George V of Hanover

George V
King of Hanover
King of Hanover
Reign	18 November 1851 – 12 June 1878
Predecessor	Ernest Augustus I
Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale
Predecessor	Ernest Augustus I
Successor	Ernest Augustus II
Burial	St George's Chapel, Windsor
Consort	Marie of Saxe-Altenburg
Issue	Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover Princess Frederica of Hanover Princess Marie of Hanover
Names George Frederick Alexander Charles Ernest Augustus German: Georg Friedrich Alexander Karl Ernst August
House	House of Hanover
Father	Ernest Augustus I of Hanover
Mother	Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

George V (George Frederick Alexander Charles Ernest Augustus; 27 May 1819 – 12 June 1878) was the last King of Hanover. In the peerage of Great Britain, he was 2nd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, 2nd Earl of Armagh.

George V, a first cousin of Queen Victoria, inherited the Hanoverian realm (which could not pass to Victoria because of Salic law) through his father, who ascended the throne of Hanover in place of Victoria. George V was the last sovereign ruler of the Kingdom of Hanover, losing the territory by annexation to Prussia in 1866, during the Austro-Prussian War, events contributing to the unification of Germany.

Early life

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 was baptised on 8 July 1819, at a hotel in Berlin where his parents were staying, by the Rev. Henry Thomas Austen (brother of author Jane Austen). His godparents were The Prince Regent (represented by The Duke of Cumberland), The King of Prussia, The Emperor of Russia, The Crown Prince of Prussia, Prince William of Prussia, Prince Frederick Louis of Prussia, Prince Henry of Prussia, Prince William of Prussia, The Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Duke Charles of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, The Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, The Queen of the Netherlands, The Princess Augusta, The Hereditary Princess of Hesse-Homburg, The Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, The Princess Sophia, Princess Alexandrine of Prussia, The Electoral Princess of Hesse-Kassel, The Duchess of Anhalt-Dessau, Princess William of Prussia, The Dowager Princess Ferdinand of Prussia, Princess Louisa of Prussia and The Princess Radziwill.

He spent his childhood in Berlin and in Britain, losing the sight of one eye following a childhood accident and illness in 1828. He lost the sight in the other eye in 1833. His uncle, William IV, created him a Knight of the Garter on 15 August 1835.

Crown Prince

Upon the death of William IV and the accession 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. Since he was totally blind, there were doubts as to whether the Crown Prince was qualified to succeed as king of Hanover; but his father decided that he should do so.

George V of Hanover, his wife Marie of Saxe-Altenburg and their children Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover, Princess Frederica of Hanover, and Princess Marie of Hanover

Marriage

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

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. From 1866, George V maintained the Guelphic Legion at his own expense.

Death

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

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.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 27 May 1819 – 20 June 1837: His Royal Highness Prince George of Cumberland
• 20 June 1837 – 18 November 1851: His Royal Highness The Crown Prince of Hanover
• 18 November 1851 – 12 June 1878: His Majesty The King of Hanover

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.

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

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 no surviving 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

External links

• Die Welfen – George V (with portrait)