Prince Alastair of Connaught
Prince Alastair of Connaught (Alastair Arthur Windsor), (August 9, 1914-April 26, 1943) was a member of the British Royal Family, a great grandson of Queen Victoria. Prince Alastair was denied the title of a British prince and the style His Highness in 1917. Afterwards he held the courtesy title of Earl of MacDuff and later inherited his grandfather's titles of Duke of Connaught and Strathearn.
Early life
Alastair was born on August 9, 1914 at his parents' home at 54, Mount Street, Mayfair, London (now the Brazilian Embassy). His father was Prince Arthur of Connaught, the only son of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Princess Luise Margarete of Prussia. His mother was Princess Arthur of Connaught (before her marriage Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife), the eldest daughter of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife and The Princess Louise, Princess Royal. As a great grandchild of Queen Victoria through the male line, Alastair was styled His Highness Prince Alastair of Connaught from birth.
The Prince was baptised at his parents' home and his godparents were: King George V, Queen Alexandra, The King of Spain (for whom Lord Farquhar stood proxy), The Princess Royal, The Duke of Connaught and The Duchess of Argyll.
House of Windsor
Shortly after Alastair was born, World War I broke out, prompting strong anti-German feelings in the United Kingdom. King George V responded to this by changing the name of the Royal House from the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the House of Windsor and relinquishing all Germanic titles belonging to royals who were British citizens.
In Letters Patent dated November 20, 1917, King George V undertook further restructuring of the royal styles and titles by restricting the titles of Prince or Princess and the style of Royal Highness to the children of the sovereign, the children of the sovereign's sons, and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. It further stated all titles of "the grandchildren of the sons of any such Sovereign in the direct male line (save only the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales) shall have the style and title enjoyed by the children of Dukes."1 At that point, the three year-old became known as Alastair Arthur Windsor, Earl of MacDuff. Although second in line to the dukedom of Connaught and Strathearn as well as earldom of Sussex at the time of his birth, heir of his father who was the heir apparent, he was the heir apparent to his mother's dukedom of Fife. Therefore, he used his mother's secondary peerage as a courtesy title.
Army service
Alastair received his education at Bryanston and at Sandhurst. In January 1935, he received a commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Scot Greys (2nd Dragoon), the same regiment in which his father served. He was posted to Egypt in 1936 and remained there until his transfer to Canada in 1939. He received a promotion to first lieutenant in July 1939. Alastair served as an aide-de-camp to Earl of Athlone, then the Governor General of Canada. His father, Prince Arthur of Connaught, died on September 12, 1938. Therefore, when his grandfather died on January 16, 1942, he succeeded as 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Earl of Sussex.
Alastair died at Government House in Ottawa, where he had been a guest of the Earl of Athlone and Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone. The circumstances of his death were somewhat unusual: he apparently fell asleep or passed out in front of an open window and perished from hypothermia during the night. His ashes were interred at Mar Lodge Chapel, Braemar, Aberdeenshire. Upon his death, the Dukedom of Connaught and Strathearn became extinct. His first cousin, James Carnegie (September 23, 1929-), succeeded as 3rd Duke of Fife and Earl of MacDuff, upon Princess Alexandra's death on February 26, 1959.
Titles
- 1914–1917: His Highness Prince Alastair of Connaught
- 1917–1942: Earl of MacDuff
- 1942–1943: His Grace The Duke of Connaught
| Preceded by: The Prince Arthur |
Duke of Connaught and Strathearn 1942–1943 |
Succeeded by: Extinct |
