Princess Louise, Princess Royal, Duchess of Fife

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2014

Louise, Princess Royal; Photo: Wikipedia

Late in her third pregnancy 22-year old Alexandra, Princess of Wales became ill with rheumatic fever.  She safely gave birth to her first daughter without the use of the painkiller chloroform which her doctors thought would worsen her condition.  The bout of rheumatic fever continued after the baby’s birth and the Princess of Wales was in such pain that she had to be constantly comforted by her lady-in-waiting, Lady Macclesfield. The rheumatic fever threatened Alexandra’s life and left her with a permanent limp.  Thus, the future Princess Royal entered the world on February 20, 1867, at Marlborough House in London, England.

The princess was christened Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar at Marlborough House, her parents’ home in London. Her godparents were:

 

Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar was the third of six children and the eldest of the three daughters of the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.  She was the granddaughter of two monarchs, Queen Victoria and King Christian IX of Denmark.  At the time of her birth, she was styled Her Royal Highness Princess Louise of Wales.

Louise’s five siblings:

by Alexander Bassano half-plate glass negative, 1875 NPG x104919 © National Portrait Gallery, London

The children of King Edward VII, by Alexander Bassano, half-plate glass negative, 1875.
NPG x104919. © National Portrait Gallery, London

Unlike their beautiful mother, Louise and her sisters were not considered attractive and had the rather unpleasant nickname of “The Hags.”  Their education was minimal although they had been taught music.  In public, the sisters appeared shy and did not want to be noticed or have others talk about them.  In private, they were less inhibited and took part in the family tradition of practical jokes.  Alexandra was extremely possessive of her children and prolonged their childhood far past the norm.  For example, Louise, at age 19, was given a child’s birthday party.  While Louise and Maud married, their sister Victoria was not allowed to marry so that she could serve as a companion to her mother.  Her cousin Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna described her a little more than “a glorified maid.”

On July 27, 1889, Louise followed the example of her aunt, Princess Louise, and married a husband from the British nobility.  Seventeen years older than his bride, Alexander William George Duff was the only son of James Duff, 5th Earl Fife and Lady Agnes Hay, daughter of the 18th Earl of Erroll and Lady Elizabeth FitzClarence who was an illegitimate daughter of King William IV. Louise and Alexander were third cousins via their mutual descent from King George III. Alexander’s descent was via the future King William IV’s long-time relationship with actress Dorothea Jordan by whom he had ten children who married into the British aristocracy.

Alexander had become 6th Earl Fife upon the death of his father in 1879.  Two days after the wedding, Queen Victoria created the groom Duke of Fife and Marquess of Macduff in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.  Despite their age difference, the couple was well-matched and settled down to a life of country pursuits with the Duke managing his Scottish estates and Louise becoming an expert at salmon fishing.

by William Downey, for W. & D. Downey albumen cabinet card, 27 July 1889 NPG x3805 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Alexander William George Duff, 1st Duke of Fife; Princess Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar, Duchess of Fife by William Downey, for W. & D. Downey. albumen cabinet card, 27 July 1889,
NPG x3805.  © National Portrait Gallery, London

The couple had three children:

Louise with her daughters Alexandra and Maud, circa 1894; Credit – Wikipedia

As female-line great-granddaughters of the British monarch, (Queen Victoria), Alexandra and Maud were not entitled to the title of Princess or the style Royal Highness. Instead, they were styled Lady Alexandra Duff and Lady Maud Duff, the styles of daughters of a Duke.   In 1900, when it became apparent that the Duke and Duchess of Fife were unlikely to have a son to inherit the title, Queen Victoria issued the Duke of Fife a new Letters Patent as Duke of Fife and Earl of Macduff in the Peerage of the United Kingdom giving the second dukedom of Fife a special remainder in default of male issue to the Duke’s daughters and their agnatic male descendants.

Louise was the eldest daughter of King Edward VII and was created Princess Royal during her father’s reign, in 1905.  At the same time, Louise’s daughters Alexandra and Maud were granted the title of Princess with the style of “Highness” and received precedence immediately after all members of the royal family bearing the style of “Royal Highness.” This act was unprecedented and when the College of Arms told King Edward VII it could not be done, the King simply said, “Do it!” Louise’s brother, the future King George V, was greatly disturbed by this act.

In December of 1911, the Duke and Duchess of Fife and their two daughters set off to spend the winter in Egypt and Sudan where the climate was more beneficial to Louise’s health.  Their ship went aground near Morocco and then their lifeboat sank.  The family was rescued, but the Duke of Fife later developed pneumonia and died in Aswan, Egypt on January 29, 1912.  Alexandra succeeded to the 1900 Dukedom, becoming the Duchess of Fife and Countess of Macduff in her own right and her father’s other titles, including the 1889 Dukedom, became extinct.  Alexandra’s only son predeceased her, so upon her death, Maud’s son James Carnegie became the 3rd Duke of Fife. He also became the 12th Earl of Southesk, a title he inherited from his father.

Louise died at the age of 63 on January 4, 1931, at her London home at 15 Portman Square in London, England. She was first interred at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, and later was buried with her husband at the private chapel in the mausoleum of Mar Lodge in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Credit – By GentryGraves – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45486868

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