Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Ernst Wilhelm Friedrich Carl Maximilian, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (13 September 1863 – 11 December 1950) was a German aristocrat, born to Hermann, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, and Princess Leopoldine of Baden, daughter of Prince William of Baden.

Biography

Marriage

He was a grand-nephew of Queen Victoria, and married Victoria's granddaughter, Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh daughter of The Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Edinburgh and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna on 20 April 1896 at Coburg, Bayern, Germany.

Professional life

He worked in the German foreign office, as well as serving as an assistant to his father, who was German Governor of Alsace-Lorraine from 1894 to 1907. From 1900 to 1905 he acted as regent for his wife's cousin, Karl Eduard, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. From 1907 to 1911 he served in the Reichstag, and served as a vice president from 1909 to 1910. He succeeded his father as Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg in 1913, allowing him to sit in the Kingdom of Württemberg's House of Lords until 1918. He served the German government in various diplomatic and military roles during the First World War - as General Delegate to the Eastern Front, as Imperial Commissioner and Military Inspector, and as special envoy to Constantinople and the Balkans.

Relationship with Nazi party

After Hitler took power in Germany, the prince, whose son had already joined the Nazi Party in 1931, joined the Nazi Party in 1936. He retreated into private life after the Second World War, and died on 11 December 1950 at age 87 at Langenburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. His children were descended from both Queen Victoria and Victoria's half-sister Feodora of Leiningen.

Children

• Gottfried Hermann Alfred Paul Maximilian Viktor Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg + b. 24 Mar 1897, d. 11 May 1960, married 20 April 1931 Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
• Princess Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg + b. 18 Jan 1899, d. 8 Nov 1967; married Wilhelm Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
• Princess Alexandra Beatrice Leopoldine of Hohenlohe-Langenburg b. 2 Apr 1901, d. 26 Oct 1963
• Princess Irma Helene of Hohenlohe-Langenburg b. 4 Jul 1902, d. 8 Mar 1986
• Prince Alfred Prinz of Hohenlohe-Langenburg b. 16 Apr 1911, d. 18 Apr 1911

Ancestry