Prince Welf Ernst of Hanover

Prince Welf Ernst
Prince Welf Ernst of Hanover
Born (1947-01-25)25 January 1947
Schloss Marienburg, Nordstemmen, Lower Saxony, Germany
Died 10 January 1981(1981-01-10) (aged 33)
Poona, Maharashtra, India
Spouse Wibke 'Turiya' van Gunsteren
Full name
Welf Ernest Augustus Andrew Philip George William Louis Berthold
German: Welf Ernst August Andreas Philipp Georg Wilhelm Ludwig Berthold[1]
House Hanover
Father Prince George William of Hanover
Mother Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark

Prince Welf Ernst of Hanover (Welf Ernst August Andreas Philipp Georg Wilhelm Ludwig Berthold Prinz von Hannover[1]), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (25 January 1947 at Schloss Marienburg, Nordstemmen, Lower Saxony, Germany; – 10 January 1981 in Poona, Maharashtra, India[1]) was the eldest son of Prince George William of Hanover and his wife Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Welf was a first cousin of Charles, Prince of Wales. The prince used the name Welf Prinz von Hannover.[2]

Personal life

Born in Lower Saxony at the Hanover family seat of Schloss Marienburg, Welf was raised in Munich.[2] In 1969 the prince married Wibke van Gunsteren. Welf and his wife became disciples of Osho,[2] taking the names Vimalkirti ("Spotless splendour") and Wibke Prem Turiya ("Spiritual love").[2] In 1975 Welf and Wibke along with their five-year-old daughter Tania Saskia, moved to Poona, India to live in Osho's ashram.

Welf died at the age of 33 at a clinic in Poona from a cerebral haemorrhage after collapsing during a morning karate practice session and becoming paralyzed.[3][4][2]

Marriage and Children

Welf married Wibke Christians[1] (born 26 November 1948 at Lübbecke, Westphalia, Germany[1]), daughter of Dr Hans Daniel Christians and Ursula Schmidt-Prange (later Mrs Harry Van Gunsteren),[1] on 23 May 1969 in a civil ceremony.[1] They were married two days later in a religious ceremony at Essen-Bredeney in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.[1] Although many genealogical sources record the opposite, Welf Ernst and Wibke were not divorced in 1979,[3] but lived together (un-divorced) up to his death. They had one daughter:

Princess Saskia married her second husband, Edward Hooper, on 27 January 2001. They have one son:
  • Louis Ivan Welf Otto Hooper (born 6 April 2007)

Ancestry

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Darryl Lundy (10 May 2003). "Welf Ernst Hanover, Prince of Hanover". thePeerage.com. Retrieved 2008-08-17. External link in |publisher= (help)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Wilhelm Bittorf (3 February 1981). "Ein Welfe im Nirwana: Der Tod eines deutschen Prinzen, der für Bhagwan lebte". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 2008-09-20. External link in |publisher= (help)
  3. 1 2 Eilers, Marlene. Queen Victoria's Daughters. Rosvall Royal Books, Falkoping, Sweden, 1997. P.173, note 41. ISBN 91-630-5964-9
  4. ↑ Eilers, Marlene (1997). Queen Victoria's Descendants. Sweden: Rosvall. pp. 25–26, 129. ISBN 91-630-5964-9.
  5. 1 2 3 Henri van Oene (22 October 2001). "HRH Prince Georg Wilhelm and his descendants". Henri van Oene's Royal Genealogies Page. Archived from the original on 2009-08-08. Retrieved 2008-08-18. External link in |publisher= (help)
  6. 1 2 3 4 Lynsey Ayers (8 May 2007). "Descendants of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland: Seventh Generation". Descendants of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 2008-08-18. External link in |publisher= (help)
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