George V of Hanover

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

George V
Reign 18 November 185120 September 1866
Predecessor Ernest Augustus I of Hanover
Consort Marie of Saxe-Altenburg
Issue
Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover
Princess Frederica of Hanover
Princess Marie of Hanover
Full name
George Frederick Alexander Charles Ernest Augustus
German: Georg Friedrich Alexander Karl Ernst August
Titles and styles
HM King George V of Hanover
HRH The Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale
HRH The Crown Prince of Hanover
HRH Prince George of Cumberland
Royal house House of Hanover
Father Ernest Augustus I of Hanover
Mother Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Born 27 May 1819
Flag of Prussia Berlin
Died 12 June 1878 (aged 59)
Flag of France Paris
Burial St George's Chapel, Windsor

George V (George Frederick Alexander Charles Ernest Augustus; 27 May 181912 June 1878) was the last king of Hanover and a member of the German branch of the House of Hanover. In the peerage of Great Britain, he was Duke of Cumberland.

Contents

George V was a first cousin of Queen Victoria, and inherited the Hanoverian realm, which could not pass to her in 1837, because of Salic law, via his father, who became its king instead. He was the last sovereign ruler of the Kingdom of Hanover, losing the territory by annexation to Prussia in 1866, during the Austro-Prussian War, thereby leading to the birth of the modern nation state of Germany.

[edit] Early life

His Royal Highness Prince George of Cumberland was born in Berlin, the only son of Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, himself fifth son of George III, and his wife, Princess Frederica, Duchess of Cumberland. He spent his childhood in Berlin and in Britain, losing the sight of one eye during a childhood illness, and the other in an accident in 1833. His uncle, William IV, created him a Knight of the Garter on 15 August 1835.

[edit] Crown Prince

Upon the death of William IV and the ascension of Queen Victoria to the British throne, the 123-year personal union of the British and Hanoverian thrones ended due to the operation of Salic Law in the German states. The Duke of Cumberland succeeded to the Hanoverian throne as Ernst August I, and Prince George became the Crown Prince of Hanover. As a legitimate male-line descendant of George III, he remained a member of the British Royal Family, and second in line to the British throne, until the birth of Queen Victoria's first child, Victoria, Princess Royal, in 1840. Being totally blind, there were doubts as to whether the Crown Prince was qualified to succeed to the government of Hanover; but his father decided that he should do so.

[edit] Marriage

George married, on 18 February 1843, at Hanover, Her Highness Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg, the eldest daughter of Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, by his wife, Duchess Amelia of Württemburg.

[edit] King of Hanover

The Crown Prince succeeded his father as the King of Hanover and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, as well as Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, in the Peerage of Great Britain, and Earl of Armagh, in the Peerage of Ireland, on 18 November 1851, assuming the style George V.

From his father and from his maternal uncle, Prince Charles Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, one of the most influential men at the Prussian court, George had learned to take a very high and autocratic view of royal authority. During his 15-year reign, he engaged in frequent disputes with the Hanoverian parliament. Having supported Austria in the Diet of the German Confederation in June 1866, he refused, contrary to the wishes of his parliament, to assent to the Prussian demand that Hanover should observe an unarmed neutrality during the Austro-Prussian War. As a result, the Prussian army occupied Hanover and the Hanoverian army surrendered on 29 June 1866, the King and Royal Family having fled to Austria. The Prussian government formally annexed Hanover on 20 September, but the deposed King never renounced his rights to the throne nor acknowledged Prussia's actions. From exile in Gmunden, Austria, he appealed in vain for the European great powers to intervene on behalf of Hanover.

British Royalty
House of Hanover
George III
   George IV
   Frederick, Duke of York
   William IV
   Charlotte, Queen of Württemberg
   Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent
   Princess Augusta Sophia
   Elizabeth, Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg
   Ernest Augustus I of Hanover
   Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex
   Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
   Mary, Duchess of Gloucester
   Princess Sophia
   Prince Octavius
   Prince Alfred
   Princess Amelia
Grandchildren
   Charlotte, Princess Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
   Princess Charlotte of Clarence
   Princess Elizabeth of Clarence
   Victoria
   George V, King of Hanover
   George, Duke of Cambridge
   Augusta, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
   Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck

[edit] Later life

King George died in Paris in June 1878. He was buried in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

[edit] Legacy

The king supported industrial development – in 1856 the "Georgs-Marien-Bergwerks- und Hüttenverein" was founded which was named after him and his wife. The company erected an iron and steel works which gave the city Georgsmarienhütte its name.

[edit] Titles, styles, honours and arms

[edit] Titles and styles

[edit] Arms

By grant dated 15 August 1835, George's arms in right of the United Kingdom were those of his father (being the arms of the United Kingdom, differenced by a label argent of three points, the centre point charged with a fleur-de-lys azure, and each of the other points charged with a cross gules), the whole differenced by a label gules bearing a horse courant argent.[1]

[edit] Ancestors

George's ancestors in three generations
George V of Hanover Father:
Ernest Augustus I of Hanover
Paternal Grandfather:
George III of the United Kingdom
Paternal Great-grandfather:
Frederick, Prince of Wales
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Augusta of Saxe-Gotha
Paternal Grandmother:
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Paternal Great-grandfather:
Charles Louis Frederick, Duke of Mecklenburg-Mirow
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Mother:
Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Maternal Grandfather:
Charles II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Maternal Great-grandfather:
Charles Louis Frederick, Duke of Mecklenburg-Mirow
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Maternal Grandmother:
Friederike of Hesse-Darmstadt
Maternal Great-grandfather:
Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Maria of Leiningen-Dagsburg

[edit] Issue

Name Birth Death Notes
Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover 21 September 1845 14 November 1923 Ernest Augustus William Adolphus George Frederick; born at Hanover, died at Gmunden, married Princess Thyra of Denmark; had issue
Princess Frederica of Hanover 9 January 1848 16 October 1926 born at Hanover, died at Biarritz; married Alfons, Baron von Pawel-Rammingen; had issue
Princess Marie of Hanover 3 December 1849 4 June 1904 Marie Ernestine Josephine Adolphine Henrietta Theresa Elizabeth Alexandrina; born at Hanover, died unmarried at Gmunden

[edit] References

  1. ^ Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family

[edit] External links

George V of Hanover
Cadet branch of the House of Welf
Born: 27 May 1819 Died: 12 June 1878
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Ernest Augustus I
King of Hanover
18 November 185120 September 1866
Dynasty deposed
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by
Ernest Augustus I
Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale
18 November 185112 June 1878
Succeeded by
Crown Prince Ernest Augustus
Titles in pretence
Loss of title
— TITULAR —
King of Hanover
20 September 186612 June 1878
Succeeded by
Crown Prince Ernest Augustus

Hanover annected by Prussia in 1866