Royal Guelphic Order

The Royal Guelphic Order , sometimes also referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). Named for the House of Guelph, of whom of the Hanoverians were a branch, it has not been conferred by the British Crown since the death of King William IV in 1837, when the personal union of the United Kingdom and Hanover ended. It continued to be conferred by the Kingdom of Hanover as an independent state and subsequently. After the defeat and forced dissolution of the Kingdom of Hanover by the Kingdom of Prussia, the order continued as a house order to be awarded by the Royal House of Hanover. Today, its current chancellor is the Hanoverian head of the house, Ernst August, Prince of Hanover. The honour is named after the House of Guelph to which the Hanoverian kings belonged, and its insignia were based on the white horse of that kingdom's arms.