Howe has a myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/kingofmann
There, he provides some basic personal details. As at 15 January 2008 he asserts that he is 38 years old (born 1969), a Libran, and married with one daughter, Grace.
He also alleges that his location is "Isle of Man/Washington DC/London/South East England".
However, in his interview with the Frederick News-Post, published on 16 December 2007:
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=68898
Howe admitted that he has never been to the Isle of Man ( in the article, Man is described as "a place he has never been to").
According to that article, Howe grew up in Sterling, Virginia, and currently lives in Frederick, Maryland, where he operates a ‘Glass Doctor’ glazier’s franchise. We find one of his business blurbs here:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/9/prweb436383.htm
Use of alternative names and identities online
Howe usually calls himself either (1) 'Drew Howe', (2) 'David Howe' or (3) 'David Drew Howe', but he has also previously used the name (4) 'David Howe-Stanley' on his website www.princeofmann.googlepages.com.
Further aliases and identities he has adopted or admitted to having used online include (5) 'HRH David Howe' and (6) 'HM King David' as references to himself, for instance on his website www.royaltyofman.com, and (7) 'The Prince of Mann' and (8) 'Bob' when posting on google groups at alt.talk.royalty. His early website http://members.aol.com/princeisleofman/dir was written under the apparent alias (8) 'Patrick Dulaney' and refers to him as (9) 'Prince David Howe' and (10) 'Prince of Man and the Isles'.
Additionally, it was alleged that Howe has used a number of aliases or 'sock-puppets' when editing articles on Wikipedia associated with his schemes between 2006 and 2008. These have included: (11) 'Kingofmann', (12) 'Theisles', (13) 'Lazydown', (14) 'Freddulany', (15) 'Drewdaily' and (16) 'Dukeofantwerp' . Further details may be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Suspected_Wikipedia_sockpuppets_of_Kingofmann
Howe has admitted to the first and sixth of these, but explicitly denied the second and third. On 15 January 2008 Wikipedia concluded an investigation which confirmed that Howe has used multiple accounts, including the two he denied having used; he has apparently therefore made false denials, as detailed on the above link. As the result of a review, his biographical article on Wikipedia was deleted on 18 January 2008.
In the online discussion forum used by the individuals concerned with the 'principality of Vikesland' Howe was referred to by the 'titles' (17) 'Duke of Antwerp' and (18) 'Duke Howe'. His own posts were made under the name 'Drew'. In these posts, Howe provided details of some of his activities in regard to establishing and editing articles on Wikipedia. These may be found here (as at 1 January 2008):
http://vikesland.aokforums.com/vikesland-on-wikipedia-vt107.html
In these posts, Howe states (22 September 2006) "I've taken it upon myself to start a Wikipeida [sic] page for Vikesland". A week later he notes that "I am easily identified as a new user with one agenda... and taken less seriously by the Wikipedia community, according to Wikipedia guidelines... I've personally been spending a lot of time dealing with edits there over the last week".
Howe has also used other identities when posting to martial arts forums. These include (19) 'Reformed One'. He also operated an online news summary service as (20) 'Drew Daily'. Further details of these activities may be found on the tab 'History of Scams'.
It has been alleged that he has used the handle (21) 'Manxamillion' to post to a Manx online forum:
http://www.manxforums.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20628&st=165
The user 'Manxamillion' denied being Howe when this assertion was made.
It has also been suggested on google group rec.heraldry that he called himself (22) 'Stephanie' and posed as the webmaster of the online site www.monarchsofeurope.com. This site, which was active in early 2007, listed the heads of each European monarchy, plus Howe, and was originally linked to www.nobility.co.uk as a purported validation for the 'noble titles' offered for sale there; it was also inserted into various Wikipedia articles using the alias (23) 'Wikiroyals'. There seems currently to be no evidence to prove this assertion, however.
Marriage and family
According to his various websites and public statements, his wife is the former Pamela Marie Ahearn. She appears to be involved with her husband's current scheme, being featured in several of the press items mentioned above and interviewed along with Howe. As well as occupying a prominent place on his myspace page, she has had her own page as part of his website www.royaltyofman.com (as at 14 January 2008), where she is called 'Queen Pamela'. This page states that she home-schools her daughter and "enjoys pistol shooting", in addition to devoting time to her husband's 'charitable' activities.
All references to Pamela and Howe and her daughter were removed from Howe's websites on 17 January 2008.
It is not clear whether she is to be identified as the 'Marie Ahearn' who is listed as the contact person in Howe's press releases regarding his current fund-raising scheme:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/11/prweb571598.htm
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/12/prweb574028.htm
Amongst the sources cited for the family details Howe provides on his website is 'Ancestry World Tree' at www.ancestry.com - a patron-submitted collection of family trees.
A review of this source suggests a prior marriage for Howe - to a Patricia Schuggs - and an older child, a son named Thaddius:
http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:615732&id=I2781
It also states that Howe's date of birth is 30 September 1969, which is accordance with the details provided on his myspace page (above).
Given that the submitted material on Ancestry World Tree is only as reliable as its provider, it is unclear whether these details are accurate. They may also be found at this website:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~killmerdm/Killmer/killmer3.htm
Howe’s background
Howe states on his website www.royaltyofman.com (as at 2 January 2008) that his parents are "David D.E. Howe and Janice Lee Debutts".
Ancestry World Tree appears to confirm this, naming his father as David Dale Edward Howe.
At least three pedigrees have been published on his www.royaltyofman.com website [copies available], and Howe frequently speaks of his descent from various ancestors whom he appears to consider significant.
For example, he has said that he is descended from Lord George Calvert:
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/archives/display_detail.htm?StoryID=61399
And he has posted on martial arts discussion groups about his purported great-great-grandfather who fought in the US Civil War, as here for instance:
www.fightingarts.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=15808921&an=&page=&vc=1
Relevant to his current activities is his claim to be descended from the Stanley family, who were Lords of the Isle of Man from 1405.
It is unclear when Howe first discovered this particular link; perhaps it was connected with what his wife describes in the Frederick News-Post article of 16 December 2007 (see link above) as "researching his genealogy online in the wee hours of the morning".
Once discovered, however, Howe seems to have treated it as something more significant than his alleged connections with the founders of his home town or Confederate raiders.
'I've got to have some kind of title'
Howe has exhibited an apparent desire for titles for at least the past year and a half.
As we shall see, in October 2006 he was calling himself 'Duke of Antwerp' and was involved in promoting the fantasy 'principality of Vikesland'.
A review of this internet discussion forum used by the members of that group reveals that on 4-5 October 2006 Howe was keen to upgrade his 'title' to 'Prince':
http://vikesland.aokforums.com/next-vt102.html?postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15
We shall also see that on 26 October 2006 Howe began to develop his claims to be 'Prince of Mann' on the google group alt.talk.royalty.
However, neither of these seems to have been Howe's first attempt to justify assuming the title of 'Prince'.
This appears to have been on 4 September 2006, again in the google group alt.talk.royalty, when Howe posted the following query:
Drew, 4.9.2006 1.55 pm
"I'm a bit confused and could use some help.
"Are currently living descendents of French kings considered Prince, or Princes, du sang's [sic] and do they have French citizenship regardless of birth country?
"Also, would this apply to descendents of Edward III?
"Thanks, in advance to everyone for your time."
Howe also posted this follow-up on 5 September 2006:
5.9.2006 8:57 am
"Again, I appreciate all the responses.
"I'm embarrassed to admit that my enquirer [sic] is entirely ego driven. I've recently gotten interested in family history and discovered that on my mother's side I am a descendant of Edward III of England through both Lionel of Antwerp and John of Gaunt. And, on my father's side, Henry I of France and Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou. Upon reading about princes du sang in the French monarchy I had these ideas that I too was a prince du sang by virtue of being "du sang." I'm thinking with all this royal blood I've got [to] have some kind of title...
"In any case, I have to laugh at myself a bit and I don't mind if you all laugh at me as well.
"Thanks again,
Drew"
It is unclear why Howe should have been so keen to declare himself a Prince - or why he enquired about obtaining French citizenship - but , having been disappointed in his attempts to be accepted as a 'Prince of France' or even a 'Prince of Vikesland', it seems he began to develop his claims on the Isle of Man.
