House House of Biron | Name Ernst-Johann Prince | |
Born 6 August 1940 (age 84)
Berlin, Germany ( 1940-08-06 ) Spouse Countess Elisabeth Victoria Raimonda zu Ysenburg-Budingen Issue Princess Anja of Courland
Princess Christiana of Courland Father Karl Biron, Prince of Courland Mother Princess Herzeleide of Prussia | ||
Ernst-Johann Karl Oskar Eitel-Friedrich Peter Burchard Biron, Prince of Courland (born 6 August 1940), is the senior male-line descendant of Ernst Johann von Biron and as such heir to the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia.
He was born in Berlin the eldest son of Karl Biron, Prince of Courland (1907-1982) and Princess Herzeleide of Prussia (1918-1989), the daughter of Prince Oskar of Prussia, a son of Emperor William II, and Duchess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein.
Prince Ernst-Johann succeeded his father as head of the Biron family following his death on 28 February 1982. He is also a Knight of Justice (and, since 2008, an honorary commander in the Commandery of Silesia) of the Johanniterorden ("Johannine Order"), to which he was admitted in 1940 and whose current grand master is his cousin Prince Oskar of Prussia (Prince Ernst-Johann's uncles and grandfather had headed the Order throughout most of the twentieth century). He is in line to the British throne through his descent from Queen Victoria's daughter, Victoria, Princess Royal.
Private life
Prince Ernst-Johann was married to Countess Elisabeth zu Ysenburg-Büdingen in Philippseich (born 1941) in Munich in a civil ceremony on 14 August 1967, and in a religious one the next day.
The couple have two adopted daughters: