Tragedies dating back to Dark Ages
THE ‘curse of the Queensberrys’ dates back to the Scotland of the Dark Ages, when Sir William Douglas died in the Tower of London in 1298 after fighting for William Wallace against the English.
His son, Sir James Douglas, a confidant of Robert the Bruce, died in 1330 taking his dead leader’s heart on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
The family were created earls in 13 8. The 2nd earl died at the Battle of Otterburn in 1388, and the 4th earl was killed four years later in the Battle of Homildon Hill.
William Douglas, 9th of Drumlanrig, was created the 1st Earl of Queensberry in 1633, originally seated at Kinmount House in Cummertrees, Dumfriesshire. The title was elevated to marquess by Charles II in 1681.
In 18 8, the 8th marquess shot himself dead with his own gun while hunting rabbits. Two of his sons also died violent deaths.
In 189 , the writer and wit Oscar Wilde was jailed for gross indecency after a legal battle with the 9th marquess, whose son Lord Alfred Douglas, nicknamed ‘Bosie’, was Wilde’s lover.
The current 12th marquess, David Harrington Angus Douglas, has married three times. Caroline Carey, half-sister of his illegitimate son Ambrose Carey, married Salem Bin Laden, a brother of terrorist Osama. When he died in a plane crash, she married another brother, Khaled.
In 199 , the 12th marquess’s daughter Lady Alice Douglas married Simon Melia, an armed robber she met while holding a drama workshop at a prison. They divorced after he cheated on her.