly after discovering the body of his wife, who had died of a drug overdose.
• Princess Olga Sophie Charlotte Anna of Hanover (born 1958)
• Princess Alexandra of Hanover (born 1959), married Andreas, 8th Prince of Leiningen (b. 1955) and had issue.
• Prince Heinrich of Hanover (born 1961), married Thyra Donata Sixtina von Westernhagen and had issue (including a son, Albert).

Princess Ortrud died in 1980.

Ernest Augustus married again in 1981, Countess Monika zu Solms-Laubach (1929–2015),[1] daughter of Georg, 9th Count of Solms-Laubach (1899-1969) and his wife, Princess Johanna of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich (1905-1982).

He died at Schulenburg, Pattensen, Lower Saxony, Germany, aged 73, and was buried next to his first wife on a round bastion of Marienburg Castle (Hanover).

He was portrayed by Daniel Betts in the first season of the Netflix series The Crown.[10]

• Official website of the House of Hanover (in German)