House of Hanover Great Britain and Ireland:" "Of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland:" George I, George II, and George III also served as electors and dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg, informally, Electors of Hanover (cf. "personal union"). From 1814, when Hanover became a kingdom, the British monarch was also King of Hanover. In 1837, the personal union of the thrones of the United Kingdom and Hanover ended with the death of William IV. Succession to the Hanoverian throne was regulated by semi-Salic law (agnatic-cognatic), which gave priority to all male lines before female lines, so that it passed not to Queen Victoria
Prince Ernst August of Hanover (born 1954) nobility were abolished in 1919; thereafter for legal purposes, hereditary titles form part of the name only. In his British passport however, the prince is styled "His Royal Highness". While descendants of non-dynastic marriages may bear "Prinz/Prinzessin von Hannover Herzog/Herzogin zu Braunschweig und Lüneburg Königlicher Prinz/Prinzessin von Großbritannien und Irland" as surnames, they are not recognised as bearing titles or membership in the House of Hanover according to its house rules. Patrilineal descent, reckoned from father to son, was the principle of membership in Europe's dynasties, including that of Hanover. Monarchs of the House of Hanover belong patrilineally to the