Prince Ludwig Rudolph of Hanover


Prince Ludwig Rudolph of Hanover was a member of the House of Hanover and a music producer.

Early life and career

Ludwig Rudolph was born in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany, the third child and second son of Ernst August, Prince of Hanover, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick and his wife Princess Ortrud of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Ludwig Rudolph was a great-great-great-great-grandson of George III of the United Kingdom and a great-grandson of Wilhelm II, German Emperor.
Ludwig Rudolph had trained to become a music producer in Los Angeles and London.

Marriage and death

Having obtained the consent of Elizabeth II by Order in Council on 15 September 1987 pursuant to the Royal Marriages Act 1772, Ludwig Rudolph, a Lutheran, married the Roman Catholic Countess Isabella Maria von Thurn und Valsassina-Como-Vercelli, a former fashion model at her father's ancestral Austrian estate, Castle Bleiburg, Carinthia on 4 October 1987. She was the daughter of Count Ariprand von Thurn und Valsassina-Como-Vercelli, whose family, a branch of the Della Torre dynasty, ruled Milan in the 13th century, and his wife, née Princess Maria von Auersperg. Ludwig Rudolph and Isabelle had one son:
In the early hours of 29 November 1988, after the couple had entertained guests at their home, Königinvilla in Gmunden, a house left to them by Ludwig's brother Ernst August, the prince went to the bedroom where his wife had retired before midnight, and found Isabelle sprawled fully dressed across their bed. The efforts of her husband and friends to revive her proved futile. As authorities later removed her body and investigated the scene, discovering syringes, cocaine and heroin, Ludwig Rudolph, who had been investigated previously on suspicion of illegal drug purchases, placed a call to his elder brother, Ernst August, in London, imploring him to take care of the couple's 10-month-old son. Then he slipped away. Several hours later Ludwig Rudolph was found near his family's hunting lodge several miles away, on Lake Traun. He was in his car with the motor running. He had the muzzle of a rifle in his mouth and was dead of a gunshot wound.
The case was closed without further investigation. Ludwig Rudolph and Isabelle were interred on 2 December 1988 at Grünau im Almtal, Austria, having been married less than 14 months. Custody of their infant son Otto Heinrich was awarded, contrary to the expressed wishes of Ludwig Rudolph, to the child's maternal grandparents, the Count and Countess Ariprand von Thurn und Valsassina-Como-Vercelli at their castle, Schloss Bleiburg in Austria. He then studied art at Braunschweig University of Art in Brunswick. He lives with his maternal grandmother in Salzburg.

Ancestry

By patrilineal descent, the royal dynasty of Hanover was the House of Este, from which descended the branch of the House of Welf), and Ludwig Rudolph's ancestors, verified at least as far back as Oberto I.
  1. Richbald of Lucca, 700–761
  2. Boniface I, Count of Lucca, 725–785
  3. Boniface II, Count of Lucca, d. 823
  4. Boniface III, Count of Lucca, d. 842
  5. Adalbert I, Margrave of Tuscany, d. 891
  6. Adalbert II, Margrave of Tuscany, d. 915
  7. Gui de Lucca, d, 929
  8. Adalbert III, Margrave of Tuscany, d. 955
  9. Oberto I, 912–975
  10. Oberto Obizzo, 940–1017
  11. Albert Azzo I, Margrave of Milan, 970–1029
  12. Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan, d. 1097
  13. Welf I, Duke of Bavaria, 1037–1101
  14. Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, 1074–1126
  15. Henry X, Duke of Bavaria, 1108–1139
  16. Henry the Lion, 1129–1195
  17. William of Winchester, Lord of Lunenburg, 1184–1213
  18. Otto I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, 1204–1252
  19. Albert I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, 1236–1279
  20. Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, 1268–1318
  21. Magnus the Pious, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, 1304–1369
  22. Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, 1328–1373
  23. Bernard I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, 1362–1434
  24. Frederick II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, 1408–1478
  25. Otto V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, 1439–1471
  26. Heinrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, 1468–1532
  27. Ernest I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, 1497–1546
  28. William, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, 1535–1592
  29. George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, 1582–1641
  30. Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover, 1629–1698
  31. George I of Great Britain, 1660–1727
  32. George II of Great Britain, 1683–1760
  33. Frederick, Prince of Wales, 1707–1751
  34. George III of the United Kingdom, 1738–1820
  35. Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover, 1771–1851
  36. George V of Hanover, 1819–1878
  37. Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover, 1845–1923
  38. Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick, 1887–1953
  39. Ernest Augustus, Prince of Hanover, 1914–1987
  40. Prince Ludwig Rudolph of Hanover, b. 1955