Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 8th Duke of Buccleuch

Walter John Montagu Douglas Scott, 8th Duke of Buccleuch and 10th Duke of Queensberry, KT, GCVO, TD, PC (30 December 1894 – 4 October 1973) was a Scottish peer and Conservative politician. He was the son of John Montagu Douglas Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch and Lady Margaret Alice "Molly" Bridgeman. His sister, Alice, married Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (one of the paternal uncles of Queen Elizabeth II) in 1935, becoming a member of the British Royal Family.

Montagu Douglas Scott was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, and had a military career commanding the 4th King's Own Scottish Borderers. He was also Captain-General of the Royal Company of Archers.

As Earl of Dalkeith, Scott was Scottish Unionist Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire from 1923 until 1935, when he succeeded as Duke of Buccleuch and Duke of Queensberry. He was succeeded as MP for the constituency by his brother, Lord William Scott. According to Cowling, he met German ambassador Joachim von Ribbentrop in London. Seen as pro-German, he was compelled to 'resign' as Lord Steward by King George VI.

Scott inaugurated a racist campaign against workers in the British Honduran Forestry Unit who had come to Scotland to help in the war effort. He complained that not only were the workers lazy but was also concerned that some had married local women. Harold Macmillan, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies replied to his complaints suggesting that the problem was more the extreme cold the Hondurans encountered – quite different from their tropical homeland.

He married Vreda Esther Mary Lascelles, granddaughter of William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans, on 21 April 1921. They had three children, sixteen grandchildren, forty-four great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren:

• Lady Elizabeth Diana Montagu Douglas Scott (20 January 1922 – 19 September 2012) she married Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland on 12 June 1946. They have seven children and seventeen grandchildren.
• Walter Francis John Montagu Douglas Scott, 9th Duke of Buccleuch (28 September 1923 – 4 September 2007) he married Jane McNeill on 10 January 1953. They have four children, ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
• Lady Caroline Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott (7 November 1927 – 17 October 2004) she married Sir Ian Gilmour, 3rd Baronet on 10 July 1951. They have five children, and seventeen grandchildren:
  • Sir David Robert Gilmour, 4th Bt (born 14 November 1952) he married Sarah Anne Bradstock on 27 September 1975. They have four children.
  • The Honourable Oliver John Gilmour (born 18 December 1953) he married Hon. Katherine Grenfell in 1981 and they were divorced in 1985. They have two children:
    • Natalia Claire Gilmour (born 1981)
    • Marco Oliver Gilmour (born 1988)
  • The Honourable Christopher Simon Gilmour (born 22 September 1956) he married Mardi Haynes in 1992. They have three daughters:
    • Leonora Rose Bonnie Gilmour (born 1993)
    • Gabriella Holly Gilmour (born 1994)
    • Christobel Gilmour (born 2000)
  • The Honourable Jane Victoria Gilmour (born 22 March 1959) she married Hon. Peter John Pleydell-Bouverie in June 1986. They have four children:
    • Timothy Pleydell-Bouverie (born 1987)
    • Jamie Pleydell-Bouverie (born 1989)
    • Lara Caroline Pleydell-Bouverie (1993)
    • Clara Anne Pleydell-Bouverie (1993)
  • The Honourable Andrew James Gilmour (born 22 March 1964) he married Emma Williams in 1991. They have four children:
    • Archie John Ludo Gilmour (born 1993)
    • Xan Gilmour (born 20 November 1996)
    • Catriona Jane Victoria Gilmour (born 1999)
    • Sholto Gilmour (born 2001)

He died on 4 October 1973 and was buried among the ruins of Melrose Abbey.

Maurice Cowling, The Impact of Hitler - British Politics & Policy 1933–1940, Cambridge University Press, 1975, p. 403, ISBN 0-521-20582-4