Inside the strange online business that offers to make you a Lord or Lady for £30
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The first thing Doug Wilson, the CEO of Highland Titles, brings up in our interview is a spot of bother he got into with the Advertising Standards Authority about 10 years ago. A man – ‘not a well man’, as Doug puts it – reached out to the ASA to say the company had fooled him into thinking he had bought a seat in the House of Lords.
![[Inside the bizarre world of lordship titles you can buy online]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_234830204-ac05-e1735904417376.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ he remembers telling the watchdog. ‘We said, you spent £30 on a gift website here. We’re plenty clear enough about what you get.’. Highland Titles is one of a small number of fairly lucrative businesses that offer regular Joe and Jane Bloggs the opportunity to declare themselves a Lord, Lady or Laird.
![[Inside the bizarre world of lordship titles you can buy online]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_234830207-f8a1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
It’s all centred on the very real concept of souvenir plots of land – very smallpatches of countryside, usually in Scotland, that are sold to people around the world along with a certificate giving them a highfalutin title. To be very clear, the sale does not confer legal ownership, legal privileges or legal anything else. Essentially, it just means your name is put on a register maintained by the company in question, informally attached to the piece of land in question.
![[GLASTONBURY, ENGLAND - JUNE 29: Cyndi Lauper performs on The Pyramid Stage during day four of Glastonbury Festival 2024 at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 29, 2024 in Glastonbury, England. Founded by Michael Eavis in 1970, Glastonbury Festival features around 3,000 performances across over 80 stages. Renowned for its vibrant atmosphere and iconic Pyramid Stage, the festival offers a diverse lineup of music and arts, embodying a spirit of community, creativity, and environmental consciousness. (Photo by Harry Durrant/Getty Images)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_225949655-ce9b-e1735904493749.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
‘If you bought one from us, you can’t then build on it,’ said Doug. ‘You wouldn’t have the right, you couldn’t get planning permission. ‘Obviously it would never happen, but if there was someone who came along and was standing on your plot and refusing to move, you wouldn’t be able to legally make them move because you’re not the registered landowner.’.
