HANAU, CIRCA 1850

George V (1819-1878) was the last king of Hanover, the only child and successor of King Ernest Augustus I. George succeeded his father as King of Hanover and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, as well as Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, in the Peerage of Great Britain, and Earl of Armagh, in the Peerage of Ireland, on 18 November 1851. George reigned for only 15 years, being exiled from Hanover in 1866 as a result of his support for Austria in the Austro-Prussian War. On 20 September 1866, Hanover was annexed by Prussia. George never abdicated from the throne of Hanover and he and his wife Marie lived in exile in Gmunden in Austria and in Paris, where George died on 12 June 1878 at the age of 59. He is buried in the Royal Tomb House under St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.