Ernst August, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick, Prince of Hanover (; 18 March 1914 – 9 December 1987) was head of the House of Hanover from 1953 until his death in 1987. From his birth until the German Revolution of 1918–1919 he was the heir apparent to the Duchy of Brunswick, a state of the German Empire. He was born at Braunschweig, Germany, the eldest son of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick and Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, the only daughter of Emperor Wilhelm II, Ernest Augustus's third cousin in descent from George III of the United Kingdom. Ernst August's parents were, therefore, third cousins, once removed. From his birth, he was the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick. He was also, shortly after birth in 1914, made a British prince by King George V of the United Kingdom, and was heir to the titles Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale and Earl of Armagh which were suspended under the Titles Deprivation Act 1917. Life The christening of Ernst August in the summer of 1914 was the last great gathering of European monarchs before the start of World War I. He had an illustrious list of godparents: George V of the United Kingdom, Franz Joseph I of Austria, Nicholas II of Russia, Ludwig III of Bavaria, Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Prince Adalbert of Prussia, Prince Oskar of Prussia, Prince Maximilian of Baden, the 1st Royal Bavarian Heavy Cavalry Regiment, and all four of his grandparents: the German Emperor and Empress and the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland. He ceased being heir to the duchy of Brunswick at the age of four, when his father abdicated in 1918. After his father's death in 1953, he became head of the House of Hanover. During World War II, he fought at the Russian Front as Oberleutnant in the staff of Generaloberst Erich Hoepner. He was seriously injured near Charkov in spring 1943. After the 20 July plot in 1944, he was imprisoned for a few weeks by the Gestapo in Berlin. He had joined the SS in 1933 and remained a member for one year. His official "denazification" certificate from 1949 vetting his Third Reich associations classified him as "a nominal Nazi supporter", without being a Nazi party member, and according to a Foreign Office record. In 1938 his sister, Princess Frederica had married the later King Paul I of the Hellenes and in