They visited the islands with their four children Christian, Isabella, Vincent, and Josephine. Princess of Hanover attended the 60th annual Monaco Red Cross Ball in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Ernst August was born in, the eldest son of (1914–1987) and his first wife, (1925–1980). He was christened, Ernst August Albert Paul Otto Rupprecht Oskar Berthold Friedrich-Ferdinand Christian-Ludwig.As the senior male-line descendant of, Ernst August is head of the, the surviving junior branch of the medieval, which itself is the older branch of the, a dynasty whose earliest known members lived in in the late 9th/early 10th century and which, in its younger branch, ruled (1240–1597) and the - (1288–1796) in Italy.The title of was recognised ad personam for Ernst August's father and his father's siblings by King on 17 June 1914. The hereditary and the, borne in 1917 by his paternal great-grandfather, were suspended under the. However, the title Royal Prince of Great Britain and Ireland had been entered into the family's German passports, together with the German titles, in 1914. After the, with the abolition of the privileges of nobility, titles officially became parts of the last name.
So, curiously, the British prince's title is still part of the family's last name in their German passports, while it is no longer mentioned in their British documents. On 29 August 1931, Ernst August's grandfather, as head of the House of Hanover, declared the formal resumption, for himself and his dynastic descendants, of use of his former British princely title as a secondary, which style, 'Royal Prince of Great Britain and Ireland', his grandson Ernst August continues to claim.As heir of the last and Earl of Armagh, Ernst August has the right to petition under the for the restoration of his ancestors' suspended British peerages, but he has not done so. His father, also called, did, however, successfully claim British nationality after World War II by virtue of a hitherto overlooked (and since repealed) provision of the ( Attorney-General v HRH Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover 1957 1 All ER 49).Ernst August is also a great-grandson of the last German emperor, whose daughter was his grandmother. His father's sister (1917–1981) was between 1947 and 1964 as the wife of. He is thus a first cousin of both ex-king and his sister, whose husband was king of Spain 1975–2014. Ernst August's uncle, (1915–2006), married (1914–2001), a sister of the future royal consort, evoking in 1946 the only known case of a British monarch, withholding requested permission for a kinsman's marriage under the (on the advice of his Government as a result of World War II's hostilities).
It was held by British officials at the time that the marriage and its issue would not be legitimate in the United Kingdom despite being legal in Germany. By a 24 August 1981 declaration issued by his father as the Head of House, pursuant to Chapter 3, §§ 3 and 5 of the of 1836, Ernst August was authorised to marry, and did firstly marry, civilly on 28 August 1981 and religiously on 30 August 1981, (b. 2 June 1955 in ), the daughter and heiress of a Swiss real estate developer.
They had two sons:. (born 19 July 1983).
(born 1 June 1985)Ernst August and Chantal Hochuli divorced on 23 October 1997.He married secondly, civilly in Monaco on 23 January 1999, who was at the time expecting the birth of their child:. (born 20 July 1999)As he was born in the of, he sought permission to marry pursuant to the British, which would not be repealed until the took effect on 26 March 2015. On 11 January 1999, issued a, 'My Lords, I do hereby declare My Consent to a Contract of Matrimony between His Royal Highness Prince Ernst August Albert of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg and Her Serene Highness Princess Caroline Louise Marguerite of Monaco.' Without the Queen's consent, the marriage would have been void in Britain where Ernst August's family owns property and his lawful descendants remain in succession to both the British crown and the two suspended peerages. Similarly the court officially notified the government of France of Caroline's marriage to Ernst August, receiving assurance that there was no objection in compliance with the (since defunct) of 1918. He was photographed urinating on the Turkish Pavilion at the event in Hanover, causing a diplomatic incident and a complaint from the embassy accusing him of insulting the Turkish people.
He successfully sued those who published ( ) the photograph for invasion of privacy, obtaining an award of 9,900, although the paper had previously published a photo of Ernst August urinating outside a hospital in Austria.In 2004, he was convicted of aggravated assault and causing grievous bodily harm after supposedly beating a German man, Joe Brunnlehner, with a on the Kenyan island of. He has demanded a retrial for the case on the basis of false evidence. His lawyers have publicly stated that he has never owned a knuckleduster in his life nor held one in his hand.In 2004, Ernst August had signed over his German property to his elder son, including, the agricultural estate of, the 'Princely House' at in Hanover and some forests near which he had repurchased in former East Germany after the German reunification of 1990. At the time, Ernst-August’s wealth was estimated as high as $250 million. Since then, the younger Ernst August has taken over many representative tasks on behalf of his father. The latter remained in charge of the Austrian family assets. In 2013 however, Ernst August was removed from the chairmanship of a family foundation based in, the Duke of Cumberland Foundation, which holds the properties near in Austria, the Hanovers' main residence in exile after 1866 when their was annexed.
Instead, the younger Ernst August was put in charge, reportedly for negligence on part of his father, at the initiative of the foundation's trustee Prince Michael of Liechtenstein. The foundation manages vast forests, a game park, a hunting lodge, the Queen's Villa and other property. In 2017 Ernst August filed legal action to recover his chairmanship, and he intends to revoke the bestowal of his German property. Due to this dispute over family assets, he also declared his intention to withhold consent for his son's marriage to which he did not attend.Health. On Monday, 3 April 2005, Ernst August was admitted to hospital with.
The next day, he fell into a deep, two days before the death of his father-in-law,. On Friday, 8 April 2005, hospital officials reported that he was no longer in a coma but remained in. A report the same day on described his condition as 'serious but not irreversible.' After his release he was subsequently seen in public with his wife.
In an interview he admitted at the time that his health crisis was caused by his hyperactive lifestyle and problems with alcohol.His health deteriorated in subsequent years. He was hospitalized again in 2011, 2017 and 2018 for problems related to alcohol. In February 2019 he had another emergency surgery for. One week later, it was reported that he is suffering from. Titles, styles, honours and arms.