The British company Highland Titles is selling land arc in Scotland with the aim of protecting the environment. The purchasers of these small plots also earn the right to call themselves lords or women, the company promises. But are these nobility titles real?
A huge lake surrounded by forests, which is at the foot of the mountains of the west of Scotland. Welcome to the Glencoe Wood Nature Reserve, just three hours drive north of the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh.
For a nominal sum of 36 euros, it is possible to buy “square feet” or 0.09 square meters of it. As a bonus, buyers earn the title of nobility in the United Kingdom, or the right to call themselves Lord of Glencoe, as its female counterpart.
At least the promises British Company Highland Title, Which sells, on its website, for these lands and these titles. Objective: To protect the environment, as per the newspaper report The release .
Owner in Scotland, really?
The Highland title story begins in 2006. Dr. Peter Beavis, a British zoologist now retired, and his daughter Laura decided to sell plots of family land in Scotland “Finance plantation” In the field, as explained Company Website. They want to “Restore lands ravaged by centuries of agricultural and commercial logging”, We still study.
These plots are sold in these wild lands of the Highlands region. “Construction finance of many nature reserves in Scotland”, Always according to the company. The company has two: one in Glencoe Wood, and the other in Mountain View, north of the area. this is It is impossible to build anything on this land, And the largest piece of land offered for sale by the company (for 180 euros) is just over 9 square meters.
Fifteen years after the creation of the Highland title, more than 300,000 people have taken advantage of it The release.
It should be noted that those who buy this land do not actually own it. The company writes it in black and white, in French, at the feet of various pages of its website. By getting these, “You get a personal right to a souvenir parcel of land. It is a form of property transferred to your descendants. Highland Title remains registered owner and manages the land on your behalf »
“A title of nobility cannot be purchased”
What about the sects of Swami or Woman? He said, “It is important that this is a courtesy title. You can’t go to heathrow [le principal aéroport de Londres, NdlR] And ask to meet the queenAustralian Daily’s Highland Titles Director of Sales and Marketing Stephen Rossiter explained The Daily Telegraph , in 2014.
Also on this subject, the company specifies: “You are called Laird, Lord or Lady by us and within our community of over 200,000 people [vraisemblablement une référence au nombre de personnes qui ont « acquis » des arpents de terre, NdlR]. Note that you cannot buy the title of nobility. It is only for your pleasure ”.
“We can’t sell you a title. We are informing you of your right to use the title of Laird, Lord or Lady of Glencoe or Lokhbar, a brand name registered by the Highland Title. “, Further specifies company.
“For an accredited title, it must be approved by the College of Arms of Scotland [la Cour du Lord Lyon, l’autorité héraldique de l’Écosse, NdlR]. This is not the case here “Confirmed, the Belgian historian François Bales RTBF, French-speaking Belgian radio-television in 2016.
In Scotland “really” become God, always explained to Elizabeth Rhodes, a costly process in the Agence France-Presse (AFP), 2018, in the court of Elizabeth Rhodes, Curator of Lord Lyons.
“We do it just for fun”
Beyond the fictional nature or not of these titles, the Highland title continues Its actions to protect the environment, In its reserves in rural Scotland. Company ensures List of species that live there “ Increases year by year. “. The company also states that it carries out charitable operations in Scotland.
And “owners”, what do they expect from these purchases? “There are those who think on the basis of what they say that they have the right to call themselves God and ask for a coat of arms, which is not the case”, Explained Elizabeth Rhodes to AFP in 2018.
But few of them are well aware of the various implications of these online transactions and the ecological approach that runs through them. Steven Sholay, a 73-year-old Dutch buyer visiting Glencoe Wood Reserve, also told AFP: “We’re just for a laugh. It belongs to the community of good people who are trying to make the world a better place. “.