QUEENSBERRY, Most Hon 12 Marquess of 1929-2026

[Richard R]

From the Times of 25 July 2026: QUEENSBERRY David died peacefully on 22nd July 2026, aged 96. Much-loved father, cherished grandfather, great-grandfather and friend. In lieu of flowers, donations, if desired, to Centrepoint…

He was s of 11 Marquess of QUEENSBERRY 1896-1954 and his 2 w Cathleen Sabine 1897-1959 d of Harrington MANN 1863-1937 and Florence Sabine PASLEY 1871-1956 (gd of Adm Sir Thomas PASLEY 2 Bt 1804-84). He m first 1956 (div 1969) Mrs Ann Radford, da of Maurice Sinnett Jones, and formerly wife of George Arthur Radford and had two daus. He m second 1969 (div 1986) Alexandra Mary Clare Wyndham, da of Guy Wyndham Sich and had three sons and a dau. He m third 2000 Hsueh-Chun Liao and had a dau (Lady Beth, 1999-2018). He also has two sons by Ann Carey, and an adopted step dau. His eldest son succeeds him

SHOLTO FRANCIS GUY Douglas 13 Marquess of QUEENSBERRY has yet to establish claim, b 1 June 1967, unm.

BROTHER LIVING

Lord TORQUIL OBERON TOBIAS Douglas b 2 Nov 1978 (heir presumptive), unm.

[bx...@yahoo.com]

A couple of additional notes:

1. The new Marquess previously held the courtesy title, Viscount Drumlanrig.  He was actually born 2 years before his parents were married, but he was legitimized by their marriage.  

2. There was a middle brother, Lord Milo, born (1975) between the 13th Marquess and Lord Torquil.  He died in 2009.

3.  The new line of succession:

      1. LORD TORQUIL OBERON TOBIAS DOUGLAS (b. 1978), hp, brother of the current Marquess.

      2. Lord Gawain Archibald Francis DOUGLAS (B. 1948), half-brother of the late (12th) Marquess, half-uncle of the new (13th) Marquess)

      3. Jamie Sholto Francis (b. 1975) only son of #2

      4. Nikhel Jamie Gawain (b. 2009), only son of #3  (from Wikipedia, so needs to be confirmed)

Brooke

[sven_me...@web.de]

Now 230 left.

[colinp]

The question of whether Lord Drumlanrig (as he then was) could succeed to the Scottish Marquisate came before Lord Lyon in the case of Viscount of Drumlanrig's Tutor (1977 SLT (Lyon Ct) 16).  The reason why there was doubt is that Lord Drumlanrig and his father were domiciled in England though the titles were Scottish.  Lord Drumlanrig was legitimated under the English Legitimacy Act 1926 as amended in 1959 (which allowed adulterine bastards to be legitimated) but of course the English Acts contained an exception that the legitimation did not affect succession of titles. If of course Lord Drumlanrig was domiciled in Scotland there would be no question that he could succeed as Scots law (as subsequently amended to legitimate adulterine bastards) allowed the legitimation to affect the succession of titles. Lord Lyon held that the 1968 Scottish act which amended Scots law to permit the legitimation of adulterine bastards recognised the English legitimation for the purposes of succession of succession to the Marquisate  "although incapable of affecting the succession to any dignity or title of honour governed by English law".

However Sir Crispin Agnew Bt KC in an article on the Pringle case (in which he appeared for the successful claimant) in DPB 2019 has said that Lord Lyon's judgment may not be correct.  He cites comments by Lord Keith of KInkel in Wright's Trustees v Callender (a Scottish case that went to the House of Lords) that limitations under the English Act (of 1926) should be considered to apply to Scotland as well:

"While it is for the law of Scotland to recognise the status of legitimacy conferred by the [1926] Act on the children of fathers domiciled in England at the time of the relevant marriage, it must also be appropriate for that law to recognise that the legitimacy so conferred was subject to limitation......I see no reason why Scots law should treat a legitimation which is not complete [ie because it did not extend to the inheritance of titles of honour] for purposes of English law as complete for its own purposes."

As Sir Crispin comments: "If the parents are domiciled in Scotland, children legitimated by the subsequent marriage of their parents can inherit a title but, if domiciled in England, they cannot inherit a peerage or baronetcy, unless (if the Drumlanrig decision is correct) it is a Scottish title." [my bold]

Thus the position is not clear cut and the succession issue may have to go to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council for a decision. Lord Torquil is undoubtedly legitimate

[BREMENMURRAY]

Each of his four predecessors and direct ancestors only lived to 58,51,55 and 40.He did very well to make it to 96!

[Henry W]

Colin - thank you for laying this out as clearly as is possible in the circumstances.

I have been struggling to see why the Queensberry marquessate should be in a different position to the Mackenzie of Glen Muick baronetcy, and your remarks make me think it isn't.

See: Future of the Baronetage where that case was discussed in 2018 / 2019.  This baronetcy is not on the official roll, but Kershaw lists Guy Mackenzie as an uncertain 5th baronet.  Debrett's 2008 simply gives the death of the 4th baronet and that the succession has not been established.

On the death of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, 4th Baronet in 1993, the heir would be a son of his cousin Eric Mackenzie (1891 - 1972).

Eric m 1948 Elizabeth ROBERTSON-McISAAC (nee INNES) who had been married to James ROBERTSON-McISAAC from 1943 until divorce in 1948.

Eric MacKENZIE and Elizabeth had adulterine issue:

(James William) Guy MacKENZIE (b 1946)

And then had further issues after marriage:

Lucy Elizabeth Victoria MacKENZIE (b 1949)

Allan Walter MacKENZIE (b 1952).

Guy MacKENZIE was born in Aberdeen in 1946 and raised on Mull according to the above thread, so I assume counts as Scottish domiciled (but were his parents?), and the UK baronetcy has a Scottish TD, so it seems that the rules around Scots Law legitimation should apply.

[Sam Marroy]

Noticed a mistake in the obituary posted on the main site - the earldom of Drumlanrig and Sanchar is listed as one of the subsidiary titles of the marquessate, but it's actually held by the Duke of Queensberry. I'll never stop being confused by the byzantine way the dukedom and marquessate were split up and who got which titles

[Paul Theroff]

The Earldom of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar which went to the Montagu-Douglas-Scotts was the one created 1684, which was surrendered and re-granted in 1706.

However, there was an earlier earldom of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar created in 1682, which was not among the titles surrendered in 1706, and which eventually descended along with the 1682 Marquessate of Queensberry which had also not been surrendered.

So there are two separate earldoms of this title.

See discussion here:

https://groups.google.com/g/peerage-news/c/HkPsBHuvm9s/m/tOdm5X2VAAAJ

[Paul Theroff]

When the 4th Duke of Queensberry died, he was:

4th Duke of Queensberry, Marquess of Dumfriesshire, Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Viscount of Nith, Torthorwald and Ross, Lord Douglas of Kinmont, Middlebie and Dornock (cr 1684; novodamus 1706). These titles descended according to the entail to the Montagu-Douglas-Scotts.

7th Earl of Queensberry, Viscount of Drumlanrig, Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tiberris (cr 1633); and 4th Viscount of Drumlanrig, Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tibberis. (cr 1628). These titles are still held by the Marquesses of Queensberry.

5th Marquess of Queensberry, Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Viscount of Nith, Torthorwald and Ross, Lord Douglas of Kinmont, Middlebie and Dornock (cr 1682). These titles are still held by the Marquesses of Queensberry.

3rd Earl of March, Viscount of Peebles, Lord Douglas of Neidpath, Lyne and Munard; these titles became extinct.

3rd Earl of Ruglen; this title became extinct.

[Paul Theroff]

One correction: the Earldom of March and subsidary titles went to the Wemyss family.

[Sam Marroy]

That's interesting - why doesn't the heir apparent use Earl of Drumlanrig as his courtesy title?

[Paul Theroff]

Probably everyone thinks that would be silly, since Drumlanrig Castle is owned by the Buccleuchs.

[malcolm davies]

ColinP

           Thanks for your post.

  I am no expert in Scots law, but the succession to a peerage is not determined by domicile.

  If it were males born overseas to a father who is a peer but who was unmarried at the time and who is of foreign domicile, would be able to succeed to a peerage, unlike a male born in the UK in the same circumstances.

  The other matter is that the Court of the Lord Lyon determines who is to succeed to Scots peerage- not the Privy Council.

   And the Lord Lyon has determined legitimacy already in his decision in1977.

[Sam Marroy]

That would make sense, except that the courtesy title he does use is...Viscount Drumlanrig. I guess it could just be family tradition, or a concession to the fact that there are two earldoms of Drumlanrig so they don't use it to avoid confusion, but you're Lord Drumlanrig either way, odd not to use the title of higher rank

[Paul Theroff]

You're quite right, and I should have thought it through more before my flippant answer. Nevertheless it seems odd that the Marquess line should use any Drumlanrig title when the Buccleuchs still live there. 

(I toured Drumlanrig in July 1976.. it's a beautiful place. Has any noble family ever possessed more huge castles or palaces than the Buccleuchs? They still have Drumlanrig, Boughton, Eildon Hall and Bowhill, and until 100 years ago they had Dalkeith Palace.)

It's odd, too that the Buccleuchs never used their Marquessate of Dumfriesshire as their courtesy title. Granted, when they inherited the title there was also an Earl of Dumfries, but the earldom of Dumfries merged with the Marquessate of Bute a few years later.

[Paul Theroff]

Another reason the Marquesses may not have adopted the Drumlanrig earldom as their preferred courtesy title, is that they may not have been sure they had it in the early years after inheriting it.

Admittedly the whole Queensberry titles situation is very confusing and difficult to parse out, but the 1682 Earldom of Drumlanrig was created in the same act as the creation of the Marquessate of Queensberry. Thus, if they were entitled to that marquessate, they were entitled to that earldom.

Nevertheless, The Complete Peerage does not list that particular earldom among the titles inherited by Charles Douglas in 1810, so even the great G E Cokayne may have been confused.

[S. S.]

William Douglas was created Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tibbers and Viscount of Drumlanrig on 1 Apr 1628 with remainder to his heirs male bearing the name and arms of Douglas. He was later created Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tibbers, Viscount of Drumlanrig and Earl of Queensberry on 13 June 1633 with remainder to his heirs male bearing the name and arms of Douglas.

His grandson and heir, William Douglas, 3rd Earl of Queensberry, was created Lord Douglas of Kilmount, Middlebie and Dornock, Viscount of Nith, Torthorwald and Ross, Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, and Marquess of Queensberry on 11 Feb 1681/82 with remainder to his heirs male whatsoever. He was later created Lord Douglas of Kilmount, Middlebie and Dornock, Viscount of Nith, Torthorwald and Ross, Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Marquess of Dumfriesshire and Duke of Queensberry on 3 Nov 1684 with remainder to the heirs male of his body, but with a provision that this grant should in no way prejudice the limitation of the Marquessate of Queensberry (11 Feb 1681/82) and other titles granted previously. 

The 1st Duke of Queensberry was succeeded by his son and heir, James, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, who was created Baron Ripon, Marquess of Beverley and Duke of Dover on 26 May 1708 with remainder to his third son, Charles Douglas, who had earlier been created Lord Douglas of Lockerbie, Dalveen and Thornhill, Viscount of Tiberris and Earl of Solway on 17 June 1706 with remainder to the heirs of his father, not being successors to the Dukedom of Queensberry.

James, 2nd Duke of Queensberry had four sons,

1.       William, styled Earl of Drumlanrig, b 18 May 1696 and dvp 21 Oct 1696.

2.       James, later 3rd Marquess of Queensberry, in succession to his father as his father had a novodamus of the titles, except the Marquessate of Queensberry, dated 17 June 1706, with remainder to all those titles to his 3rd son, Charles, later 1st Earl of Solway as above, and also extending the remainder to the heirs male or female descended from William, 1st Earl of Queensberry. James was a maniac (which probably contributed to this special remainder) and died 17 Feb 1714/15, when the Marquessate of Queensberry etc passed to his younger brother, Charles.

3.       Charles, 1st Earl of Solway later 3rd Duke of Queensberry in succession to his father.

4.       George of Drumcrief; d 1725.

The Dukedom of Queensberry of course now passed to his 3rd son, Charles, 1st Earl of Solway now 3rd Duke of Queensberry and also became 2nd Duke of Dover in succession to his father. Upon his death 22 Oct 1778, the Dukedom of Dover etc became extinct, as did the Earldom of Solway etc. The Dukedom of Queensberry, alongside the Marquessate of Queensberry, passed to his cousin,

William Douglas, 3rd Earl of March. William was eldest son of William, 2nd Earl of March, by Lady Anne, 1st Countess of Ruglen suo jure (eldest dau of John Hamilton, 1st Earl of Ruglen later 3rd Earl of Selkirk, eldest son of William, 1st Earl of March, by Lady Jane, 2nd dau of John Hay, 1st Marquess of Tweeddale), who was 2nd s of William, 1st Duke of Queensberry as above. William was created Baron Douglas on 8 Aug 1786, and had succeeded his father as 3rd Earl of March on 7 March 1730/31 and his mother as 3rd Earl of Ruglen on 21 Apr 1748. He died unmarried 23 Dec 1810.

Upon his death, the Barony of Douglas and the Earldom of Ruglen became extinct.

The Earldom of March etc passed to the heir general of the 1st Earl of March, his 1st cousin-thrice-removed, Francis, 6th Earl of Wemyss and the Earldom of March has been held by them since.

The Marquessate of Queensberry (11 Feb 1681/82), Earldom of Queensberry (13 June 1633), Lordship of Douglas of Hawick and Tibbers and the Viscountcy of Drumlanrig (1 Apr 1628) passed to the heirs male of the 1st Marquess of Queensberry, his 4th cousin-once-removed, Sir Charles Douglas, 5th Bt.

The Dukedom of Queensberry, Marquessate of Dumfriesshire, Earldom of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Viscountcy of Nith, Torthorwald and Ross, Lordship of Douglas of Kilmount, Middlebie and Dornock (3 Nov 1684) passed to the heir general of the 1st Earl of Queensberry and the 2nd cousin-once-removed, Henry, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch. Henry was eldest son and heir of Francis, styled Earl of Dalkeith, eldest son and heir apparent of Francis, 2nd Duke of Buccleich, by his 1st wife, Lady Jane, 2nd dau of James, 2nd Duke of Queensberry as above.

S.S.

[Sam Marroy]

Yeah I've wondered about the Buccleuch courtesy title situation as well - I just always assumed there was a family reason for using Earl of Dalkeith rather than the marquessate, similar to how the Marquesses of Londonderry use Viscount Castlereagh instead of Earl Vane. Interestingly, Earl of Doncaster is their senior subsidiary earldom, but perhaps they don't use it because it was forfeit for several decades after the attainder of the Duke of Monmouth.

Choosing not to use Marquess of Dumfriesshire because of the existence of another similar title would make sense, although I can think of at least two examples where that is ignored - Duke of Richmond's heir uses Earl of March despite there being a substantive Earl of March (granted, the holder is now known as Earl of Wemyss and March since those two titles merged, but March was in use as a courtesy title when the Scottish earldom of March was still held independently) and the Duke of Abercorn's heir uses Marquess of Hamilton, despite there being a Duke of Hamilton. 

I guess the lesson is probably that with no hard and fast rules governing courtesy titles, each family is free to do things their own way and that will produce some quirks, which is half the fun of following this stuff. I'm a particular fan of the invented courtesy titles, like Lord Courteney for the Earl of Devon, the Earl of Glamorgan for the Duke of Beaufort, etc.

[Paul Theroff]

Here is a history of the Queensberry titles, up to the death of the 4th Duke, which I had posted in another thread a few months ago.
 

1. 1st Earl:

 Sir William Douglas of Drumlanrig was created 1 Apr 1628 Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tibberis, and on the same day was cr Viscount of Drumlanrig, Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tibberis. In 1633 he was cr Earl of Queensberry, Viscount of Drumlanrig, Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tiberris.

 
Subsequent timeline:


2. 2nd Earl:

The 1st Earl died 1640 and was suc by his son James, who was thus:

2nd Earl of Queensberry, Viscount of Drumlanrig, Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tiberris (cr 1633); and 2nd Viscount of Drumlanrig, Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tibberis. (Likely the two creations on the same day in 1628 should be treated as creating only one Barony of Douglas of Hawick and Tibberis.)

 

3. The 2nd Earl of Q died in 1671 and was suc by his son William, who thus became:

3rd Earl of Queensberry, Viscount of Drumlanrig, Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tiberris (cr 1633); and 3rd Viscount of Drumlanrig, Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tibberis. (cr 1628).

In 1682 he was created Marquess of Queensberry, Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Viscount of Nith, Torthorwald and Ross, Lord Douglas of Kinmont, Middlebie and Dornock.

In 1684 he was created Duke of Queensberry, Marquess of Dumfriesshire, Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Viscount of Nith, Torthorwald and Ross, Lord Douglas of Kinmont, Middlebie and Dornock.

 

4. The 1st Duke died in 1695 and was suc by his son James. Who thus became:

4th Earl of Queensberry, Viscount of Drumlanrig, Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tiberris (cr 1633); and 4th Viscount of Drumlanrig, Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tibberis. (cr 1628).

2nd Marquess of Queensberry, Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Viscount of Nith, Torthorwald and Ross, Lord Douglas of Kinmont, Middlebie and Dornock (cr 1682).

2nd Duke of Queensberry, Marquess of Dumfriesshire, Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Viscoiunt of Nith, Torthorwald and Ross, Lord Douglas of Kinmont, Middlebie and Dornock (cr 1684).

Then in 1705 he was created Duke of Dover, Marquess of Beverley and Baron Ripon.

In 1706 he resigned SOME of his titles and received a novodamus thereof, i.e. the titles of Duke of Queensberry, Marquess of Dumfriesshire, Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Viscount of Nith, Torthorwald and Ross, Lord Douglas of Kinmont, Middlebie and Dornock; that is, the titles created in 1684. However, his other titles remained as they were.

 

5. The 2nd Duke died in 1711, when the titles created in 1684, which were surrendered and re-granted in 1706, went to his second surviving son, Charles, while all the other titles went to his first surviving son, who was called an “idiot”, and who became de jure 3rd and 5th Earl Marquess of Queensberry, etc., until he died in 1715.

 

6. The 1684/1706 titles were inherited in 1711 by the second surviving son of the 2nd Duke, Charles, who thus became:

3rd Duke of Queensberry, Marquess of Dumfriesshire, Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Viscount of Nith, Torthorwald and Ross, Lord Douglas of Kinmont, Middlebie and Dornock (cr 1684; novodamus 1706).

And also: 2nd Duke of Dover, Marquess of Beverley and Baron Ripon.

In 1715 when his brother died, the 3rd Duke then became also:

6th Earl of Queensberry, Viscount of Drumlanrig, Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tiberris (cr 1633); and 4th Viscount of Drumlanrig, Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tibberis. (cr 1628).

4th Marquess of Queensberry, Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Viscount of Nith, Torthorwald and Ross, Lord Douglas of Kinmont, Middlebie and Dornock (cr 1682).

Furthermore the 3rd Duke had been created vp in 1707 Earl of Solway, Viscount of Tibberis, Lord Douglas of Lockerby, Dalveen and Thornhill.

Thus the 3rd Duke, from 1715, held two Dukedoms (Queensberry and Dover); three Marquessates: (Dumfriesshire, Beverley, and Queensberry); and the Earldoms of Queensberry, Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, and Solway.)

 

7. When the 3rd Duke died in 1778, the 1705 titles became extinct (Dover, Beverley and Ripon), as did the titles he had received in 1707 (Solway earldom and subsidiary titles).

He was suc by his cousin William Douglas, who had already inherited the earldoms of Ruglen and March from two different relatives, and thus was:

4th Duke of Queensberry, Marquess of Dumfriesshire, Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Viscount of Nith, Torthorwald and Ross, Lord Douglas of Kinmont, Middlebie and Dornock (cr 1684; novodamus 1706).

7th Earl of Queensberry, Viscount of Drumlanrig, Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tiberris (cr 1633); and 4th Viscount of Drumlanrig, Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tibberis. (cr 1628).

5th Marquess of Queensberry, Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Viscount of Nith, Torthorwald and Ross, Lord Douglas of Kinmont, Middlebie and Dornock (cr 1682).

3rd Earl of March, Viscount of Peebles, Lord Douglas of Neidpath, Lyne and Munard

3rd Earl of Ruglen

[Paul Theroff]

On the subject of similar titles existing at the same time, see lengthy discussions here (including the two Marches):

https://groups.google.com/g/peerage-news/c/DY-FGcEJI7o/m/aIXyGw3qAgAJ

https://groups.google.com/g/peerage-news/c/6YjDKwEbprg/m/QedywT6-AQAJ

[BREMENMURRAY]

There is the example of the Duke of Sutherland and the Earl of Sutherland

[BREMENMURRAY]

The late Marquess last came to national prominence just over two years ago when he fought off a thief in the street using a Judo move. As a great grandson of the Marquess of Queensberry known for giving his name to the codified rules of Boxing it caused comment the he used Judo but then he was a brown belt

[Richard R]

Obit in the Times of 30 July 2026:

E X T R A C T

Marquess of Queensberry obituary: Aristocratic ceramicist

Royal College of Art professor who lived through family tragedy and rubbed shoulders with Swinging Sixties set dies aged 96

David Douglas was playing cards with John Profumo in 1963 when the secretary of state for war learnt that his political career was about to end because of a sex scandal. David Queensberry, as the 12th Marquess of Queensberry was known professionally, was part of a Swinging Sixties set that included not only Profumo but also the photographers David Bailey and Patrick Lichfield and the artist David Hockney. He was also a designer and potter, and from 1959 to 1983 was professor of ceramics at the Royal College of Art.

The family was best known for his great-grandfather the 9th Marquess, who gave his name to the official rules of boxing in 1867 and many years later played a pivotal role in the downfall of Oscar Wilde having taken issue with the author’s homosexual relationship with his son Alfred “Bosie” Douglas. In February 1895 the marquess left a note on public display in the Albemarle Club declaring that Wilde was a “somdomite” (sic). Wilde sued for libel, but the case backfired and Wilde was convicted of gross indecency.

Queensberry remembered his father being visited by the impecunious Bosie, who was still betting on the horses until his death in 1945. “I think he was an awful fellow, extremely right-wing, antisemitic; there was nothing very good to be said about him,” he told The Times in 1995. “But I do think he was, in a minor way, quite a good poet.”…

… David Harrington Angus Douglas was born in Westminster in 1929, the younger of two children of Francis Douglas, 11th Marquess of Queensberry, Bosie’s stockbroker nephew, and his second wife, Cathleen Mann, a portrait artist; his sister, Jane, died in 2007. He had a half-sister, Patricia, from his father’s first marriage and a half-brother, Gawain, from his third marriage.

The family’s history dates back to medieval Scotland when Sir William Douglas died in the Tower of London in 1298 after fighting for William Wallace against the English. In 1633 another William Douglas was created Earl of Queensberry and in 1682 Charles II elevated the title to marquess. The 8th marquess shot himself in 1858 while hunting rabbits, one of his sons died climbing the Matterhorn and another cut his own throat with a razor in a London hotel. The 9th marquess was little loved by his family. He was once charged with affray after fighting in the street with his son, Queensberry’s grandfather, whom he spat at on his deathbed in 1900…

… Queensberry succeeded in the peerage in 1954, and made his maiden speech in the Lords in 1965 in support of reforming the law on homosexuality. Meanwhile, he embarked on a series of complicated romantic entanglements, marrying Ann Radford (née Jones), the actress Ann Queensberry, in 1956. They had two daughters, Emma, an artist, and Alice, a writer and theatre director who married an armed robber she met while volunteering in a prison. They also fostered a Nigerian boy.

During that time he also had a son, Ambrose Carey, from another relationship, though because they never married Ambrose, who founded a business intelligence consultancy, did not succeed in the titles. Ambrose’s half-sister, Carrie, married Salem bin Laden then, after his death in a plane crash in 1988, his brother Khaled. They were half-brothers of Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US.

… his first marriage was dissolved and in 1969 he married Alexandra Wyndham, a model. They had three sons, Sholto, Milo, who suffered from bipolar disorder and took his own life in 2009 aged 34, and Torquil, and a daughter, Kate, who once said: “Despite our 700-year heritage we are proud to be a very modern and ­gloriously dysfunctional family.” Sholto, known by the courtesy title Viscount Drumlanrig, had been born during Queensberry’s first marriage, but his succession as the 13th Marquess was assured by his parents’ subsequent marriage.

That too was dissolved and in 1999 Queensberry declared: “I’ve failed at marriage twice, so I’m disinclined to embark on it again.” The following year he married Hsueh-Chun Liao, a Taiwanese artist almost 40 years his junior with whom he already had a daughter, Beth, known as Ling Ling, a talented violinist. The so-called “Queensberry curse” struck again when Beth died in 2018, aged 18, after taking drugs at a Notting Hill party…

Professor David Queensberry (David Douglas), 12th Marquess of Queensberry and ceramicist, was born on December 19, 1929. He died on July 22, 2026, aged 96

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/marquess-of-queensberry-obituary-aristocratic-ceramicist-92dz7rcvv

[BREMENMURRAY]

By present day standards of the Times this is a very good obit. It not only gives his correct title but is published timeously and not two or three months late