Background
He was born in Meiningen, the eldest son of the heir apparent to the duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, Prince Georg and his second wife, HSH Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.
He was born in Meiningen, the eldest son of the heir apparent to the duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, Prince Georg and his second wife, HSH Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.
His father succeeded to the throne in 1866. Ernst pursued a career in the Army and retired as Colonel in the Prussian cavalry. He received an honorary doctorate in philosophy from the University of Jena.
Ernst was married, morganatically, in Munich on 20 September 1892, Katharina Jensen, the daughter of poet Wilhelm Jensen.
When his older half-brother, the last reigning duke of Saxe-Meiningen, Bernhard III, died on 16 January 1928, Ernst succeeded him as head of the ducal house.