Ernst August, Prince of Hanover

Ernst August V, Prince of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick, Prince of Great Britain and Ireland (German: Ernst August Albert Paul Otto Rupprecht Oskar Berthold Friedrich-Ferdinand Christian-Ludwig Prinz von Hannover, in English also known as Ernest Augustus of Hanover) (born 26 February 1954 in Hanover), is the head of the deposed royal House of Hanover and pretender to the thrones of the former Kingdom of Hanover and the former Duchy of Brunswick.

He is the eldest son of Ernst August, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick (1914–1987) and his first wife, Princess Ortrud of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1925–1980).



Ernst Augustus is the third and present husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco, heiress presumptive to the throne of Monaco.

The prince first married, civilly on 28 August 1981 and religiously on 30 August 1981, Chantal Hochuli, heiress to a Swiss chocolate fortune. They had two sons:

* Prince Ernst August Andreas Philipp Constantin Maximilian Rolf Stephan Ludwig Rudolph (b. 19 July 1983)
* Prince Christian Heinrich Clemens Paul Frank Peter Welf Wilhelm-Ernst Friedrich Franz (b. 1 June 1985)

Ernst August and Chantal Hochuli divorced on 23 October 1997.

He married secondly, civilly in Monaco on 23 January 1999 Princess Caroline of Monaco, who was pregnant at the time with their daughter:

* Princess Alexandra Charlotte Ulrike Maryam Virginia of Hanover (b. 20 July 1999)

Since he was born in the male-line of George II of Great Britain he is bound by the Royal Marriages Act 1772. Thus, before his marriage to Princess Caroline, he officially requested permission to marry of Queen Elizabeth II, and on 11 January 1999, the afore-mentioned sovereign issued an Order-in-Council, "My Lords, I do hereby declare My Consent to a Contract of Matrimony between His Royal Highness Prince Ernst August Albert of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg and Her Serene Highness Princess Caroline Louise Marguerite of Monaco..." Without the Royal Assent, the marriage would have been void in Britain where his family owns property and his lawful descendants remain in succession to both the British crown and the two suspended peerages. Similarly the Monégasque court officially notified France of Caroline's marriage to Prince Ernst August and received assurance that there was no objection, in compliance with the (since defunct) Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1918.

Franz, Duke of Bavaria (Southern Germany)

Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria Herzog von Bayern (born 14 July 1933, as Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria Prinz von Bayern), styled as His Royal Highness The Duke of Bavaria, is head of the Wittelsbach family, the former ruling family of the Kingdom of Bavaria. His great-grandfather Ludwig III was the last King of Bavaria before being deposed in 1918.

Franz is also the current senior co-heir-general of King Charles I of England and Scotland, and thus is considered by Jacobites to be the legitimate heir of the House of Stuart.



Franz was born in Munich, the son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria and his morganatic wife, Countess Maria Draskovich of Trakostjan (of the House of Drašković, an ancient Croatian noble family). On 18 May 1949, when Franz was sixteen, his grandfather Crown Prince Rupprecht recognised the marriage of Franz's parents as dynastic and Franz became a prince of Bavaria.



The Wittelsbachs were opposed to the Nazi regime in Germany, and in 1939 Franz's father Albrecht took his family to Hungary. They lived in Budapest for four years before moving to Somlovar Castle in late 1943. In March 1944, Nazi Germany occupied Hungary. On 6 October 1944, the entire family including Franz, then aged 11, were arrested. They were sent to a series of Nazi concentration camps including Oranienburg and Dachau. At the end of April 1945 they were liberated by the United States Third Army.




After the war Franz received his high-school education at the Benedictine Abbey of Ettal. He then studied business management at the University of Munich and in Zurich. Franz developed a passion for collecting modern art; today many items from his private collection are on permanent loan to the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich

Franz is the current Grand Master of the Royal Order of Saint George for the Defense of the Immaculate Conception. He is also Grand Master of the Order of Saint Hubert and the Order of Saint Theresa (for Ladies). He is a Senator of the University of Munich and an Honorary Member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He holds many honorary positions in civic and religious organisations in Bavaria



Franz lives in an apartment in Nymphenburg Palace, the former summer residence of the kings of Bavaria, in Munich.

Under German law royal titles are not recognised legally, but can be used as a part of a surname. Franz's surname at birth was Prinz von Bayern (German for 'Prince of Bavaria'). In 1997, after the death of his father, he changed his surname to Herzog von Bayern (German for 'Duke of Bavaria').

Franz has never married. On his death his position as head of the House of Wittelsbach will pass to his brother Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria. Because Max has no sons, the Bavarian titles will pass after his death to his second cousin Prince Luitpold of Bavaria and his descendants

Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia

Georg Friedrich Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia, (legal name: Georg Friedrich Ferdinand Prinz von Preußen) (born 10 June 1976) is the current head of the Imperial House of Hohenzollern, the former ruling house of the German Empire or II Reich and the Kingdom of Prussia.



Georg Friedrich is the only son of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1944–1977) and Countess Donata of Castell-Rüdenhausen (born a member of a mediatized princely family, she is now Duchess Donata of Oldenburg by her second marriage to her former sister-in-law's ex husband, Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg). He is also the great-great-grandson of Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor and King of Prussia. Georg Friedrich attended grammar schools in Bremen and Oldenburg and completed his education at Glenalmond College near Perth, Scotland, where he passed his A-levels. Following a two-year stint in the German Army, Georg Friedrich studied business economics at the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology.



On 21 January 2011, Georg Friedrich announced his engagement to HSH Princess Sophie of Isenburg. The wedding is scheduled to take place at the Church of Peace (Sanssouci) in Potsdam on August 27, 2011, in celebration of 950 years of the House of Hohenzollern.

Prinz Georg Friedrich von Preußen

Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia on 21 January 2011 engaged to Princess Sophie von Isenburg. The wedding will be later this year ...