Heir of Macbeth loses legal battle in Cawdor castle feud

The latest episode in a "regrettable" family feud between an earl descended from Macbeth and his stepmother saw him handed an ultimatum yesterday over his occupancy of Cawdor castle.

Angelika Ilona, the dowager Countess Cawdor, wanted Colin Robert Vaughan Campbell, the 7th Earl of Cawdor and 25th Thane, evicted from the castle near Nairn.

Yesterday the judge stopped short of removing the 39-year-old Lord Cawdor but agreed that he had broken the condition that it could not be used as a family home.

The Scottish Highland seat was left to the dowager in 1993 by her late husband, the earl's father. She occupied an apartment and leased it to Cawdor Castle (Tourism) Ltd, which opens it up to the public. The countess's bid for an interim order giving her possession of the property centred around claims that Lord Cawdor had breached the terms of the lease granted to the company, of which he is a director.

At the Court of Session in Edinburgh, Lord Osborne heard that the countess acted after the earl and his young family, who had been living in a nearby farmhouse, moved into the castle while she was on holiday in the USA.

Craig Sandison, for the dowager countess, alleged that there had been five breaches of the lease, including the 6th earl's son from his first marriage putting a valuable collection of art at the castle at risk by not setting a burglar alarm.

Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw QC, for Lord Cawdor, claimed that the countess was no longer entitled to stay in the castle after resigning from the board of the tourism company.

Yesterday Lord Osborne agreed that three of the five alleged breaches had been established. These were that the security system had not been set, that Lady Cawdor, as landlord, had not been allowed access to the property and that the castle had been used as a family home. In the case of the third breach, the judge said that this would mean the earl's children and brother-in-law move out of the property.

Yesterday she said she was satisfied with the result but called the affair a "regrettable feud". Lord Cawdor said he would not "let matters rest".