(Redirected from Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife)
'The Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife' (Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar;
20 February 1867 -
4 January 1931) was the third child and the eldest daughter of
Edward VII and
Queen Alexandra. She was the younger sister of
George V and the fifth daughter of a British monarch to be styled
Princess Royal.
Early life
The princess was born Princess Louise of Wales at
Marlborough House, the
London residence of her parents, then
The Prince and
Princess of Wales (later Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). She spent much of her childhood at
Sandringham House, her parents' country estate in Norfolk. Like her sisters, Princesses
Maud and
Victoria, she received a limited formal education.
She was christened at Marlborough House on
10 May 1867 by
Charles Longley,
Archbishop of Canterbury.
[1]
Marriage
On Saturday
27 July 1889, Princess Louise married the
6th Earl Fife (
11 October 1849-
29 December 1912), at the Private Chapel in
Buckingham Palace[2]. He was eighteen years her senior. Two days after the wedding,
Queen Victoria created him
Duke of Fife and Marquess of Macduff in the
Peerage of the United Kingdom. The Letters Patent creating this dukedom contained the standard remainder to "male heirs of the body lawfully begotten." However, it eventually became apparent that the Duke and Duchess would not have a son. Therefore, on
24 April 1900, Queen Victoria signed Letters Patent creating a second Dukedom of Fife, along with the Earldom of Macduff in the Peerage of the United Kingdom with a special remainder: in default of a male heir, these peerages would pass to the daughters of the 1st Duke and then to their male descendants.
The Duke of Fife and Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife had three children:
★ Alastair Duff, Marquess of Macduff (stillborn
16 June 1890).
★
Lady Alexandra Duff (
17 May 1891-
26 February 1959) m. her
first cousin once removed Prince Arthur of Connaught (
13 January 1883-
12 September 1938), and had issue.
★
Lady Maud Duff (
3 April,
1893-
14 December 1945) m. the
11th Earl of Southesk, and had issue.
Princess Royal
On
9 November 1905, King Edward VII declared Princess Louise the
Princess Royal, the highest honour bestowed on a female member of the royal family. Thereafter, she was styled ''HRH The Princess Royal''. At the same time, the King declared that the two daughters of the Princess Royal would have the titular dignity of
Princess of Great Britain and Ireland and the style of ''
Highness'', with precedence immediately after all members of the
Royal Family holding the style of ''Royal Highness''. From that point onward, the Princess Royal's daughters, styled ''Her Highness'' 'Princess Alexandra of Fife' and ''Her Highness'' 'Princess Maud of Fife,' no longer took their rank from their father, but rather from the will of the Sovereign.
In December
1911, while sailing to
Egypt, the Princess Royal and her family were shipwrecked off the coast of
Morocco. Although they escaped unharmed, the Duke of Fife fell ill with
pleurisy, probably contracted as a result of the shipwreck. He died at Assuan, Egypt in January 1912, and Princess Alexandra succeeded to his dukedom, becoming Duchess of Fife in her own right. It should be noted that Princess Alexandra of Fife later married
Prince Arthur of Connaught, a first cousin of Princess Louise. Alexandra, therefore, became known as 'HRH Princess Arthur of Connaught'. She adopted the style of her husband, a
Royal Highness, since he was the son of
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, the third son of Queen Victoria. Princess Louise is the maternal grandmother of the
3rd Duke of Fife.
Later life
Princess Louise of Wales received the
Royal Order of Victoria and Albert in
1885 and the Imperial
Order of the Crown of India in
1887. She became a Lady of the
Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem (LJStJ) in
1888 and a Dame Grand Gross (GCStJ) of that order in
1929. She became colonel-in-chief of the 7th Dragoon Guards (the Princess Royal's Own) in
1914. She later served as colonel-in-chief of the 4th and 7th Dragoon Guards when it was formed in
1921.
The Princess Royal died in January 1931, at her home in Portman Square, London and was buried in St. George's Chapel,
Windsor Castle. Her remains were later removed to the Private Chapel, Mar Lodge Mausoleum, Braemar, Aberdeenshire.
Titles from birth to death
★ ''Her Royal Highness'' Princess Louise of Wales (
20 February 1867-
27 June 1889)
★ ''Her Royal Highness'' Princess Louise, Countess Fife (
27-
29 June 1889)
★ ''Her Royal Highness'' Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife (
29 June 1889-
22 January 1901)
★ ''Her Royal Highness'' The Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife (
22 January 1901-
9 November 1905)
★ ''Her Royal Highness'' The Princess Royal (
9 November 1905-
4 January 1931)
Ancestors
Notes
1. Her godparents were her paternal aunts – Alice, Princess Louis of Hesse, Helena, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein and Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll; her paternal uncle (by marriage), Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia; her first cousin once-removed – Grand Duchess Augusta of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; her maternal great-uncle – Elector Frederick William of Hesse-Kassel; her maternal grandmother: Queen Louise of Denmark – for whom she was named; her children, Louise's uncle, George I of Greece; and aunt, Tsarina Maria Feodorovna of Russia; Duke Charles of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg; and Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
2. Her bridesmaids were The Princesses Maud and Victoria of Wales, Victoria Mary of Teck, Marie Louise and Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein and The Countesses Feodora, Helena and Victoria Gleichen
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