Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife

Infobox British Royalty|royal
name =Princess Alexandra
title =Duchess of Fife


imgw =255
succession =Duchess of Fife
predecessor =Alexander, Duke of Fife
successor =James, Duke of Fife
spouse =Prince Arthur of Connaught
issue =Alastair, Duke of Connaught
full name =Alexandra Victoria Alberta Edwina Louise
titles ="HRH" Princess Arthur of Connaught, Duchess of Fife
"HH" Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife
"HH" Princess Alexandra of Fife
"Lady" Alexandra Duff
royal house =House of Windsor
House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
father =Alexander, Duke of Fife
mother =Louise, Princess Royal
date of birth =birth date|1891|5|17|df=y
place of birth =East Sheen Lodge, Richmond
date of death =death date and age|1959|2|26|1891|5|17|df=y
place of burial =Mar Lodge, Braemar|

Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife (Alexandra Victoria Alberta Edwina Louise; née Duff; later Princess Arthur of Connaught; 17 May 1891 – 26 February 1959) was a member of the British Royal Family, a granddaughter of King Edward VII. Alexandra, and her younger sister, Maud, had the distinction of being the only female-line granddaughters of a British Sovereign to receive the title of Princess of Great Britain and Ireland and the style "Highness".

Early life

Alexandra was born at East Sheen Lodge, Richmond on May 17, 1891. Her father was the 1st Duke of Fife (1840 - 1912), the son of the 5th Earl Fife and his wife, the former Lady Agnes Hay. He was created Duke of Fife following marriage to Alexandra's mother, Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife (née Princess Louise of Wales), the eldest daughter of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and Alexandra of Denmark.

As a female line great-granddaughter of the British monarch, (Queen Victoria), Alexandra was not entitled to the title of a Princess of Great Britain or the style "Royal Highness". Instead she was styled Lady Alexandra Duff, as the daughter of a Duke. She was fifth in the line of succession at the time of her birth.

Princess Alexandra

Lady Alexandra's father had been created Duke of Fife and Marquess of Macduff in the Peerage of the United Kingdom two days after his marriage to Princess Louise of Wales in 1889. When it became apparent that the couple were unlikely to have a son, Queen Victoria created him Duke of Fife and Earl of Macduff in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1900. The second dukedom of Fife had a special remainder in default of male issue to the Duke's daughters and their male descendants.

On 5 November 1905, King Edward VII declared her mother Princess Royal. He further ordered Garter King of Arms to gazette Lady Alexandra Duff and her sister Lady Maud Duff as Princesses of Great Britain and Ireland with the style and attribute of "Highness" and precedence immediately after all members of the British Royal Family bearing the style of "Royal Highness". From that point, "Her Highness Princess Alexandra of Fife" held her title and rank, not from her father (a Duke), but rather from the will of the Sovereign (her grandfather).

Duchess of Fife

In December 1911, the Fife family were shipwrecked off the coast of Morocco. Although they escaped unharmed, Alexandra's father fell ill with pleurisy, probably contracted as a result of the shipwreck. He died at Assuan, Egypt on 22 January 1912, and Princess Alexandra succeeded to his Dukedom, becoming the Duchess of Fife and Countess of Macduff in her own right.

Alexandra began a relationship with Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark around 1910. He was a son of Olga Konstantinovna of Russia and George I of Greece, and thus, as the son of a younger brother of her maternal grandmother, Alexandra's first cousin once removed. Although Alexandra and Christopher hoped to be married, the engagement was terminated when disapproving parents learned of the liaison.

Marriage

On 15 October 1913, Princess Alexandra married Prince Arthur of Connaught at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, London. Prince Arthur of Connaught was the only son of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, the third eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. As such, Arthur and Alexandra were first cousins once removed. This was only the second marriage to occur between a Prince and Princess of the United Kingdom (the first being Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh and the Princess Mary).

After their marriage, Alexandra was generally referred to as "HRH Princess Arthur of Connaught (Duchess of Fife)". This followed the tradition of a wife taking the style and title of her husband.

With her husband, Alexandra also carried out royal engagements on behalf of her uncle, King George V, and later for her cousin, King George VI. She also served as a Counsellor of State between 1937 and 1944.

Career

During World War I, Princess Arthur of Connaught served as nurse at St. Mary's Hospital in Paddington. When Prince Arthur was appointed governor general of the Union of South Africa in 1920, she accompanied him to Pretoria and worked on behalf of local hospitals. Upon the couple's return to Britain, she continued to carry out royal duties. She died at her home near Primrose Hill, London in 1959 and was buried at Mar Lodge chapel.

Her only son and the heir apparent to the dukedom of Fife, Alastair Arthur, died in Ottawa in 1943, a year after succeeding his paternal grandfather as 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. When Princess Arthur of Connaught died, the dukedom of Fife passed to her nephew, James George Alexander Bannerman Carnegie, Lord Carnegie, the only son of her late sister Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

*17 May 1891 – 5 November 1905: "Lady" Alexandra Duff
*5 November 1905 – 22 January 1912: "Her Highness" Princess Alexandra of Fife
*22 January 1912 – 15 October 1913: "Her Highness" Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife
*15 October 1913 – 26 February 1959: "Her Royal Highness" Princess Arthur of Connaught, Duchess of Fife

Honours

* Royal Red Cross, 1st Class
* Dame Grand Cross of the Most Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem (elevated from Dame of Justice)
* Royal Family Order of King Edward VII
* Royal Family Order of King George V (4th class)

Honorary military appointments

* Colonel-in-chief, Royal Army Pay Corps

Issue

Ancestry

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1= 1. Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife
2= 2. Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife
3= 3. Louise, Princess Royal
4= 4. James Duff, 5th Earl Fife
5= 5. Agnes Hay
6= 6. Edward VII of the United Kingdom
7= 7. Alexandra of Denmark
8= 8. Alexander Duff
9= 9. Anne Stein
10= 10. William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll
11= 11. Elizabeth FitzClarence
12= 12. Albert, Prince Consort
13= 13. Victoria of the United Kingdom
14= 14. Christian IX of Denmark
15= 15. Louise of Hesse-Kassel
16= 16. Alexander Duff, 3rd Earl Fife
17= 17. Mary Skene
18= 18. James Stein
20= 20. William Hay, 17th Earl of Erroll
21= 21. Alicia Eliot
22= 22. William IV of the United Kingdom
23= 23. Dorothy Jordan
24= 24. Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
25= 25. Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
26= 26. Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn
27= 27. Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
28= 28. Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
29= 29. Landgravine Louise Caroline of Hesse-Kassel
30= 30. Landgrave William of Hesse-Kassel
31= 31. Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark

References

* Ronald Allison and Sarah Riddell, eds., "The Royal Encyclopedia" (London: Macmillan, 1991), ISBN 0-333-53810-2
* Marlene A. Eilers, "Queen Victoria's Descendants" (New York: Atlantic International Publishing, 1987), ISBN 91-630-5964-9
* Alison Weir, "Britain's Royal Families: the Complete Genealogy", rev. ed. (London: Pimlico, 1996), ISBN 0-7126-4286-2