Prince George William of Hanover (1915–2006)

Prince George William
Prince George William of Hanover
Born (1915-03-25)25 March 1915
Brunswick, Brunswick, German Empire
Died 8 January 2006(2006-01-08) (aged 90)
Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Burial 11 January 2006
Schliersee, Bavaria, Germany
Spouse
Issue Prince Welf Ernest
Prince George
Princess Frederica, Mrs. Cyr
Full name
George William Ernest Augustus Frederick Axel
German: Georg Wilhelm Ernst August Friedrich Axel[1]
House Hanover
Father Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick
Mother Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia

Prince George William of Hanover (Georg Wilhelm Ernst August Friedrich Axel Prinz von Hannover;[1] 25 March 1915 – 8 January 2006[1][2]) was the second eldest son of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick and his wife Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia, the only daughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein.

He was the brother-in-law of Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, the Duke of Edinburgh, who is consort of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

Life

George William was christened on 10 May 1915 in Brunswick.[3] The prince's godparents included Maria Christina of Austria, Prince Axel of Denmark, and Princess Olga of Hanover and Cumberland who held the infant prince over the baptismal font.

From 1930 through 1934, Prince George William attended the elite boarding school Schule Schloss Salem in Überlingen on Lake Constance. Schule Schloss Salem was co-founded by the prince's uncle, the last Chancellor of the German Empire, Prince Maximilian of Baden, and educator Kurt Hahn in 1920. Prince George William was a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and of the Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund (DOSB). From 1948 to 1959, the prince headed the Schule Schloss Salem.

Prince George William of Hanover lived in Schliersee, near Munich, and died in Munich in 2006. His wife, Sophie, sister of Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Duke of Edinburgh, consort of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, died in 2001.

Marriage and issue

On 23 April 1946 in Salem, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, Prince George William married Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg, and the widow of Prince Christoph of Hesse. After consultations with the Foreign Office, Home Office and King George VI's private secretary, Sir Alan Lascelles, a ciphered telegram dated 18 April 1946 and crafted by Sir Albert Napier, permanent secretary to the Lord Chancellor, was transmitted from the British Foreign Office to the Foreign Adviser to the British Commander in Chief at Berlin: "The Duke of Brunswick has formally applied to The King by letter of March 22nd for the consent of His Majesty under the Act 12 Geo. III, cap. 11 to the marriage of his son Prince George William with Princess Sophia Dowager Princess of Hesse. The marriage is understood to be taking place on April 23rd. Please convey to the Duke an informal intimation that in view of the fact that a state of war still exists between Great Britain and Germany, His Majesty is advised that the case is not one in which it is practicable for His consent to be given in the manner contemplated by the Act."[4]

Together they had three children:

  • Prince Welf Ernst of Hanover (25 January 1947 – 10 January 1981) married Wibke van Gunsteren on 23 May 1969. They have one daughter:
    • Princess Saskia of Hanover (born 24 July 1970) married Michael Alexander Robert Naylor-Leyland on 6 July 1990 and were divorced. They have two sons. She remarried Edward Hooper on 27 January 2007. They have one son.
  • Prince Georg of Hanover (born 9 December 1949) married Victoria Anne Bee, daughter of Robert Bee and Eleonore Vera Alexia Anna Maria Gräfin Fugger von Babenhausen, on 15 September 1973. They have two daughters:
    • Princess Vera of Hanover (born 5 November 1976) married Manuel Dmoch on 12 August 2006. They have two daughters.
    • Princess Nora of Hanover (born 15 January 1979) married Christian Falk on 3 March 2007. They have two sons.
  • Princess Friederike of Hanover (born 15 October 1954) A god-daughter of Elizabeth II; married Jerry William Cyr on 17 August 1979. They have two children:
    • Julia Emma Cyr (born 17 September 1982)
    • Jean-Paul Welf Cyr (born 6 March 1985)

Ancestry

George William was a descendant of Victoria of the United Kingdom and Albert, Prince Consort through their eldest daughter Victoria, Princess Royal, the wife of Frederick III, German Emperor. His sister, Princess Friederike of Hanover married Paul I, King of the Hellenes.

He was born a Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Darryl Lundy (14 April 2007). "Georg Wilhelm Ernst August Friedrich Axel Hanover, Prince of Hanover". thePeerage.com. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  2. ↑ Allan Raymond (24 June 2008). "Hanover Royal Family". Monarchies of Europe website. Archived from the original on February 23, 2014. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  3. ↑ "Announcements" (in German). Neue Preußische Zeitung. 11 May 1915.
  4. ↑ "LCO 2/3371A Marriage of Prince George William, son of the Duke of Brunswick, with Princess Sophia, Dowager Princess of Hesse". Heraldica. LCO 2/3371A. The National Archives (UK).
  5. ↑ The London Gazette, issue 28850. 17 July 1914. p. 14/552. Declaration, 14 June 1914. [Children born to Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Brunswick and Lüneburg http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/prince_highness_docs.htm#1914]. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
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