William and Daniel Downey were photographers based in Newcastle upon Tyne and London. Queen Victoria was first photographed 'by a very good photographer Downey, from Newcastle' on 22 September 1866 (RA QVJ). W. & D. Downey established studios in London at 6 Ebury Street (1872 – 8), and subsequently at 51 Ebury Street (1879) and 57 Ebury Street (1880 – 90), although much of their printing and finishing was still completed in Newcastle. They became known for their photography of members of the Royal Family and other society figures. The firm continued to operate after the death of its founder, Daniel Downey, in July 1881, and in 1896 Queen Victoria and her family 'were all photographed by Downey by the new cinematograph process, which makes moving pictures by winding off a reel of films' (RA QVJ: 3 October 1896).

This image is based on a three-quarter-length photograph of the Duke and Duchess of Fife by W. & D. Downey dating from c.1911, shortly before the Duke's ill-fated expedition to Egypt. The Duke of Fife wears the uniform of a colonel in the 1st Banff Volunteer Artillery Corps, the ribbon and star of the Order of the Thistle, badge of the Royal Victorian Order, the Royal Victorian chain and medal bar.

Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, was the only son of James Duff, 5th Earl of Fife, and Lady Agnes Georgiana Hay, whose mother was a natural daughter of William IV. He married, in 1889, Princess Louise of Wales, eldest daughter of the Prince and Princess of Wales. He died from a fever contracted after the ship in which the family was sailing to Egypt ran aground in January 1912.

Signed along lower right-hand edge in black paint: DOWNEY.