Ernest Augustus IV, Prince of Hanover

Ernst August, Prince of Hanover, Hereditary Duke of Brunswick (German: Ernst August Prinz von Hannover) (18 March 1914, Brunswick – 9 December 1987, Schulenburg (Leine)) was the eldest son of Ernest Augustus III, Duke of Brunswick and Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, the daughter of his third cousin. Therefore, they were third cousins, once removed. From his birth, he was the Hereditary Duke of Brunswick (German: Ernst August, Erbherzog von Braunschweig). He lost his titles when his father abdicated in 1918 when he was 4 years old. After his father's death in 1953, he became head of the House of Hanover. He was usually styled His Royal Highness The Prince of Hanover and sometimes as Ernest Augustus IV. Ernest Augustus married for the first time in 1951, Princess Ortrud of Schleswig-Holstein-Sønderburg-Glücksburg (1925–80), and had issue. He married again in 1980, Countess Monika of Solms-Laubach (born 1929). 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- HRH Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover [1957] 1 All ER 49; he is heir to the British title of Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, suspended under the Titles Deprivation Act 1917. His children by his first wife are:

• Princess Marie Viktoria Luise Hertha Friederike of Hanover (1952– ), married Count Michael of Hochberg and had issue
• Ernst August V Albert Paul Otto Rupprecht Oskar Berthold Friedrich-Ferdinand Christian Ludwig, Prince of Hanover (1954– ), married first Chantal Hochuli and had issue, married second Princess Caroline of Monaco and had issue
• Prince Ludwig Rudolph Georg Wilhelm Philipp Friedrich Wolrad Maximilian of Hanover (1955–88), married Countess Isabelle of Thurn and Valsassina-Como-Vercelli (1962–88) 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 (1958– )
• Princess Alexandra Irene Margaretha Elisabeth Bathildis of Hanover (1959– ), married Andreas, 11th Prince of Leiningen and had issue
• Prince Heinrich Julius Christian Otto Friedrich Franz Anton Günther of Hanover (1961– ), married Thyra von Westernhagen and had issue (including a son, Albert, born on the 138th anniversary of the death of his ancestor, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Ancestry

External links

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