She initially wrote to Earl Spencer requested the use of his Althorp estate in Northamptonshire where Princess Diana is buried. Skibo was apparently the first choice of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones, however. But an injudicious leak to the Press convinced the couple to move their nuptuals to the Plaza Hotel in New York. Media spotlight Luckily for Dornoch, Madonna seems more relaxed about Press attention. When she arrived at Inverness Airport on Monday there were more than 100 journalists already awaiting her arrival.
Scottish law requires banns to be posted outside the local church within two weeks of a wedding.
But many will have to decamp to Inverness, which is about 40 miles away. It is to be a thoroughly modern ceremony with the couple writing their own vows. The Rev Susan Brown, a charismatic coal miner's daughter who will be officiating, is the first woman to take charge of a British cathedral. Canny Scots cash in The remote seaside town of Dornoch is used to celebrity visitors who frequently jet in to visit Skibo Castle. But they tend to be discreet.