Skip to content
VitrineVitrine
Sign in

Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife

London, 17 May 1891 – London, 26 Feb 1959

14 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

  • Born17 May 1891, LondonRecords disagree1 source
  • MarriedPrince Arthur of Connaughtnot verified1 source
  • TitleColonel-in-Chiefor heir presumptive, 1891–1912 · Counsellor of State, 1937–1944not verified1 source
  • Titleheir presumptive, 1891–1912or Counsellor of State, 1937–1944 · Colonel-in-Chiefnot verified1 source
  • TitleCounsellor of State, 1937–1944or heir presumptive, 1891–1912 · Colonel-in-Chiefnot verified1 source
  • Died26 Feb 1959, LondonRecords disagree1 source
  • MotherLouise, Princess Royalnot verified1 source
  • FatherAlexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fifenot verified1 source

A life in time

  1. 1891–1912

    Heir presumptive

  2. 17 May 1891

    Born in London

  3. 9 Aug 1914

    A son is born

  4. 1937–1944

    Counsellor of State

  5. 26 Feb 1959

    Dies in London, aged 67

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

Children · 1

During her lifetime

She lived through 7 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around London.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1890s · Princess is born in London

In the news1897

1897 Marconi receives patent for radio communications

Guglielmo Marconi received the first patent for radio communications in 1897.

Getting around

Dramatic increases in travel speed by rail

Rail travel speeds significantly outperformed earlier coaches, with journeys that took 20 hours by stagecoach in 1830 taking only five hours by train by the early 20th century. For example, in 1872, a 220-mile trip to Scotland via train and carriage took over 9.5 hours, averaging about 23 miles per hour.

At the table

Stretching food resources

Poor families sometimes substituted butter with treacle, while tea was used in nearly every household, with families often re-using tea leaves until all flavor was extracted.

The “Russian flu”. A flu pandemic travelled the world by rail and steamship in a few months, killing about a million people.Around the world · 1889–1890

The “Russian flu”. A flu pandemic travelled the world by rail and steamship in a few months, killing about a million people.

Unknown · CC BY 4.0

What people wore

Sunday Best as a Status Symbol

Ordinary working-class men and women maintained a Sunday best outfit, often a three-piece suit for men, to symbolize respectability and celebrate the weekly day of rest.

Music

Paying for Dance at Festivals

At late nineteenth-century festivals, musicians often used a dancing booth with a box for money, where dancers would pay a fee to participate in the festivities. Collecting these fees became more difficult when round dances and waltzes replaced older country dances.

Daily life

Compulsory education began in 1880

Compulsory school attendance was established in 1880 for children aged five to ten, helping to increase literacy rates significantly.