Maud Carnegie, Countess Of Southesk

Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk (born Lady Maud Alexandra Victoria Georgina Bertha Duff; 3 April 1893 – 14 December 1945), was a member of the British royal family and a granddaughter of King Edward VII. She held the title of Princess Maud from 1905 until her marriage in 1923.

Early Life:

Maud was born at East Sheen Lodge in Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey. Her parents were Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, and Princess Louise of Wales. Her father was elevated from Earl of Fife to Duke of Fife following his marriage to Princess Louise, the third child of the future King Edward VII. She was christened on 22 June 1893 at the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace. Maud and her sister Alexandra were notable for being descendants of both King William IV through his mistress Dorothea Jordan and Queen Victoria via his niece, Queen Victoria.

Titles and Royal Recognition:

In 1900, Queen Victoria granted her father a second dukedom of Fife in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, with a special remainder allowing for the succession by his daughters and their descendants in the absence of a male heir. As a result, Maud was second in line to the dukedom after her sister Alexandra. Since she was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria through her mother, she was styled as Lady Maud Duff rather than as a princess of the United Kingdom, and did not carry the style of Royal Highness at birth. She was fifth in line to the throne at her birth.

In 1905, her uncle, King Edward VII, granted her and her sister the style and precedence of Princesses with the style of Highness, immediately after other members of the royal family with the style of Royal Highness. She attended significant royal events, including the funeral of Edward VII in 1910, where she was styled as "Her Highness Princess Maud," and she participated in the coronation of King George V in 1911, with a similar style.

Title Restrictions and Later Changes:

In 1917, King George V issued a Letters Patent that limited the titles of Prince and Princess and the style of Royal Highness to the children of the sovereign, the children of the sovereign’s sons, and the eldest son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. Despite this restructuring, Maud and her sister's princely titles and styles, granted specifically by their grandfather, remained intact because George V did not revoke them.

Marriage:

On 13 November 1923, Maud married Charles, Lord Carnegie, at the Royal Military Chapel, Wellington Barracks, London. Charles was the eldest son of Charles Noel Carnegie, 10th Earl of Southesk. Upon his father's death in 1941, he inherited the title of Earl of Southesk. The couple managed a model farm at Elsick House in Kincardineshire, Scotland. They had one son, James (1929–2015).

Support for Girl Guides:

Maud was actively involved in the Girl Guides movement in Scotland, serving as a County Commissioner in Angus and Aberdeenshire and participating in the movement's executive committee. She received the Silver Fish Award, Girl Guiding’s highest adult honor, in 1937.

Later Life:

Maud frequently appeared at court functions but did not undertake official royal duties. Between 1942 and 1945, during King George VI's reign, she served as a Counsellor of State, acting on behalf of the King when necessary. At her death in 1945, she was thirteenth in line to the British throne and was the heir presumptive to the dukedom of Fife following her sister's death in 1943.

Death:

Princess Maud died in a London nursing home on 14 December 1945 after suffering from acute bronchitis. Her estate was valued at £44,008 at the time. Her will was sealed in Llandudno in 1946, and her estate was valued at approximately £1.2 million when adjusted for inflation in 2022. Her son succeeded her as the 3rd Duke of Fife in 1959 after his father’s death.