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Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, 11th Duke of Brandon, was born in Pimlico, London, England. Before succeeding his father as the Duke of Hamilton and Hereditary Keeper of Holyroodhouse, he was a prominent Conservative Member of the British Parliament. He was Lord Steward of the Royal Household from 1940 to 1964.
Educated at Eton and Balliol College at Oxford, he became interested in flying at an early age and served in the Auxilliary Air Force as a Squadron Commander from 1927 to 1936. He piloted the first flight over Mount Everest in 1932 and was instrumental in the birth of Scottish Aviation Ltd (now part of BAE SYSTEMS).
In 1937, Douglas-Hamilton married the daughter of the Duke of Northumberland.
Later, during World War II he was responsible for air defense in Scotland and took command of the Air Training Corps.
On May 10 1941, Rudolf Hess, deputy to Adolf Hitler, flew to Scotland in hopes of negotiating peace between Germany and Britain. Winston Churchill, was dubious of Hess' motives and Hess was imprisoned until his death.
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