Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife and her daughters
Louise, Princess Royal of Great Britain, Duchess of Fife (1867-1931), third child and eldest daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, photographed with her two daughters, Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, later Princess Arthur of Connaught (1891-1959) standing by her mother, and, seated, Princess Maud (1893-1945). Mother and daughters are in mourning for the Duke of Fife who died of pleurisy at Aswan on 29th January 1912. The Fifes were sailing to Egypt in December 1911 when their ship, the P&O liner, Delhi, hit a sandbank off Cape Trafalgar. The Fifes were among the last to leave the ship, and the ship's boat on which they were taken was swamped several times by waves; Princess Alexandra was washed over but a young engineer clung to her hand. Maud was also washed over closer to shore, and once all the passengers had struggled to the beach they had a five-mile walk to find shelter. After the trauma of such an event, the Duke developed a cough and fever which eventually led to his death
