House of Hanover

The   House of Hanover  is a   German  royal dynasty  which has ruled the   Duchy  of   Brunswick-Lüneburg  ( German:   <span lang="de" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">Braunschweig-Lüneburg <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">), the <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">  Kingdom of Hanover<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">, the <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">  Kingdom of Great Britain<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">, the <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">  Kingdom of Ireland <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">and the <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">  United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">. It succeeded the <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">  House of Stuart<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">as  monarchs<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">of <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">  Great Britain<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">and <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">  Ireland<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">in 1714 and held that office until the death of <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">  Queen Victoria<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">  <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">in 1901. They are sometimes referred to as the <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">  House of Brunswick and Lüneburg, Hanover line<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">. The House of Hanover is a younger branch of the <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">  House of Welf<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">, which in turn is the senior branch of the <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">  House of Este<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.200000762939453px;">.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Queen Victoria was the granddaughter of George III, and was an ancestor of most major European royal houses. She arranged marriages for her children and grandchildren across the continent, tying Europe together; this earned her the nickname "the grandmother of Europe". She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover; her son King Edward VII belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father, Prince Albert. Under semi-Salic law, Victoria could not inherit the German kingdom and duchies unless the entire male line became extinct; those possessions passed to the next eligible male heir, her uncle Ernest Augustus I of Hanover, the Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale—the fifth son of George III.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The current head of the House of Hanover is Ernst August V, Prince of Hanover.