Alastair Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn

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Second World War

Alastair Arthur Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (9 August 1914 – 26 April 1943) was a member of the

British Royal Family. He was the only child of Prince Arthur of Connaught and Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife. He was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria through his father and a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria through his mother. He was also a descendant of Victoria's paternal uncle and predecessor, William IV
, through an illegitimate line.

In 1942, he became the second Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Earl of Sussex when he inherited his grandfather's title. In 1943, at the age of 28, he died of exposure in Canada.

Early life

Portrait with his mother

Alastair was born on 9 August 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 Strathearn, and Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia. His mother was Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, the eldest daughter of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, and Louise, Princess Royal. Alastair was thus a great-grandchild of Queen Victoria through his father and great-great grandchild of her through his mother.

Alastair was baptised on 1 September 1914 at his parents' home

Queen Alexandra (his maternal great-grandmother), the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (his paternal grandfather, for whom the Duke's equerry Major Malcolm Murray stood proxy), Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (his great-aunt), and Princess Mary (his cousin).[2]

Earl of Macduff

Inscription at St Ninian's Chapel, Braemar commemorating the 2nd Duke of Connaught (1914–1943)

Alastair was born shortly after the outbreak of the

Earl of Macduff as a courtesy title
.

Later life

Braemar, Mar Lodge Estate, St Ninian's Chapel - Grave of the 2nd Duke of Connaught (1914–1943)

Lord Macduff was educated at Bryanston and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and was commissioned on 31 January 1935 as a second lieutenant into the Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons), his father's regiment,[3] then based in Egypt. On 14 July 1939, Lord Macduff was promoted to lieutenant[4] and was later assigned to Ottawa as aide-de-camp to his kinsman the Earl of Athlone, then Governor General of Canada; his own grandfather had held the same post during the First World War.

His father having died in 1938, Alastair succeeded, on his grandfather's death in 1942, to the titles Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Earl of Sussex.[5] However, he died in 1943 at the age of 28 "on active service" in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in unusual circumstances. Newspapers at the time reported that he died of "natural causes."[6]

better source needed
]

His ashes were interred at St Ninian's Chapel, Braemar, Scotland.[10]

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Coat of arms

Titles and styles

  • 1914–1917: His Highness Prince Alastair of Connaught[11]
  • 1917–1942: Earl of Macduff[12]
  • 1942–1943: His Grace The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn[5]

Arms

In 1942, on the inheritance of his paternal grandfather's dukedom, he was granted arms, being, quarterly, first and fourth his paternal grandfather's arms (being the royal arms, differenced with a three-point label argent, the first and third points bearing

Fife and Duff
).

Upon his death, the Dukedom of Connaught and Strathearn and the Earldom of Sussex became extinct.[13] His first cousin, James Carnegie (23 September 1929 – 22 June 2015), succeeded as 3rd Duke of Fife and Earl of Macduff upon Princess Alexandra's death on 26 February 1959.

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ "Prince Alastair". Beverley and East Riding Recorder. England. 5 September 1914. Retrieved 23 April 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ^ "Yvonne's Royalty Home Page — Royal Christenings". Archived from the original on 6 August 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  3. ^ "No. 34129". The London Gazette. 1 February 1935. p. 772.
  4. ^ "No. 34651". The London Gazette. 4 August 1931. p. 5396.
  5. ^ a b "Death of Duke of Connaught". Aberdeen Press and Journal. Scotland. 17 January 1942. Retrieved 23 April 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Death of Duke of Connaught in Canada". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 30, 162. Victoria, Australia. 28 April 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 17 April 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ISBN 978-0304307579
    .
  8. ^ Lascelles, Alan; Hart-Davis, Duff (2006). King's counsellor: abdication and war: the diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 39. ...the wretched young Duke of Connaught, whom his regiment (Greys) have had to get rid of, as he is wholly incompetent.
  9. ^ Koenig, Marlene Eilers (29 November 2010). "Royal Musings: Princess Arthur of Connaught". Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  10. ^ CWGC entry.
  11. ^ "Talk of the Town". Pall Mall Gazette. England. 28 August 1914. Retrieved 23 April 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ^ "The Earl of Macduff". Aberdeen Press and Journal. Scotland. 10 July 1917. Retrieved 23 April 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ "Dukedoms Pass". The Sphere. England. 8 May 1943. Retrieved 23 April 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alastair, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn.
Alastair Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Cadet branch of the House of Wettin
Born: 9 August 1914 Died: 26 April 1943
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Earl of Sussex
1942–1943 		Extinct
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