George VHanover
George V, KingHanover2nd DukeCumberlandTeviotdale (27 May 1819-12 June 1878) wasonly sonErnst August I, KingHanover1st DukeCumberland,fifth sonKing George III ofUnited Kingdom,his wife Princess FredericaMecklenburg-Strelitz. He wasfirst cousinQueen Victoria. He waslast sovereign ruler ofshort-lived KingdomHanover andancestor ofGerman branch ofHouseHanover.His Royal Highness Prince George Frederick Alexander Charles Ernest Augustus, KG, was bornBerlin. Originally styled Prince GeorgeCumberland, he spent his childhoodBerlinin Britain. He lostsightone eye duringchildhood illness, andotheran accident1833. His uncle, King William IV, created himKnight ofGarter on 15 August 1835. UpondeathWilliam IV andascensionQueen Victoria,104-year personal union ofBritishHanoverian thrones ended because ofoperationSalic Law inGerman states. The DukeCumberland succeeded toHanoverian throne as King Ernst August IPrince GeorgeCumberland becameCrown PrinceHanover. Aslegitimate male-line descendantGeorge III, he remainedmember ofBritish Royal Familywas secondline toBritish throne untilbirthQueen Victoria's first child, Victoria, Princess Royal,1841. Being totally blind there were doubts whetherCrown Prince was qualifiedsucceed togovernmentHanover; but his father decided that he should do so.
The Crown Prince succeeded his father asKingHanoverDukeBrunswick-Lüneburg, as well as DukeCumberlandTeviotdale,EarlArmagh inpeerage ofUnited Kingdom on 18 November 1851, assumingstyle George V. From his fatherfrom his maternal uncle, Prince Charles FrederickMecklenburg-Strelitz (1785—1837), one ofmost influential men atPrussian court, George had learnedtakevery highautocratic viewroyal authority. During his twenty-five year reign, he engagedfrequent disputes withHanoverian Landtag (parliament). Having supported Austria inDiet ofGerman confederationJune 1866, he refused, contrary towisheshis parliament,assent toPrussian demand that Hanover should observe an unarmed neutrality duringAustro-Prussian War. Asresult,Prussian army occupied Hanover andHanoverian army surrendered on 29 June 1866 (The king andHanoverian royal family having fledAustria). The Prussian government formally annexed Hanover on 20 September, butdeposed king never renounced his rights tothrone or acknowledged Prussia's actions. From exileGmunden, Austria, he appealedvain forEuropean great powersintervene on behalfHanover.
George married on 18 February 1843 at Hanover, Her Highness Princess (Alexandrine) MarieSaxe-Altenberg (14 April 1818-9 January 1907),eldest daughterJosef, DukeSaxe-Altenberg, by his wife Duchess AmeliaWürttemburg. The marriage produced three children:
- Prince Ernst AugustHanover, 3rd DukeCumberland (21 September 1845-14 November 1923), Crown PrinceHanover20 September 1866; succeeded his father as 3rd DukeCumberlandTeviotdaleEarlArmagh on 12 June 1878; all British peerages suspended by Order-in-Council, 28 March 1919; succeeded his cousin, Duke WilhelmBrunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1806-1884) on 18 October 1884, but prevented from reigning byBundesrat (federal council ofGerman Empire), 1885; married Her Royal Highness Princess Tyra (29 September 1853-26 February 1933),third daughterKing Christian IXDenmarkPrincess LousieHesse-Cassel,had issue.
- Princess FredericaHanover (9 January 1848-16 October 1926); married Litubert, Baron von Pawel-Rammingen (27 July 1843-20 November 1932);had issue.
- Princess MarieHanover (3 December 1849-4 June 1904).
