View source for Duke of Fife

{{Short description|Title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox nobility title
| image             = File:Coat of arms of David Carnegie, 4th Duke of Fife, since 2017.svg
| image_size        =
| alt               =
| caption           = '''Arms:''' Or, a Lion rampant Gules, armed and langued Azure ''(the Dukedom of Fife)'', and on an Inescutcheon Argent, ensigned of an Earl's Coronet proper, an Eagle displayed Azure, armed, beaked and membered Gules, and charged on its breast with an Antique Covered Cup Or ''(Carnegie)''. '''Crest:''' A Thunderbolt proper, winged Or. '''Supporters:''' Dexter: a Lion guardant Gules, langued Azure, collared with a Label of five-points Argent, charged with two Thistles proper, between three Crosses of St George Gules. Sinister: a Talbot Argent, collared and langued Gules. '''Mottoes''': Above the crest, on a Scroll ''DRED GOD''; beneath the shield ''DEO JUVANTE'' ("God helping").
| creation_date     = 24 April 1900
| creation          = Second
| monarch           = [[Queen Victoria]]
| peerage           = [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]]
| baronetage        =
| first_holder      = [[Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife|Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife and 6th Earl Fife]]
| last_holder       =
| present_holder    = [[David Carnegie, 4th Duke of Fife|David Carnegie, 4th Duke]]
| heir_apparent     = Charles Carnegie, Earl of Southesk
| heir_presumptive  =
| remainder_to      = The 1st Duke's daughters by [[Louise, Princess Royal|Princess Louise]] and the [[heirs male]] [[heirs of the body|of their bodies]] lawfully begotten
| subsidiary_titles = ''Marquess of Macduff'' †<br /> Earl of Southesk <br /> ''Earl Fife'' † <br /> ''Earl of Fife'' † <br /> Earl of Macduff <br /> ''Viscount Macduff'' † <br /> Lord Carnegie of Kinnard <br /> Lord Carnegie  <br /> Baron Balinhard <br />  ''Baron Braco'' † <br /> ''Baron Skene'' †
| status            =
| extinction_date   =
| family_seat       = [[Elsick House]]<br />[[Kinnaird Castle, Brechin|Kinnaird Castle]]
| former_seat       = [[Mar Lodge]]
| motto             =
| footnotes         =
}}

[[File:Fife Arms Hotel, Braemar Fife Arms detail.JPG|thumb|Fife Arms Hotel, [[Braemar]]: Arms of the [[Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife|1st Duke]] and [[Louise, Princess Royal|Duchess]] of Fife]]
'''Duke of Fife''' is a title in the [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]] that has been created twice, in both cases for [[Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife|the Earl of Fife]]. In 1889, Lord Fife married [[Louise, Princess Royal|Princess Louise]], the eldest daughter of [[Albert Edward, Prince of Wales]] (later King [[Edward VII]]) and a granddaughter of [[Queen Victoria]].

==History==
[[Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife|Alexander Duff]] (1849–1912) was the eldest son of [[James Duff, 5th Earl Fife|the 5th Earl Fife]] (1814–1879). Upon his father's death on 7 August 1879, he succeeded as '''the 6th [[Earl Fife]]'''. With this, he inherited the titles '''[[Baron Braco]]''' (created in 1735), '''[[Earl Fife]]''' and '''[[Viscount Macduff]]''' (both created in 1759), all in the [[Peerage of Ireland]] (and created for Scottish nobleman [[William Duff, 1st Earl Fife|William Duff]], 1696–1763), and '''[[Baron Skene]]''' in the [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]] (created in 1857 for his father The 5th Earl Fife; a title which gave him a seat in the [[House of Lords]]). In 1885, [[Queen Victoria]] created for Alexander Duff the title '''[[Earl of Fife]]''' in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=25490 |date=14 July 1885 |page=3239 }}</ref>

On Saturday, 27 July 1889, Alexander, 1st Earl of Fife and 6th Earl Fife, married [[Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife|Princess Louise]], the third child and eldest daughter of the then-[[Prince of Wales]] (the future [[King Edward VII]]) and his wife [[Alexandra of Denmark|Princess Alexandra]], in the Private Chapel at [[Buckingham Palace]]. The couple were third cousins in descent from [[King George III]]. The wedding marked the second time a descendant of Queen Victoria married a British subject.<ref>The first time a descendant of Queen Victoria married a British subject was the marriage of [[Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll|Princess Louise]], the Queen's fourth daughter, to the [[John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll|Marquess of Lorne]] in 1871.</ref> Two days after the wedding, the Queen elevated Alexander, Lord Fife, to the dignities of '''Marquess of Macduff''', in the County of Banff, and '''Duke of Fife''', both in the [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=25958 |date=27 July 1889 |page=4077 }}</ref> [[Queen Victoria]]'s [[Letters Patent]] of 29 June 1889 creating these titles contained the standard remainder to "heirs male of his body".

On 24 April 1900, [[Queen Victoria]] issued another letters patent by which she created for the 1st Duke of Fife the further dignities of '''Duke of Fife''' and '''Earl of Macduff''', both in the [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]], and both with a special remainder that allowed these titles to pass to his daughters by Princess Louise, in default of a son, and then to the male heirs of those daughters.<ref name="LG27186">{{London Gazette |issue=27186 |date=24 April 1900 |page=2605}}</ref> On 9 November 1905, King Edward VII granted to [[Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife|Alexander Duff]]'s two daughters [[Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife|Lady Alexandra]] (1891–1959) and [[Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk|Lady Maud]]  (1893–1945), the styles of ''Highness'' and ''Princess''.

Upon the death of the 1st Duke of Fife in January 1912, the peerages created in 1889 (the dukedom of Fife of 1889 and the marquessate of Macduff) and all the older (as previously mentioned) peerages held by the Duff family (the barony of Braco of 1735, viscountcy of Macduff of 1759, [[Earl Fife|earldom Fife of 1759]], barony of Skene of 1857, [[Earl of Fife|earldom of Fife of 1885]]) became extinct, while the peerages created in 1900 (the dukedom of Fife of 1900 and the earldom of Macduff) passed to his elder daughter, [[Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife|Princess Alexandra]].{{cn|date=April 2017}}

On 15 October 1913, the 2nd Duchess of Fife married [[Prince Arthur of Connaught]], the only son of [[Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn]], third son of [[Queen Victoria]] and [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] and thus a younger brother of her maternal grandfather King Edward VII. As such, Arthur and Alexandra were [[first cousins once removed]]. Their only son, [[Alastair Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn|Alastair]], died in 1943. <ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11349086 |title=Death of Duke of Connaught in Canada |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)]] |issue=30,162 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=28 April 1943 |access-date=17 April 2018 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

When the 2nd Duchess of Fife died in 1959, her hereditary peerages passed to her nephew [[James Carnegie, 3rd Duke of Fife|James Carnegie]] (1929–2015), eldest son of her sister [[Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk|Maud]] and her husband [[Charles Carnegie, 11th Earl of Southesk]] (1893–1992). Thirty-three years later, in 1992, The 3rd Duke of Fife also succeeded his father as 12th [[Earl of Southesk]] and [[Clan chief|chief]] of the [[Clan Carnegie]]. As consequence, the following peerage titles became therefore subsidiary to that of the dukedom: '''[[Lord Carnegie of Kinnaird]]''' in the [[Peerage of Scotland]] (created in 1616), '''[[Earl of Southesk]]''' and '''[[Lord Carnegie]]''' in the Peerage of Scotland (both created in 1633), '''[[Baron Balinhard]]''' in the [[Peerage of the United Kingdom]] (created in 1869; all previous mentioned titles awarded to [[David Carnegie, 1st Earl of Southesk|Sir David Carnegie]] (1575–1658), an [[Extraordinary Lord of Session]]), and the '''[[Carnegie Baronets|Carnegie Baronetcy]]''' in the [[Baronetage of Nova Scotia]] (created in 1641 for [[Sir David Carnegie, 1st Baronet|David Carnegie of Pitcarrow]] (died 1708), a Scottish politician). Upon his death in 2015, he was succeeded in the Fife and Carnegie titles by his son, [[David Carnegie, 4th Duke of Fife|David Charles Carnegie]] (born 1961). The 4th Duke of Fife's [[heir apparent]] is his son Charles Duff Carnegie (born 1989), who uses the [[List of courtesy titles in the peerages of Britain and Ireland|courtesy title]] ''Earl of Southesk''. The hypothetical grandson of the duke and heir-to-heir apparent would be styled instead ''Lord Carnegie''. <ref>Heywood, Valentine (1951). British Titles - The Use and Misuse of the Titles of Peers and Commoners, with Some Historical Notes (1st ed.). A. & C. Black, Ltd.</ref>

==Tartan==
[[File:Tartan (duke of fife).png|The Duke of Fife tartan|150px|thumb]]
The Duke of Fife tartan, first designed to celebrate the marriage of [[Louise, Princess Royal|Louise]], daughter of Edward VII, to [[Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Tartan Details - Fife, Duke Of |url=https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=1182 |website=The Scottish Register of Tartans |publisher=tartanregister.gov.uk}}</ref>

==Seats==
The current Duke of Fife's  main residence is [[Kinnaird Castle, Brechin|Kinnaird Castle]] near the town of [[Brechin]] in [[Angus, Scotland|Angus]], Scotland. Another seat is [[Elsick House]] near the town of [[Stonehaven]] in [[Aberdeenshire, Scotland|Aberdeenshire]], Scotland, within the watershed of the [[Burn of Elsick]].

[[Mar Lodge]], the 1st Duke of Fife's residence to the west of [[Braemar]] in [[Aberdeenshire, Scotland|Aberdeenshire]], was bequeathed by the [[Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife|2nd Duchess]] to her nephew [[Alexander Ramsay of Mar]], and subsequently sold. The first two holders of the dukedom are buried in [[St Ninian's Chapel, Braemar]].

==Duke of Fife (1889–1912)==
{| style="text-align:center;" class="wikitable"
! colspan="7" |Created by [[Queen Victoria]]
|-
! style="width:10%%" | # !! style="width:15%" | Name !! Period !! style="width:15%" | Spouse !! style="width:25%" | Notes !! Other titles !! Coat of arms
|- bgcolor="#dddddd" |
|-
| 1 || [[Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife|Alexander William George Duff]]<br>(1849&ndash;1912) || 1889–1912|| [[Louise, Princess Royal]] || Grandson-in-law of Queen Victoria || 1st [[Marquess of Macduff]], 1st [[Earl of Fife]], 6th [[Earl Fife]], 6th Viscount Macduff, 6th Baron Braco, 2nd Baron Skene || [[File:Coat of Arms of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife.svg|150px]]
|}

==Dukes of Fife (1900–present)==
{| style="text-align:center;" class="wikitable"
! colspan="7" |Created by [[Queen Victoria]]
|-
! style="width:10%%" | # !! style="width:15%" | Name !! Period !! style="width:15%" | [[Duchess of Fife|Spouse]] !! style="width:25%" | Notes !! Other titles !! Coat of arms
|- bgcolor="#dddddd" |
|-
| 1 || [[Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife|Alexander William George Duff]]<br />(1849&ndash;1912) || 1900–1912|| [[Louise, Princess Royal]] || Grandson-in-law of Queen Victoria || all titles associated with dukedom of Fife (1889) plus 1st [[Earl of Macduff]] (1900) || [[File:Coat of Arms of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife.svg|100px]]
|-
| 2 || [[Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife|Princess Alexandra Victoria Alberta Edwina Louise]]<br />(1891&ndash;1959) || 1912–1959|| [[Prince Arthur of Connaught]] || Granddaughter of King [[Edward VII]] and daughter of the 1st Duke || [[Earl of Macduff|Countess of Macduff]] ||  [[File:Coat of Arms of Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife.svg|100px]]
|-
| 3 || [[James Carnegie, 3rd Duke of Fife|James George Alexander Bannerman Carnegie]]<br />(1929–2015) || 1959–2015|| [[Caroline, Lady Worsley|The Hon. Caroline Dewar]] ''divorced'' || Nephew of the 2nd Duchess || rowspan="3" | [[Earl of Southesk]], [[Earl of Macduff]], [[Lord Carnegie of Kinnaird]], [[Lord Carnegie of Kinnaird and Leuchars]], [[Baron Balinhard]], [[Carnegie baronets|Baronet 'of PitCarrow']] || [[File:Coat of Arms of James Carnegie, 3rd Duke of Fife.svg|100px]]<ref>Arms as borne by the 3rd Duke of Fife:
*'''Shield''': Quarterly:  1st, Or a Lion rampant Gules armed and langued Azure (Dukedom of Fife);  2nd, the arms of the United Kingdom as borne by King Edward VII differenced by a Label of five points Argent the points charged with two Thistles between three Crosses of St George Gules (The Princess Royal, Duchess of Fife);  3rd, grandquarterly:  1st and 4th, Vert a Fess dancetty Ermine between a Hart's Head cabossed in chief and two Escallops in base Or (Duff of Braco);  2nd and 3rd, Gules three Skeans paleways Argent hafted and pommelled Or surmounted by as many Wolves' Heads couped of the third (Skene of that Ilk);  4th, Gules a Banner displayed Argent charged with a Canton Azure a Saltire of the second (Bannerman of Elsick);  over all ensigned of an Earl's Coronet proper an Inescutcheon Argent an Eagle displayed Azure armed beaked and membered Gules on its breast an Antique Covered Cup Or (Carnegie).
* '''Crests:''' Centre:  a Thunderbolt proper winged Or (Carnegie);  Dexter:  a Knight denoting the ancient MacDuff armed at all points on a Horse in full speed in his dexter hand a Sword erect all proper his Jupon Argent on his sinister arm a Shield Or charged with a Lion rampant Gules the visor of his helmet shut over which on a Wreath of his liveries with a long Mantling flowing therefrom behind him and ending in a Tassel of the fourth doubling of the third is set a Lion rampant issuing out of a Wreath of the third and fourth the Caparisons of the horse Gules fimbriated Or and thereon six Shields of the last each charged with a Lion rampant of the fourth (Dukedom of Fife);  Sinister:  a Man in armour issuing from the loins and wearing a Tabard emblazoned of the arms Argent on a Fess between three Boars' Heads erased Gules three Mascles Or sustaining with his dexter hand a Banner developed Argent having a Canton Azure charged with a Saltire of the first (Ethel, Countess of Southesk).
*'''Supporters''': Dexter:  a Lion rampant guardant Gules langued Azure collared with a Label of five points Argent the points charged with two Thistles between three Crosses of St George Gules;  Sinister:  a Talbot Argent collared Gules the Collar charged with a Label of three points Argent.
*'''Mottoes''': Above the centre crest:  ''DRED GOD''; above the dexter crest:  ''DEO JUVANTE'';  above the sinister crest:  ''PRO PATRIA''; beneath the shield:  ''VIRTUTE ET OPERA''.</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2" |4
| rowspan="2" |[[David Carnegie, 4th Duke of Fife|David Charles Carnegie]]<br />(born 1961)
| rowspan="2" |from 2015
| rowspan="2" |Caroline Anne Bunting
| rowspan="2" |Only surviving son of the 3rd Duke
|[[File:Coat of arms of the Duke of Fife until 2017.svg|86x86px]]<ref>Arms from 2015 - 2017</ref>
|-
| [[File:Coat of arms of David Carnegie, 4th Duke of Fife, since 2017.png|100px]]<ref>The following [[heraldic achievement]] was matriculated by the [[Court of the Lord Lyon]] in 2017 for the 4th Duke of Fife:
*'''Shield''': Or, a Lion rampant Gules, armed and langued Azure ''(the Dukedom of Fife)'', and on an Inescutcheon Argent, ensigned of an Earl's Coronet proper, an Eagle displayed Azure, armed, beaked and membered Gules, and charged on its breast with an Antique Covered Cup Or ''(Carnegie)''.
*'''Crest:''' A Thunderbolt proper, winged Or.
*'''Supporters:''' Dexter: a Lion guardant Gules, langued Azure, collared with a Label of five-points Argent, charged with two Thistles proper, between three Crosses of St George Gules. Sinister: a Talbot Argent, collared and langued Gules.
*'''Mottoes''': Above the crest, on a Scroll ''DRED GOD''; beneath the shield ''DEO JUVANTE''.</ref><ref>Arms from 2017, onwards</ref>
|}

==Line of succession==
{{Tree list}}
*[[File:Coronet of a British Duke.svg|15px]] ''[[Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife]] (1849-1912)''
**[[File:Coronet of a Child of a Daughter of the Sovereign.svg|15px]][[File:Coronet of a Grandchild of the Sovereign.svg|15px]] ''[[Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife]] (1891-1959)''
***[[File:Coronet of a British Duke.svg|15px]] ''[[Alastair Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn]] (1914-1943)''
**[[File:Coronet of a Child of a Daughter of the Sovereign.svg|15px]] ''[[Maud Carnegie, Countess of Southesk]] (1893-1945)''
***[[File:Coronet of a British Duke.svg|15px]] ''[[James Carnegie, 3rd Duke of Fife]] (1929-2015)''
****[[File:Coronet of a British Duke.svg|15px]] '''[[David Carnegie, 4th Duke of Fife]]''' (b. 1961)
*****'''(1)''' Charles Carnegie, Earl of Southesk (b. 1989)
*****'''(2)''' Lord George Carnegie (b. 1991)
*****'''(3)''' Lord Hugh Carnegie (b. 1993)
{{Tree list/end}}

==Family tree==
{{Dukes of Fife family tree}}
[[File:Fife and Connaught family tree.png|center|thumb|500px|Family tree showing the interrelation of the dukedom of Connaught & Strathearn with the dukedom of Fife]]
<br />

==See also==
*[[Duchess of Fife]]

==References==
{{Notelist}}
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Dukes of Fife}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080319081426/http://www.ukdukes.co.uk/the_dukes/the_duke_of_fife/ Duke of Fife]

{{Extant British dukedoms}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2025}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fife}}
[[Category:Noble titles created in 1900]]
[[Category:Dukedoms in the Peerage of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Lists of Scottish people]]
[[Category:Fife]]
[[Category:1889 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Noble titles created in 1889]]
[[Category:Peerages created for UK MPs]]
[[Category:Peerages created with special remainders]]
[[Category:Dukes of Fife| ]]