Issue Princess Saskia Name Prince Ernst | Died January 10, 1981, Pune House House of Hanover | |
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Born 25 January 1947
Schloss Marienburg, Nordstemmen, Lower Saxony, Germany ( 1947-01-25 ) Father Prince George William of Hanover Mother Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark Spouse Turiya Hanover (m. 1969–1981) Children Princess Saskia of Hanover Parents Prince George William of Hanover, Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark Cousins Charles - Prince of Wales, Anne - Princess Royal, Prince Andrew - Duke of Y, Prince Edward - Earl of W, Princess Margarita of Baden | ||
Prince Welf Ernst of Hanover (Welf Ernst August Andreas Philipp Georg Wilhelm Ludwig Berthold Prinz von Hannover), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (25 January 1947 – 10 January 1981) 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.
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Personal life
Born in Lower Saxony at the Hanover family seat of Schloss Marienburg, Welf was raised in Munich. In 1969 the prince married Wibke van Gunsteren. Welf and his wife became disciples of Osho, taking the names Vimalkirti ("Spotless splendour") and Wibke Prem Turiya ("Spiritual love"). 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.
Marriage and issue
Welf married Wibke Christians (born 26 November 1948 at Lübbecke, Westphalia, Germany), daughter of Dr Hans Daniel Christians and Ursula Schmidt-Prange (later Mrs Harry Van Gunsteren), on 23 May 1969 in a civil ceremony. They were married two days later in a religious ceremony at Essen-Bredeney in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Although many genealogical sources record the opposite, Welf Ernst and Wibke were not divorced in 1979, but lived together (un-divorced) up to his death. They had one daughter: