Ernest McKinnon I

## Ernest Leopold Edward McKinnon

**Ernest Leopold Edward McKinnon** (22 September, 1901 - 23 January, 1942), also known as **Prince Ernest Leopold Edward of Oxford** in the muggle world, was a British prince and a half-blood wizard. He was the second-born son of Bartholomew McKinnon, 16th Duke of Oxford, and his wife Louise, Princess Royal. He was a maternal line grandson of the muggle sovereign, King Edward VII, and Alexandra of Denmark. Despite this, he and his siblings were granted royal titles in 1905 upon his mother's declaration as Princess Royal.

At the time of his birth, he overtook his younger sister, Lady Mabel, and became ninth in line to the throne of Great Britain. He was born Lord Ernest Leopold of Oxford.

In 1917, in conjunction with the Titles Deprivation Act, monarch George V attempted to slim down the monarchy and although Ernest, his sister, Princess Mabel, and his elder brother, Prince Frederick, were not affected because they got their titles via a royal decree, they would not be able to pass down their titles to any children.

Under the name Ernest McKinnon, he attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from September 1913 to June 1920. Afterwards, he enlisted in the British military. He served in the Royal Navy in the 1920s. In the late 1930s he served as an RAF officer, initially as a staff officer at RAF Training Command and then, from April 1941, as a staff officer in the Welfare Section of the RAF Inspector General's Staff. He was killed in a military air-crash on 23 January 1942 nearest to Anzio, Roma, Lazio, Italy. His body was recovered in late 1942.

## Biography

### Early life (1901-1920)

Ernest was born at East Sheen Lodge, Richmond on 22 September, 1901. He was the second born son of Bartholomew McKinnon, The Duke of Oxford, and Louise, Duchess of Oxford. As a female-line grandson of the British monarch, Ernest was not entitled to the title of "Prince", nor to the style of *His Royal Highness*. Instead he was styled The Honourable (or Lord) Ernest McKinnon, as the son of a duke, even though he was born ninth in the line of succession to the British throne. He was the grandson of Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark, and a great-grandson of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

He was baptised at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, on 18 December, 1901, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Edward White Benson. His godparents were the Prince and Princess of Wales.

#### Prince Ernest (1905)

On 9 November 1905, King Edward VII declared his eldest daughter Princess Royal. He further ordered Garter King of Arms to gazette Lord Ernest McKinnon and his siblings, Lord Frederick and Lady Mabel McKinnon, with the style and attribute of *Highness* and the style of Prince and Princess prefixed to each of their respective Christian names, with precedence immediately after all members of the British Royal Family bearing the style of *Royal Highness*. From that point, *His Highness Prince Ernest* held his title and rank, not from his ducal father, but from the decree issued by will of the sovereign (his grandfather).

### Hogwarts years (1913-1920)

Prince Ernest received his Hogwarts letter in the summer of 1913. Sometime before attending, he purchased a wand made of Fir and Unicorn Hair from Ollivander's Wand Shop in Diagon Alley, London. He boarded the Hogwarts Express at King's Cross Station on 1 September, 1913. That night, he was sorted into Gryffindor House.

Ernest was in the same year as many notable witches and wizards at Hogwarts, including Silvanus Kettleburn, a well-known Magizoologist, as well as Hon. Ignatius Greengrass, a well-known member of the Wizenagmot, and Arcturus Black III, who received an Order of Merlin, First Class. Ernest shared a dormitory with Silvanus Kettleburn.

In November of 1917, King George V of the United Kingdom undertook further restructuring of the royal styles and titles by restricting the titles of Prince or Princess and the style of *Royal Highness* to the children of the sovereign, the children of the sovereign's sons, and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. It further stated that all titles of "*the grandchildren of the sons of any such Sovereign in the direct male line (save only the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales) shall have the style and title enjoyed by the children of Dukes.*"

This had no direct effect on Ernest himself, whose rank and style derived from the specific promotions granted to him by his grandfather, Edward VII. However, Ernest, along with his sister, Mabel, and brother, Frederick, complied with George V's wish that he stop using his title and style of Prince and Highness. George V did not, however, retract the royal warrant conferring the princely title and attribute upon him.

### Later life (1920-1942)

Ernest went to naval college after leaving Hogwarts, at Dartmouth. He was promoted to sub-lieutenant on 11 February 1923, and was promoted to lieutenant on 19 February, 1924.

#### Marriage (1925)

Ernest met the Lady Catherine Dillon, the daughter of the Earl of Southesk, and a muggle, in 1923. He sought permission to marry her from the current monarch, his uncle, George V, and their marriage was gazetted. He married her on 14 May, 1925. They had three children together, Ernest McKinnon, Alexandra McKinnon, and Wallace Edward McKinnon. Their first son, Ernest, was born on 12 May, 1927, and their daughter, Alexandra, on 15 July, 1929. Their son Wallace was born on 13 September, 1930.

In the muggle world, Ernest's children were known as Prince Ernest, Princess Alexandra, and Prince Wallace Edward.

#### Military career (1929-1942)

He remained on active service in the Royal Navy until March 1929, serving on HMS *Prince George* and later HMS *Boulder*. In the Wizarding World, individuals are allowed to serve in the muggle military as long as there is no active conflict.

In 1929, Ernest saw future in aviation and received his Pilot's License. On 12 March 1937, he was commissioned as a Colonel in the British Army and in the equivalent rank of group captain in the Royal Air Force (RAF), along with his muggle maternal first cousin, Prince George, Duke of Kent. He was also appointed as the Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Fusiliers from the same date.

He was promoted to air vice-marshal in March 1939, along with promotions to flag and general officer rank in the other two services. In 1939 he returned to active service as a rear admiral in the Royal Navy, but in April 1940, transferred to the Royal Air Force. He temporarily relinquished his rank as an air officer to assume the post of staff officer at RAF Training Command in the rank of group captain, so that he would not be senior to more experienced officers.

At the start of the Second World War, Ernest returned to active military service with the rank of 1st Lieutenant. He served in the RAF despite it being technically illegal for witches and wizards to interfere in active conflict periods. He piloted a Spitfire and was sent to Tunisia, in the North of Africa, to be stationed there on the southeastern front in the European Theater.

Ernest likely saw and experienced bitter air fighting against a determined Luftwaffe and a significant number of pilots became aces whilst other aces added to their scores. The Spitfire squadrons, such as the squadron Ernest was apart of, were heavily engaged in the fighting following the landings at Anzio and also in the long and bloody battle at Cassino.

He completed three tours in total and survived those, before his death at Anzio in 1942.

#### Death (23 January, 1942)

On 23 January, 1942, Ernest took off in an RAF Supermarine Spitfire on a routine flying mission, from Tunisia. He suffered heavy flack to his right wing as he entered the airspace above Anzio, and after suffering engine failure, crashed into the side of a mountain in a puff of "*heavy smoke and flames*".

#### Post-mortem

His death in RAF service marked the first time in more than 450 years that a member of the royal family died on active service. His death was quickly followed in August 1942 by the death of his first cousin, Prince George, Duke of Kent, son of George V, and according to some, overlooked.

In the bitter fighting that followed, Ernest's units wrested air superiority from the enemy in the skies above Tunisia until the final enemy surrender in May 1943. The RAF, RCAF, RAAF and SAAF Spitfire squadrons then played a huge part in covering the Allied landing in Sicily and in supporting the island's subsequent capture.

Ernest's status was reported as missing to wife, Catherine, in March 1942, then declared dead, in August. His body was recovered and sent home in late 1942. The prince's body was transferred initially to St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and he was buried in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, directly behind Queen Victoria's mausoleum, adjacent to his cousin Prince George, Duke of Kent.

At the time of his death, he was fifteenth in line to the throne of Great Britain. After his death, his eldest son, Prince Ernest, was created Earl of MacClare by King George VI.

## Etymology

The name Ernest is derived from the Germanic *eornost,* meaning "serious".