THE only life-sized portrait of John Brown, Queen Victoria's faithful Highland servant, was bought for #292,312 last night by Mrs Ann Gloag, executive director of Stagecoach and Britain's second-highest paid woman, writes Amelia Hill.
The picture was bought during the bi-annual Christie's auction in Edinburgh's Assembly Rooms and reached almost three times its expected price.
Under the opulent chandeliers of the ballroom, an audience watched silently as Mrs Gloag and an anonymous telephone bidder - rumoured to be either Dame Judi Dench or Billy Connolly - locked horns.
Brief applause greeted the finale as the phone bidder conceded defeat and Mrs Gloag, who has a personal fortune of at least #600m, grinned in relief and rose rather shakily to her feet.
A collection of other memorabilia collected during the unlikely friendship between the Queen and the gillie remained unsold after reserve prices failed to be reached.
Brown's portrait will be hung at Beaufort Castle in Beauly, near Dingwall, the ancestral home of the Lovat Frasers recently bought by Mrs Gloag for an estimated #1.3m.
''I'm absolutely thrilled,'' she said after the sale was concluded.
''It was painful to spend that much money, but I think it's nice that a picture with that history should find a home in a Scottish castle.''
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