One of Britain’s richest women, she has spent £2million defending herself against allegations made by seven people in 2020. They were all young men and women she had supported to come to the UK from east Africa on educational scholarships.

But then in 2020, Dame Ann caught a self-employed cleaner stealing cash from her handbag. The woman was from the same Kenyan ethnic group as most of the other complainants. She was told to leave the castle but – in what she now admits was a mistake – Dame Ann did not report her to the police.

She told the Daily Mail: “He was asking strange questions about me: Was I bad to her? Did I feed her? Did I allow her to leave the house? She told him he was being ridiculous and that I had only ever taken care of her. The detective didn’t want to talk to her after that.”

Within weeks of her 80th birthday, she was questioned for eight hours at Falkirk Police Station where she was particularly upset by a female officer who “insinuated I’d tried to paint myself as a Mother Teresa all these years”.

‘None of it made any sense’

“That was the first time I became aware of what was being said – stuff like, ‘you didn’t feed them’ and ‘they were not free to move around’. The hardest part was having to say ‘no comment’. I was dying to say they had a bus pass and got an air fare home each year. They’d be expected to muck in like my grandkids do – clean up after themselves, take the dog out, lock the doors at night, put the lights out. I don’t think that’s unreasonable.

“If they couldn’t get part-time work, they’d get pocket money for helping with chores such as bringing in logs or helping out in the garden. So, where was the cheap labour?”

“None of it made any sense,” she added. “Even without their accommodation, laptops, winter clothes and stuff, their university fees were between £6,000 and £12,000 a year and their visas more than £1,000.

“If you’re a trafficker you do it to make money, don’t you? Well, I must be the biggest failed trafficker there is because I spent a fortune supporting people to come here. My track record in business isn’t exactly poor is it? Do you think if I was a trafficker I’d have thought – after doing the sums – that was a good deal?”

All the charges were dropped last month but Dame Ann said her reputation has been “forever damaged” by the four-year police inquiry. She claims detectives ignored evidence from people who had benefited from her kindness and her charitable foundation.

She said: “While there is a presumption that every accusation is true, the principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ is turned on its head and every person’s liberty stands at risk. I fully support the police and prosecutors doing their jobs but justice must be guided by common sense, or it becomes a weapon that threatens the innocent as much as the guilty.

“I have been judged in the court of public opinion and found myself unable to speak to defend myself. I was forced to stand by and watch as my life’s work, my family, and my name were tarnished.”

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said that it dealt “with every case on its own individual facts and circumstances and takes action where it assesses there is sufficient admissible evidence that a crime has been committed and it is in the public interest to do so”.

Police Scotland said that all complaints were investigated and a report was submitted to the procurator fiscal.