A Swiss court has rejected a bid from a woman and her daughter to have the name of a 16th-century Scottish castle added to their surname.
The Hong Kong-based family, who have dual Swiss-Russian nationality, wanted the suffix ‘of Glenbuchat’ tacked on to the end of their name after purchasing the Aberdeenshire tower house earlier this year.
However, judges in Zurich knocked back the appeal as it would have contravened laws laid down in the Swiss constitution governing noble titles.
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It was the third time lawmakers had heard an appeal from the family after previous rulings in Switzerland’s local and regional courts.
The late-medieval castle was built in 1590 for John Gordon of Cairnbarrow, a branch of the Gordon family who held most of the land in the area.
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It was sold in 1738 before being handed over to the state in the late 1940s.
Zurich lawmakers ruled it was not enough that Chinese and Russian authorities had ruled the name change valid, citing rules on the addition of royal denominations.
Switzerland has famously strict laws on the changing of names, which are only allowed for “important reasons,” such a marriage or divorce, or if the name is the cause of significant suffering to the person.
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