Carbisdale Castle: Highland 'Castle of Spite' for sale for £5m amid claims of prejudice against trans owner

Samantha Kane, a barrister, said it was time to put Carbisdale Castle at Ardgay, Sutherland, up for sale given the restoration of the pile was now complete.

Shesaid that finishing the work on the castle had been her number one priority and that it was time to return to London to "put my wig on and go back and attend to my clients”.

Ms Kane bought the pile in 2022 claiming she was now a “princess in her own castle” but the barrister has now spoken about “hurtful comments” made locally about her gender identity.

The pile became known as the “Castle of Spite” after it was built by an aristocrat’s widow following a bitter row over her late husband’s will.

Ms Kane, 64, said: “It has been a labour of love mostly. But when people sit in their bedrooms writing on social media they have to realise the effect that has on some people. I really have been quite hurt by comments on my gender identity, so now I think it just needs someone, for a better word, “normal” to take over.

“It is such a special place but I did suffer some prejudice and I think probably the Highlands is not ready for a transgender owner of the castle. It needs someone else to protect its future.

“But I came here to a near ruined castle and have restored it to its former glory, so I’ve done the job I said I was going to do.

“It’s really such an important landmark and my main concern is to see it preserved and to see it respected.’

She said there were “a lot of great people in the community” and stressed the “actions of one or two people should not reflect the whole community”.

But Ms Kane added: “Unfortunately if you have one or two very active and very vocal people trying to make it all personal... and comments on social media calling me a man and this and that, it really hurt me and I can do without that.”

Carbisdale Castle, which has 19 bedrooms, is being sold by Strutt & Parker with a price guide of £5m.

It was built in the early 1900s for Mary Caroline, Duchess of Sutherland, the second wife of George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland, following a family row over his inheritance.

Eventually, a financial settlement as reached and the family agreed to build the Dowager Duchess a new castle – as long as it sat outside the Sutherland Estate boundary.

The Dowager built it on the most prominent hillside site just outside the estate, with her new home overlooking her former family’s land and railway line.

The castle tower has clocks on only three sides with the side facing her late husband’s estate intentionally left blank. It is claimed this is because she did not want to give the family the “time of day”.