Millionaire owner of Highland castle vows to take legal action against locals over luxury retreat plans

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A millionaire property tycoon given a police warning after a row with locals has vowed to take legal action against anyone who opposes her bid to turn a Highland castle into a playground for the world’s rich.

Samantha Kane, believed to be the only person in the UK to have changed gender three times, claimed she has faced discrimination and racism from locals intent on stopping her project.

Kane bought Carbisdale Castle in Sutherland for £1million and plans to sell memberships to a select group of wealthy tourists from the US and Middle East to use it as a luxury retreat.In an interview with the Sunday Mail, the 63-year-old London barrister said she is a “woman of the people” and wants locals to use the castle’s luxury spa and facilities – but only for 25 days a year.She said: “Unfortunately there are many stories about my three gender changes so it’s made me more of an outsider in a remote part of the Highlands – as if I’m somebody who’s just landed from Mars.

I find people have an element of mistrust of an outsider or that ‘she’s different from us’.“This is not everyone but there are half a dozen people who have approached me with some menace and communication which I find racist and related to hate but they are influencing friends and others.”Since buying the historic site in August, the Iraq-born lawyer has styled herself 'Lady Carbisdale' and said she will spend £20million restoring the 118-year-old former youth hostel before it opens as a members-only hotel in March.