A Scots aristocrat who abandoned a playboy lifestyle to lead a quiet life as a farmer has left a £41 million fortune in his will.
James Carnegie, the 3rd Duke of Fife, gave up his love of fast cars, women and celebrity friends to breed cattle at his Scottish estate.
As a young man he was never far away from the headlines as one of the most eligible bachelors in Britain with rumours of a romance with Prince Margaret and a relationship with the British skiing champion Divina Galica.
However he later described himself as the “most low-profile Duke in the land” and said: “I’ll bet you that 95 per cent of those living in Fife have no idea that a Duke of Fife exists.”
The Duke, a second cousin of the Queen and great-grandson of King Edward VII, passed away aged 85 in June last year.
His recently published will reveals he had an estate valued at £41,676,688 at the time of his death.
His fortune included various farms and pieces of land in Kincardineshire and Aberdeenshire which are worth more than £27 million.
He also had furniture and personal belongings valued at £11 million, a £2.5million shares portfolio and farming equipment and livestock worth £1million.
In his will, the Duke instructed that his estate should be held in trust for the benefit of his two children.
He was brought up close to the Royal family’s Balmoral estates at Elsick House, Stonehaven, Kincardineshire. A friend of the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret from childhood, he would often attend birthday parties at Balmoral.
He always wanted to be a farmer, however, and after leaving Gordonstoun he studied at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester.
After graduating he had a number of glamourous roles including running a film production company and a wine and cigar firm in London’s Pall Mall.
A keen sportsman, the Duke also served as president of the Amateur Boxing Association from 1959 to 1963 and was also involved with the West Ham Boys’ Club.
He liked fast cars – Bentleys particularly – and competed in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1955 as a member of the Ford team. He was a vice-president of the British Olympic Association and vice patron of the Braemar Royal Highland Society.
He married Caroline Dewar, heir to the Dewar whisky empire in 1956, and the couple had two children but divorced in 1966.
He returned to his first love of farming and his Scottish estates included 1,000 acres at Elsick, near Aberdeen.
He bred Angus bulls and for many years was a familiar figure at the Braemar Games, where he welcomed the Queen and royal family.
The Duke spent his last years at the family’s home at Kinnaird Castle in Brechin, Angus.
His son David Carnegie has succeeded him as the 4th Duke of Fife and the 13th Earl of Southesk.