Rachel Reeves humiliated as UK castle declares itself 'new micronation' over high taxes

Rachel Reeves' tax reforms on non-doms have led a millionaire businesswoman to declare a "micronation" at her castle home in protest. Dr Ann Kaplan Mulholland, 64, arrived at her "coronation" at Lympne Castle, Hithe, Kent, in a horse-drawn carriage.

The former reality TV star whose net worth is reported to be £500million was accompanied by drag queens and a retinue of people dressed up as cardinals, yeomen and beefeaters. Dr Kaplan Mulholland and her husband, plastic surgery tycoon, Dr Stephen Mulholland, later waved down at the "subjects" from a turret at the medieval pile.

A former star of The Real Housewives of Toronto, self-made millionaire Dr Kaplan Mulholland founded the small loans company, iFinance. She and Dr Mulholland moved to Britain in 2022.

The couple proclaimed their home a "micronation" to draw attention to the exodus of wealth fuelled by the Chancellor's non-domicile tax reforms.

A resident of the UK whose permanent home is maintained outside the country for tax purposes is known as a "non-dom", in reference to their tax status.

Non-doms pay tax only on money they make in the UK and not on money made elsewhere in the world unless it's paid into a bank account in Britain.

In her maiden Budget in October last year, Ms Reeves announced non-dom status would be scrapped from April and replaced with a residence based regime.

This year Britain is projected to lose 16,500 high-net-worth individuals, according to Henley Private Wealth's Migration Report.

Forth Capital said this is being driven by new tax regulations, changing rules around residency and geopolitical shifts.

Entrepreneur, Dr Kaplan Mulholland, told the Telegraph she built her "dream life" in Britain, but it didn't make any sense to remain now she and her husband face paying tax on their overseas income.

She said: "We could have gone to Dubai or Switzerland or the Bahamas. But we chose England. We pay tax in England, we employ people, we invested in this country."

In April, Dr Kaplan Mulholland told The Times she and her husband would move to Italy. She told the same publication the couple's decision to move to the UK three years ago wasn't only because of the tax status, but also because her mother was English. She also studied in Britain.