Alexander Ramsay of Mar

Captain Alexander Arthur Alfonso David Maule Ramsay of Mar DL (21 December 1919 – 20 December 2000)^[1] was the only child of Princess Patricia of Connaught, who renounced her royal title and style when she married then-Captain the Hon. Alexander Ramsay in February 1919. His mother was the youngest child of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, the third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. His father was the third son of John William Ramsay, 13th Earl of Dalhousie. Alexander was the first cousin of the Queen Ingrid of Denmark, Prince Gustaf Adolf (the father of the current King of Sweden) and their siblings, because their mother, Princess Margaret of Connaught, was Alexander's aunt and wife to the Crown Prince of Sweden.

Biography

Ramsay was born Alexander Arthur Alfonso David Maule Ramsay on 21 December 1919 at Clarence House, then the London residence of his maternal grandfather, the Duke of Connaught. He (along with his cousin Viscount Lascelles, later 7th Earl of Harewood) acted as a page of honour during the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. After leaving Eton College the same year, he received commission in the Grenadier Guards. Ramsay saw active service in North Africa during World War II. He lost his right leg during a tank battle at Tunisia in 1943. In 1944, he joined the staff of his cousin, The Duke of Gloucester, who was then Governor general of Australia.

Upon returning to Britain in 1947, he was informed that he would inherit Mar Lodge and its estates from his aunt, Princess Arthur of Connaught. In preparation for this role, he read agriculture at Trinity College, Cambridge. After graduating in 1952, he worked for three years as assistant factor on the Linlithgow estates at South Queensferry. Ramsay inherited the Mar estate in 1959. At that point, Lord Lyon King of Arms allowed him to add the designation "of Mar" to his name. Part of the estate had to be sold to pay inheritance tax and became Mar Lodge Estate.

In 1956, Ramsay married Flora Fraser (born 18 October 1930), the only daughter of Alexander Fraser, 20th Lord Saltoun and chief of the Name of Fraser. His wife succeeded her father as the 21st Lady Saltoun and chief of the Name of Fraser in her own right in 1979. Thereafter, they resided at wife's family seat, Cairnbulg Castle at Fraserburgh, in Aberdeenshire. In 1971, he became the Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Aberdeenshire.

Although the Ramsays of Mar had no royal titles and carried out no public duties, they were regarded as members of the extended British Royal Family, attending most major royal events. Alexander Ramsay of Mar died on the eve of his eighty-first birthday. At the time of his death, he was one of five surviving great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria (the other four being Count Sigvard Bernadotte (1907–2002), Infanta Beatriz of Spain (1909–2002), Lady Katherine Brandram (1913–2007) and Count Carl Johan Bernadotte (1916–2012).

Family

Captain Alexander Ramsay of Mar and Lady Saltoun had three daughters, three granddaughters and four grandsons:

• Hon. Katharine Ingrid Mary Isabel Fraser, Deputy Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire since 2005, (born 11 October 1957) m. Mark Nicolson (born 29 September 1954).
  • Louise Alexandra Patricia Nicolson, formerly Fraser (born 2 September 1984) Married in 2013 to Charles Morshead.
  • Juliet Victoria Katharine Nicolson (born 3 March 1988)
  • Alexander William Malise Fraser (born 5 July 1990)
• Hon. Alice Elizabeth Margaret Ramsay of Mar (born 8 July 1961) m (28 July 1990). David Alan Ramsey (born 17 September 1960)
  • Alexander David Ramsey (born 17 December 1991)
  • Victoria Alice Ramsey (born 7 April 1994)
  • George Arthur Ramsey (born 28 September 1995)
  • Oliver Henry Ramsey (born 28 September 1995)
• Hon. Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Ramsay of Mar (born 15 April 1963)

Katharine Fraser is heir presumptive to her mother's peerage and the headship of Fraser clan. Lord Lyon King Arms officially recognized her use of the surname Fraser in 1973. Her elder daughter Louise also used this surname until Alexander was born, when she ceased to use the surname and her brother used it.

Elizabeth Ramsay is the youngest great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria.

Ancestry

References