'' , house =

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, father =

Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick Ernest Augustus (Ernest Augustus Christian George; german: Ernst August Christian Georg; 17 November 1887 – 30 January 1953) was the reigning Duchy of Brunswick, Duke of Brunswick from 2 November 1913 to 8 November 1918. He was a grandson of Geor ...

, mother =

Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia german: Viktoria Luise Adelheid Mathilde Charlotte , house = Hohenzollern , father = Wilhelm II, German Emperor , mother = Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein , birth_name = Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia , ...

, birth_date = , birth_place =

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...

Duchy of Brunswick The Duchy of Brunswick (german: Herzogtum Braunschweig) was a historical German state. Its capital city, capital was the city of Braunschweig, Brunswick (). It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel ...

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

, death_date = , death_place = Schulenburg,

Pattensen Pattensen () is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately south of Hanover. Geography Pattensen is located in the historic landscape Calenberg Land between the Leine and the Deister hills. The ar ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, burial_date = 11 December 1987 , burial_place = Schloss Marienburg, Germany , module = Ernst August, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick, Prince of Hanover''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser'' XVIII. "Haus Hannover". C.A. Starke Verlag, 2007, pp. 22–26. . (german: Ernst August Prinz von Hannover; 18 March 1914 – 9 December 1987) was head of the

House of Hanover The House of Hanover (german: Haus Hannover), whose members are known as Hanoverians, is a European royal house of German origin that ruled Hanover, Great Britain, and Ireland at various times during the 17th to 20th centuries. The house orig ...

from 1953 until his death in 1987. From his birth until the

German Revolution of 1918–1919 The German Revolution or November Revolution (german: Novemberrevolution) was a civil conflict in the German Empire at the end of the First World War that resulted in the replacement of the German federal constitutional monarchy with a dem ...

he was the

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to the

, a state of the

. He was born at

, Germany, the eldest son of

and

Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia german: Viktoria Luise Adelheid Mathilde Charlotte , house = Hohenzollern , father = Wilhelm II, German Emperor , mother = Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein , birth_name = Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia , ...

, the only daughter of Emperor

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...

, Ernest Augustus's third cousin in descent from

George III of the United Kingdom George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until Acts of Union 1800, the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was ...

. Ernst August's parents were, therefore, third cousins, once removed. From his birth, he was the ''Hereditary Prince of Brunswick''. He was also, shortly after birth in 1914, made a

British prince Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a royal title normally granted to sons and grandsons of reigning and past British monarchs. The title is granted by the reigning monarch, who is the fount of all honours, thro ...

by King

George V of the United Kingdom George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

, and was heir to the titles

Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that was held by junior members of the British royal family. It was named after the county of Cumberland in England, and after Teviotdale in Scotland. Held by the ...

and

Earl of Armagh Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant " chieftain", particula ...

which were suspended under the

Titles Deprivation Act 1917 The Titles Deprivation Act 1917 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which authorised enemies of the United Kingdom during the First World War to be deprived of their British peerages and royal titles. Background The British royal famil ...

Life

Herzogin Viktoria Luise mit dem Erbprinzen, 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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He had an illustrious list of godparents:

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the Grand title of the Emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg m ...

Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

Ludwig III of Bavaria Ludwig III (Ludwig Luitpold Josef Maria Aloys Alfried; 7 January 1845 – 18 October 1921) was the last King of Bavaria, reigning from 1913 to 1918. Initially he served in the Bavarian military as a lieutenant and went on to hold the rank of Oberl ...

Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Frederick Francis IV (Friedrich Franz Michael; 9 April 1882 – 17 November 1945) was the last Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and regent of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He inherited the throne when he was fifteen years old in 1897 and was forced t ...

, Prince Adalbert of Prussia,

Prince Oskar of Prussia Prince Oskar Karl Gustav Adolf of Prussia (27 July 1888 – 27 January 1958) was the fifth son of German Emperor Wilhelm II and Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. Biography Birth and family Prinz Oskar of Prussia ...

Prince Maximilian of Baden Maximilian, Margrave of Baden (''Maximilian Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm''; 10 July 1867 – 6 November 1929),Almanach de Gotha. ''Haus Baden (Maison de Bade)''. Justus Perthes (publishing company), Justus Perthes, Gotha, 1944, p. 18, (French). a ...

, the 1st Royal Bavarian Heavy Cavalry Regiment, and all four of his grandparents: the

German Emperor The German Emperor (german: Deutscher Kaiser, ) was the official title of the head of state and hereditary ruler of the German Empire. A specifically chosen term, it was introduced with the 1 January 1871 constitution and lasted until the offi ...

and

Empress An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

and the

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

and

Duchess Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

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

. During World War II, he fought at the Russian Front as ''Oberleutnant'' in the staff of Generaloberst

Erich Hoepner Erich Kurt Richard Hoepner (14 September 1886 – 8 August 1944) was a German general during World War II. An early proponent of mechanisation and armoured warfare, he was a Wehrmacht army corps commander at the beginning of the war, leading hi ...

. He was seriously injured near

Charkov Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

in spring 1943. After the

20 July plot On 20 July 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg and other conspirators attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of Nazi Germany, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia, now Kętrzyn, in present-day Poland. The ...

in 1944, he was imprisoned for a few weeks by the Gestapo in Berlin. He had joined the SS in 1933 and remained a member for one year."The prince and the Nazis"
''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', Feb 13, 1999. His official "denazification" certificate from 1949 vetting his Third Reich associations classified him as "a nominal Nazi supporter", without being a Nazi party member, and according to a Foreign Office record. 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 Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark ( el, Σοφία, translit=Sofía; 26 June 1914 – 24 November 2001) was by birth a List of princesses of Greece, Greek and List of princesses of Denmark, Danish princess, as well as Electorate of Hesse, Pri ...

, thus becoming the brother-in-law of

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

and

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during h ...

. Ernest Augustus was himself an heir to the British titles of

Prince of Great Britain and Ireland Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a royal title normally granted to sons and grandsons of reigning and past Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarchs. The title is granted by the reigning monarch, who is ...

, recognised ''ad personam'' for Ernst August's father as well as for him and his siblings by King

on 17 June 1914,Heraldica.org. Velde, François ''Styles of the members of the British royal family:Documents''
Children of the duke and duchess of Brunswick (June 17, 1914)
/ref>

Duke of Cumberland Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the historic county of Cumberland. History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedo ...

and Teviotdale,

, which however were all suspended under the

. In addition to being a German, he also held British nationality, after successfully claiming it under the

Sophia Naturalization Act 1705 The Act for the Naturalization of the Most Excellent Princess Sophia, Electress and Duchess Dowager of Hanover, and the Issue of her Body was an Act of the Parliament of England (4 & 5 Ann. c. 16.) in 1705. It followed the Act of Settlement 170 ...

in the case of ''

Attorney-General v. Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover ''Attorney-General v Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover'' 957.html"_;"title="9571_All_ER_49;_

9571_All_ER_49;_[1957A.C._436_was_a_1956_Judicial_functions_of_the_House_of_Lords.html"__"title="957A.C._436.html"_;"title="957.html"_;"title="9_...

''._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_House_of_Guelph.html" "title="957">9571_All_ER_49;_[1957A.C._436_was_a_1956_Judicial_functions_of_the_House_of_Lords.html" "title="957A.C._436.html" ;"title="957.html" ;"title="9 ...

''. 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 House of Guelph">Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

Life

Marriage and children

In popular culture

Ancestry

Notes

External links