Pss Louise = 6th Earl Fife, Viscount Macduff, Baron Braco, and Baron Skene. He was cr. Duke of Fife and Marquess of Macduff 1899 with remainder to males only. He was then cr. Duke of Fife and Earl of Macduff with remainder to issue of daughters of Pss Louise. When he died all of his titles except the last two became extinct as there were no males left in the remainder to their creation.
Princess Alexandra was styled Lady Alexandra Duff until 1905 when was cr. HH Princess Alexandra of Fife, suc. in 1912 as 2nd Duchess Fife, Countess of Macduff. Married Pr. Arthur of Connaught (1883-1938) died during father's lifetime never inheriting his titles.
Their son:
HH Prince Alistair of Connaught, so styled until 1917 when LP restricted royal title to grandchildren of Sovereign, then he became Alistair, Earl of Macduff until 1938 when he suc. his grandfather as Duke of Connaught. no issue
2nd daughter of 1st Duke:
Pss Louise of Fife (previously Lady Louise Duff until 1905). Married 1923 Charles, Lord Carnegie (after 1941 11th Earl of Southesk, Lord Carnegie, 8th Baronet).
only child:
James, Lord Carengie (until 1959, then 3rd Duke of Fife and Earl of Macduff, after1992 also 12th Earl of Southesk, etc.
1. Lady Alexandra Carnegie (until 2001, then Lady Alexanadra Ethrington)
2. David, Earl of Macduff at birth, (4th Duke of Fife etc, and 13th Earl of Southesk, etc. in 2015)
a. Hon. Charles Carnegie until 1992 (Grandfather was only Duke of Fife so far, so no 3rd title for grandson to use) Lord Carnegie until 2015 (while grandfather was also Earl of Southesk, providing a lesser title to be used by his grandson) and now Earl of Southesk (as a courtesy title to the higher Duke of Fife)
b. Hon. George Carnegie (until 2015, now Lord George Carnegie)
c. Hon. Hugh Carnegie (until 2015, now Lord Hugh Carnegie)
OK: I basically get the picture, then. Because neither he nor his mother was direct in the Fife succession, and he was only a grandson of an earl, he would have been styled as only Honourable, during the first 12 years of his life. I'm assuming that his father (the future 11th Earl of Southesk) was, in fact, Baron Balinhard by courtesy from 1905 to 1941. It's just that he was styled as Lord Charles Carnegie.
Then the son himself became Baron Balinhard after the death of his grandfather (also named Charles), the 10th earl. So for the next 18 years, he would have been styled as Lord James Carnegie. Correct?
Then, of course, his maternal aunt (Alexandra, the 2nd duchess of Fife) died in 1959, having been predeceased by both her only son (James' cousin Alistair) and younger sister (Maud, James' mother).
So despite his father living to 1992, when James succeeded him as the 12th Earl of Southesk, he for decades had a higher rank as His Grace the 3rd Duke of Fife. Now his own only son, however, was indeed styled as the Earl of Macduff by courtesy from his birth in 1961 to 1992, according to Wikipedia. Then, with the death of his grandfather, David Carnegie evidently assumed the title Earl of Southesk by courtesy. It's just that he obviously couldn't become the official 13th earl until the death in 2015 of his father, when he also inherited the Fife dukedom.
As for his own sons: it seems that the eldest (Charles) is styled as the Earl of Southesk by courtesy. The courtesy title Earl of Macduff no longer seems to apply. Like his father before him, James lived to an old age. So despite David enjoying courtesy titles of earl, his own sons were only Honourable until 2015. Correct?
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