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Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife
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:''This article is about the Scottish member of parliament. For information about the Scottish missionary to India, see
Alexander Duff.''
Image:Alex Duff Fife.png thumb|right|200px|Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife
'''Alexander William George Duff, 1st Duke of Fife''',
Order of the Garter KG,
Order of the Thistle KT,
Royal Victorian Order GCVO,
Privy Council of the United Kingdom PC (
10 November 1849–
12 January 1912) was a Scottish peer who married
Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife Princess Louise of Wales, the third child and eldest daughter of
Edward VII of the United Kingdom King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and
Alexandra of Denmark Queen Alexandra.
Early life
He was born in
Edinburgh, the son of James Duff, 5th Earl Fife, KT, and his wife, the former Lady Agnes Hay, the daughter of William Hay, 17th Earl of Erroll. As the son and heir of the Earl Fife, he held the courtesy title Viscount Macduff.
Lord Macduff attended Eton from 1863 to 1866 and served as a
Member of Parliament for the counties of Mairn and Nairn in Scotland from
1873 to
1879. On
7 August 1879, he succeeded his father as 6th Earl Fife, Viscount Macduff, and Baron Braco of Kilbryde in the
Peerage of Ireland and 2nd Baron Skene in the
Peerage of the United Kingdom. He served as Lord-Lieutentant of the County of Elgin from
1872 to
1902, captain of the Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms from
1880 to
1881, and served on a special diplomatic mission to the King of Saxony in 1882. In 1885,
Victoria of the United Kingdom Queen Victoria created him 1st Earl of Fife in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He helped found the Chartered Company of South Africa, and served as one of its vice presidents until the 1896 Jameson Raid.
Marriage
On
27 June 1889, Lord Fife married Princess Louise of Wales, the eldest daughter of the then-Prince and Princess of Wales, at the Private Chapel at
Buckingham Palace. The wedding marked the second time a descendant of Queen Victoria married a British subject (the first being the marriage of
Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll The Princess Louise, the Queen's fourth daughter, to
John George Edward Henry Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll). Two days after the wedding, the Queen elevated the Earl Fife to the further dignity of
Duke of Fife and Marquess of Macduff in the
Peerage of the United Kingdom.
The marriage of the Duke of Fife and Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife, produced three children:
* Alaistar Duff, Marquess of Macduff (stillborn 1890).
*
Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife Lady Alexandra Duff, later Princess Alexandra of Fife (
17 May 1891-
26 February 1959) m. her
cousin once removed Prince Arthur of Connaught (
13 January 1883-
12 September 1938, and had issue.
*
Princess Maud of Fife Lady Maud Duff, later Princess Maud of Fife (
3 April 1893-
14 December 1945) m. Charles Carnegie, 11th Earl of Southesk, and had issue.
Titles and honours
The Duke of Fife received a fresh patent as Duke of Fife and Earl of Macduff in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in April
1900, with special remainder to his daughters by Princess Louise and their male issue. The result was that he held two Dukedoms of Fife; the 1887 creation (with the subsidiary Marquessate of Macduff) would become extinct in the absence of a son and the 1900 creation (with the subsidiary Earldom of Macduff) would devolve upon his elder daughter in the absence of a son. In November
1905, his father-in-law, now King Edward VII, bestowed the title
Princess Royal on the Duchess of Fife and declared that Lady Alexandra Duff and Lady Maud Duff should henceforth hold the title of Princess of Great Britain and Ireland with the style Highness.
Queen Victoria created the future Duke of Fife a
Order of the Thistle Knight of the Thistle in 1881. He received the Royal Victorian Chain in 1902. His brother-in-law,
George V of the United Kingdom King George V created him an
Order of the Garter Extra Knight of the Garter. He was also a
Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath and a
Privy Council of the United Kingdom Privy Counsellor. At the coronation of his father-in-law, King Edward VII, in August 1902, and again at the coronation of George V in June 1911, the Duke of Fife acted as
Lord High Constable. In addition to his London residence, 15 Portman Square, the Duke owned two estates in Scotland: Mar Lodge, Aberdeenshire and Mountcoffer House, Banff.
Later life
In December 1911, while sailing to
Egypt, the Duke and his family were shipwrecked off the coast of Morocco. Although they escaped unharmed, the Duke fell ill with
pleurisy, probably contracted as a result of the shipwreck. He died at Assuan, Egypt in January 1912, and his elder daughter, Princess Alexandra, succeeded to his dukedom, becoming the Duchess of Fife and Countess of Macduff in her own right. The Duke's other titles, including the 1889 creation of the Dukedom of Fife, became extinct. The Duke of Fife was buried in the Private Chapel, Mar Lodge Mausoleum,
Braemar,
Aberdeenshire.
{{start box}}
{{succession box | title=
Lord Lieutenant of the County of London .html">Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster
The Duke of Westminster | after=
Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe The Marquess of Crewe | years=1900–1912}}
{{end box}}
{{start box}}
{{succession box three to one | title3=
Duke of Fife .html">Duke of Fife
Earl Fife | title2=
Duke of Fife Earl of Fife | before2=New Creation | before1=
James Duff, 5th Earl Fife James Duff | before3=New Creation | after=Extinct | years3=1889–1912 | years1=1879–1912 | years2=1885–1912 }}
{{succession box | title=
Duke of Fife .html">Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife
Princess Alexandra | years=1900–1912 }}
{{end box}}
The honorific prefix "
The Most Noble" used when referring to a British duke has been superseded by "His Grace" in common parlance.
Category:1840 births Fife, Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of
Category:1912 deaths Fife, Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of
Category:Dukes in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Fife, Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of
Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Fife, Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of
Category:Knights of Justice of St John Fife, Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of
Category:Knights of the Garter Fife, Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of
Category:Knights of the Thistle Fife, Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of
Category:Lord High Constables Fife, Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of
Category:Recipients of the Royal Victorian Chain Fife, Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of
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