Why are Americans buying up our castles?

You might think someone who grew up in the 356-room Belvoir Castle wouldn’t be too worried by a traffic fine. But when Lady Eliza Manners was caught speeding, she avoided paying off the full £100 ticket by claiming ‘financial hardship’. And apparently she’s not the only budget-conscious occupant of the Leicestershire property. Her mother Emma, the Duchess of Rutland, recently claimed she shops in Asda.

While it might be hard for those on the actual breadline to sympathise with the troubles of the titled and entitled, such states of affairs do stand to some sort of reason. If you think heating your two-bed home has become an expensive business, try being Julie Montagu, Viscountess Hinchingbrooke, whose electricity bill at Mapperton House in Dorset has tripled in the past 12 months to hit £45,000 a year. ‘I can’t put into words how much work is involved in maintaining these historic houses,’ Montagu, who has blisters all over her hands, tells me.