Princess Maud of Fife
Princess Maud of Fife (Maud Alexandra Victoria Georgina Bertha Duff) (3 April 1893-14 December 1945) was a member of the British Royal Family, a female line granddaughter of King Edward VII. Maud, and her elder sister, Alexandra, 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.
Although Princess Maud did not normally carry out royal engagements, she served as a Counsellor of State between 1942 and 1945. Following her marriage in 1923, Princess Maud ceased to use her title of Princess and style Highness and was styled Lady Maud Carnegie and later the Countess of Southesk.
Early life
Maud was born at East Sheen Lodge, London on April 3, 1893. Her father was Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife (1840 - 1912), the son of James Duff, 5th Earl Fife and his wife, the former Lady Agnes Hay. He was created Duke of Fife following marriage to Maud's mother, Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife, the eldest daughter of The Prince 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), Maud was not entitled to the title of a Princess of Great Britain or the style Royal Highness. Instead she was styled Lady Maud Duff, as the daughter of a Duke. She was fifth in the line of succession at the time of her birth.
Princess Maud
In 1900, Queen Victoria granted her father a second Dukedom of Fife in the Peerage of the United Kingdom with a special remainder providing for the succession of the Duke's daughters and their male descendants to the title, in default of a male heir. Maud became second in line to the Dukedom after her sister, Lady Alexandra Duff.
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 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 Maud, held her title and rank, not from her father (a Duke), but rather from the will of the Sovereign (her grandfather).
Marriage
On 12 November 1923, Princess Maud married Lord Charles Alexander Carnegie, (23 September 1893-16 February 1992) at the Royal Military Chapel, Wellington Barracks, London. Lord Carnegie was the eldest son of Charles Noel Carnegie, 10th Earl of Southesk and inherited the title of Earl of Southesk on his father's death on 10 November 1941.
Following her marriage, Maud ceased to use the title of Princess and the style Highness and was known as Lady Maud Carnegie , and later The Countess of Southesk. Her uncle, King George V, disapproved of his father's elevation of the Duke of Fife's daughters to the rank of Princess. In accordance with his wishes, she simply stopped using her royal title, although no formal declaration, Letters Patent, or Royal Warrant to that effect appeared.
As Lord and Lady Carnegie they operated a model farm at Elsick, in Kincardineshire, Scotland.
The Earl and Countess of Southesk had one child:
- James George Alexander Banerman Carnegie, 3rd Duke of Fife, 12th Earl of Southesk (23 September 1929-).
Later life
The Countess of Southesk was considered a member of the British Royal Family, although she did not undertake official and public duties. She attended the coronations of her uncle, George V, in June 1911 and her first cousin, King George VI in June 1937. During George VI's absence in Africa in 1943, the Countess of Southesk served as a Counsellor of State. At the time of her death in 1945, she was thirteenth in line to the British throne and next in line to the dukedom of Fife, since Princess Alexandra's only son, Alastair Arthur Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught had died in 1943. Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk's only son, Lord Carnegie, succeeded his aunt as 3rd Duke of Fife in 1959. He succeeded to his father's titles in 1992.
The Countess of Southesk died in a London nursing home in December 1945, after a bout of acute bronchitis.
Titles
| Styles of Princess Maud |
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|---|---|
 |
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| Reference style | Her Highness |
| Spoken style | Your Highness |
| Alternative style | Ma'am |
- The Lady Maud Duff
- Her Highness Princess Maud of Fife
- The Lady Maud Carnegie
- The Right Honourable The Countess of Southesk
