Royal Profile:Prince Ernest-August of Hanover

Prince Ernest-August Albert Paul Otto Rupprecht Oskar Berthold Friedrich-Ferdinand Christian-Ludwig of Hanover was born 26 February 1954 as the second child and eldest son of of Ernst August, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick (1914–1987) and his first wife, Princess Ortrud of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1925–1980){Source}. He has one older sister, two younger brothers and two younger sisters, as well as numerous nieces and nephews{Source}:

1. Princess Marie of Hanover, Countess of Houchburg (1952)
1. Count Conrad Hans-Heinrich Ernst-August von Hochberg (1985)
2. Count George von Hochberg (1987)
2. Prince Ludwig of Hanover (1955-1989, suicide)
1. Prince Otto of Hanover (1988)
3. Princess Olga of Hanover (1958)
4. Princess Alexandra of Hanover, Princess of Leiningen (1959)
1. Prince Ferdinand of Leiningen (1982)
2. Princess Olga of Leingen (1984)
3. Prince Hermann of Leingen (1986)
5. Prince Heinrich of Hanover (1961){Source}
1. Oskar Heinrich Julius Ferdinand Nick Hanover (illegitimate, 1996)
2. Prince Albert Thilo Ludwig Arndt of Hanover (1999)
3. Princess Eugenia Friederike of Hanover (2001)
4. Prince Julius Eduard Emanuel of Hanover (2006)

In August 1981, he married Chantal Hochuli, with whom he had two sons:

• Prince Ernst August Andreas Philipp Constantin Maximilian Rolf Stephan Ludwig Rudolph of Hanover (1983)
• Prince Christian Heinrich Clemens Paul Frank Peter Welf Wilhelm-Ernst Friedrich Franz of Hanover (1985)

They were divorced in October 1997. Two year later, he married Princess Caroline of Monaco, with whom he has one daughter and three older stepchildren:

• Mr. Andrea Albert Pierre Casiraghi (1984)
• Miss Charlotte Marie Pomeline Casiraghi (1986)
• Mr. Pierre Rainier Stefano Casiraghi (1987)
• Princess Alexandra Charlotte Ulrike Maryam Virginia of Hanover (1999)

Over the last two decades, he has had his share of health and legal controversies. During the Expo 2000, he was photographed "relieving himself"on the Turkish Pavilion, which caused a diplomatic incident and compaint from the Turish Embassy accusing him of insulting the Turkish People. After this incident, he sued the magazines that published the photos on the grounds of invasion of privacy, and was awarded 9.900 euros {Source}. In 2004, he was convicted of aggravated assault and causing grievous bodily harm after allegedly beating a man with a knuckleduster in Kenya. It was this incident that he would appeal the ruling to and Princess Caroline would appear in court on his behalf in January 2010 {Source}. Due to various circumstances, Princess Caroline moved back to Monaco from the family's home in France with their daughter in June 2009, and the pair is rumored to have separated as they have not been seen publicly together since.

As for his health concerns, he was diagnosised with a bought of pancreatitis when his father-in-law fell ill, and died in April 2005. His two elder sons represented him at their step-grandfather's funeral as he was still hosptialized. In July 2011, he was again diagnosed with pancreatitis, but was released from the hospital within days {Source}.

As a distant grandchild of George III, until his marriage to Catholic Princess Caroline, he was 400+ in line for the British throne. As of his marriage to the Catholic Princess, he is permenantly excluded, however his three Protestant children still remain in line.