Actor Kit Harington has successfully saved his wife Rose Leslie's ancestral Scottish castle from financial collapse after stepping in with a rescue loan.
The 39-year-old Game of Thrones star provided emergency funding to help protect the historic 801-acre Wardhill Castle estate in Aberdeenshire, where he and Leslie, also 39, held their wedding reception in 2018.
Official documents published this week confirm that the legal effort to stop the financial winding-up of the business behind the estate has succeeded, granting a permanent sist, a Scottish legal term that permanently halts liquidation proceedings.
The ruling lifts the immediate threat hanging over the 800-year-old family estate following Harington's financial intervention.
Wardhill Castle liquidation halted
The financial rescue comes after liquidators were appointed to the business behind Wardhill Castle in February, following a period in which the company struggled to pay its debts and was subsequently ordered by a court to be wound up.
The Mail on Sunday revealed last weekend that Harington, who has an estimated fortune of £10 million, had injected cash into the enterprise to buy the family breathing space while they attempted to halt the liquidation process altogether.
The undisclosed sum was provided as a loan alongside funding from Leslie's brother-in-law, William Wills, who is married to her younger sister, Portia. Both Harington and Wills lent money to the business while it was in liquidation, using the estate's assets as security for the loans.
While the latest legal development does not necessarily mean every outstanding debt has been cleared, the permanent sist marks a dramatic turnaround for the historic property.
History of the 800-year-old Aberdeenshire estate
Wardhill Castle is one of the oldest privately owned estates in Scotland and has remained in Leslie's family for more than eight centuries.
The oldest sections of the sprawling turreted property date back to the 1300s, with successive generations adding to the grand architectural structure over the centuries.
In 2014, Leslie's brother William Leslie, 43, and his wife Sarah took over management of the estate and launched an ambitious refurbishment programme intended to help the vast residence pay its way.
The couple converted parts of the property into luxury holiday accommodation and opened the castle as a commercial venue for private stays, weddings, and country shooting parties. Sarah Leslie previously acknowledged the steep financial demands of maintaining the estate, noting that it is a very expensive property to maintain.
Kit Harington and Rose Leslie wedding
The estate gained international attention in June 2018 when Harington and Leslie chose it as the backdrop for their high-profile wedding.
The couple, who met while playing doomed lovers Jon Snow and Ygritte on the HBO hit fantasy drama series Game of Thrones before starting a real-life romance, married at nearby Rayne Church before hosting a lavish reception at Wardhill.
The star-studded celebration was attended by several of their Game of Thrones co-stars, including Emilia Clarke, Sophie Turner, and Maisie Williams. The couple now have two children together.
Leslie has previously spoken fondly of her childhood home, describing Wardhill as "the home I was incredibly happy in" and recalling the joy of marrying "the love of my life" there surrounded by friends and family.
Recalling the celebrations in the castle grounds, Leslie noted that because the reception was hosted at home in the garden, guests carried on all night, adding that her mother was still on the table at 4am.
The publicity surrounding their wedding helped showcase Wardhill as a premier luxury events venue. Today, the estate is available for private venue hire and weddings, offering country pursuits such as clay pigeon shooting, archery, and foraging.
Previous financial support for family properties
Harington's financial intervention at Wardhill is not the first time he and Leslie have stepped in to support her family through difficulties involving their historic real estate.
Leslie's father, Sebastian Leslie, previously owned nearby Lickleyhead Castle, another prominent Aberdeenshire estate, but lost possession of the property following severe financial problems.
Sebastian Leslie later confirmed that his daughter and son-in-law provided financial assistance during that period, stating that Rose and Kit helped financially and were very generous, though he declined to disclose the exact sum.
While Lickleyhead Castle is currently back on the market for offers over £1.15 million, Harington's recent intervention at Wardhill Castle appears to have secured a far more positive outcome for the Leslie family's flagship ancestral home.
