Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover 21/22 December 1878, he and Princess Thyra married at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen. Queen Victoria appointed the Duke of Cumberland a colonel in the British Army in 1876 and promoted him to major general in 1886, lieutenant general in 1892 and general in 1898. Although he was a British peer and a prince of Great Britain and Ireland, he continued to consider himself an exiled monarch of a German realm and refused to disclaim his succession rights to Hanover, making his home in Gmunden, Upper Austria. The Duke of Cumberland was also first in the line of succession to the
Prince Ernst August of Hanover (born 1983) accorded by British sovereigns to members thereof born after 30 November 1917. Patrilineal descent, descent from father to son, is the principle behind membership in royal houses, as it can be traced back through the generations - which means that the "historically accurate" royal house of monarchs of the House of Hanover was the House of Lucca (or Este, or Welf). This is the descent of the primary male heir. For the complete expanded family tree, see List of members of the House of Hanover. Prince Ernst August of Hanover (born 1983) Ernst August, Hereditary Prince of Hanover, Duke of