A Highland castle put up for sale by Perth Stagecoach entrepreneur Dame Ann Gloag could end up back in the hands of its original owners, it has emerged.
An obscure legal clause means the original owners of Beaufort Castle must be given a chance to buy it before any other interested parties can submit an offer.
Stagecoach tycoon Dame Ann, who is one of Scotland’s richest women with an estimated £1 billion fortune, bought the Baronial mansion as a private residence for £1.3 million.
She recently put the 26-bedroom home near Beauly, Inverness, on the market for £7.5m, hoping to swell her already considerable wealth by making a £6.2m profit.
Dame Ann Gloag ‘strongly denies’ human trafficking charges
The public notice of the sale came five months after she was charged in connection with an investigation into alleged human trafficking and immigration offences.
She has “strongly disputed” the claims.
In addition to the main house, Beaufort Castle includes a chapel, six residential cottages and 127 acres of associated woodland, pasture and arable land.
The sales advert on Rightmove adds that additional land is available for “further potential residential and recreational development opportunities”.
Why Dame Ann Gloag’s castle could return to former owners
However, a clause written into the sales contract which Dame Ann agreed when she bought the property and lands in 1994 means Simon Fraser, the 18th Lord Lovat, must be given first refusal.
Lord Lovat confirmed he had the privilege of deciding whether to accept or reject the Baronial style mansion, built as the Clan seat in 1880 but dating back to the 12th century, before it is offered to other prospective buyers.
Responding to news of the sale, he said the price would need to be “considerably lower” for him to be interested.
Beaufort Castle link to The Longest Day
He added that the holdings on sale did not include the whole estate, which comprises 900 acres of land.
For him to be persuaded, he said, “it would have to be all or nothing”.
Beaufort Castle was the ancestral home of the Lovat family and the birthplace of war hero Shimi Lovat, the 15th Lord Lovat.
His bravery during D-Day – when he led troops onto the Normandy beaches accompanied by his piper – was commemorated in the film The Longest Day.
Just before his death in 1995 his son and heir, Simon, died of a heart attack leaving debts of £7m and prompting the family to sell the estate to pay inheritance taxes.
