Royal death:Queen Marie of Hanover

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 January 9, 1907


Queen Marie of Hanover died this afternoon at her home in Gmunden, Austria.  She was 88 years old.  She had been suffering from an "inguinal hernia," which necessitated an operation on January 6, reports the Washington Post.

Princess Alexandrina Marie Wilhelmina Catherine Charlotte Theresa Henrietta Luise Pauline Elisabeth Friederike Georgina of Saxe-Altenburg was born at Hildburghausen on April 14, 1818, as the eldest daughter of Hereditary Prince Josef of Saxe-Hildburghausen and Duchess Amelia of Württemberg.  In 1826, the family became of Saxe-Altenburg, due to the exchange and transfer of the the Sachsen territories belonging to the Ernestine branches, including Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Saxe-Meiningen.    Marie's father succeeded to the Saxe-Altenburg duchy in 1834.

On February 18, 1843,  Princess Marie married Crown Prince Georg of Hanover, heir to the Hanover crown.  He was also a British prince, the son of Prince Ernest August, Duke of Cumberland, who succeeded to the Hanover throne in 1837, following the death of the Duke of Cumberland's brother, King William IV.   William was king of the United Kingdom and king of Hanover.  His niece, Princess Alexandrina Victoria, as 1st in line to the British throne, succeeded as Queen Victoria, but Hanover, which was ruled by Salic law- males only - when to the next in line, the Duke of Cumberland, who remained the heir presumptive to the British throne until November 1840, when Queen Victoria gave birth to her first child.

Georg succeeded to the Hanover throne in 1851, following the death of his father.   He reigned until 1866, when the royal family was forced into exile as a result of Hanover's support for Austria in the Austro-Prussian war.   Hanover was annexed by Prussia.   The family lived at their residence in Gmunden,  Austria.  King George V died in Paris in 1878.

Thee couple had three children: Prince Ernst August (1845), styled as Duke of Cyumberland, who is married to Princess Thyra of Denmark, Princess Frederica (1848, the wife of Baron Alfons von Pawel-Rammingen, and Princess Marie (1849-1904), who was unmarried.


Queen Marie is survived by her two eldest children, four grandchildren,  Princess Marie Louise of Hanover (Princess Max of Baden), Grand Duchess Alexandra of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Princess Olga of Hanover and Prince Ernst August of Hanover, and two great grandchildren,  Princess Marie-Alexandra and Prince Berthold of Baden.  She is also survived by her sisters,  Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg and Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna of Russia, the wife of Grand Duke Konstantin.