" by court painter
Carl Oesterley, The Crown Prince, blind since his youth, and his wife became King and Queen of
Hanover upon the death of his father,
Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover, on 18 November 1851. Between 1858 and 1867 George V had
Marienburg Castle built as a birthday present to his wife, named after her. However, he was expelled from his kingdom in 1866 as a result of his support for
Austria in the
Austro-Prussian War, and on 20 September 1866, the Kingdom was annexed by
Prussia. Nevertheless, George never abdicated; he emigrated to Vienna, Austria, while Marie and her daughters remained at
Herrenhausen Palace, then moving to Marienburg Castle, which was still under construction, in September 1867. Marie succeeded in having the Hanoverian crown jewels and other precious items smuggled abroad, before finally leaving for Austria herself. There, the family moved into a villa in
Gmunden near Salzburg, which they rented and later acquired. On 18 September 1872, Queen Marie was godmother to
Queen Victoria's granddaughter,
Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein. Princess Marie Louise was the youngest daughter of
Princess Helena of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg; Queen Victoria &
Prince Albert's third daughter and fifth child. George V. died in 1878 on a travel in Paris where he had attempted to re-establish his
Guelphic Legion, a military unit aimed at a re-conquest of his kingdom. He was buried in
St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Queen Marie died, some twenty-eight years after her husband, on 9 January 1907, in ''The Queen's Villa'' (Königinvilla) at Gmunden, where she was later buried in a mausoleum that her eldest son had built next to his residence,
Cumberland Castle. File:MarienburgNordstemmenOst.jpg|
Marienburg Castle Gmunden Königinvilla.JPG|The ''Queen's Villa'' in
Gmunden GrabMariaSachsen.jpg|Mausoleum of Queen Marie in Gmunden ==Issue==