Victor Hay, 21st Earl of Erroll


Victor Alexander Sereld Hay, 21st Earl of Erroll and 4th Baron Kilmarnock, KCMG, styled Lord Hay from 1876 to 1891 and Lord Kilmarnock from 1891 to 1927, was a British diplomat, a writer and briefly a member of the House of Lords, who was "noted for his tact and charm."

Early life

Erroll was the first son of Charles Hay, 20th Earl of Erroll and his wife Mary Caroline L'Estrange. He was a godson of Queen Victoria and a favourite of King George V and Queen Mary, who often invited him to Balmoral Castle.
Through his paternal grandfather, the 19th Earl of Erroll, he was a direct descendant of King William IV. His maternal grandparents were Edmund L'Estrange and Lady Harriett L'Estrange.

Career

The young Hay entered the diplomatic service and was promoted Attaché, 1900, Third Secretary, 1902, Second Secretary, 1906, First Secretary, 1913. He was First Secretary in Copenhagen, 1918–19, then briefly Chargé d'Affaires in Berlin, on the United Kingdom's resumption of diplomatic relations with Germany in 1920, until the arrival of a British Ambassador. He remained in Berlin as Counsellor until November, 1921, and served finally as British High Commissioner to the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission, from December 1920 until his death in February 1928.
He was also an author and belonged to the St James's Club. He had two plays published and produced in London, The Dream Kios and The Anonymous Letter.
He succeeded his father in the earldom in 1927.

Personal life

In 1900, he married Mary Lucy Victoria Mackenzie, only daughter of Sir Allan Mackenzie, 2nd Baronet, of Glen Muick, Aberdeenshire. She inherited a fortune made by her grandfather in the indigo trade in India. Together, they were the parents of two sons and one daughter:
He held the earldom only briefly, and was succeeded by his elder son, Lord Kilmarnock, in 1928. Today, his son and heir is best known for the unsolved case surrounding his murder and the sensation it caused during wartime in Britain.

Publications