House of Hanover but to her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland. In 1901, when Queen Victoria, the last British monarch provided by the House of Hanover, died, her son and heir Edward VII became the first British Monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Edward taking his family name from that of his father, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. After the death of William IV in 1837, the following kings of Hanover continued the dynasty: The Kingdom of Hanover came to an end in 1866 when it was annexed by Kingdom of Prussia and the king of Hanover (and duke of Cumberland) forced
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