The owners of Scotland's major estates have received more than £1.5 billion in European Union subsidies over the last three years.

Grants worth hundreds of thousands of pounds have been awarded to farms and sporting estates.

The Castle of Mey estate in Caithness, the former home of the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, received more than £65,000 towards the building of a visitor centre.

Mohammed Fayed's sporting estate near Inverness was given £238,000, and the Strathmore Farming Company that maintains Glamis Castle, the home of the 18th Earl of Strathmore, received more than £800,000.

According to Scottish government figures, the vast majority of grants - about £1.1 billion - were paid under the Single Farm Payment subsidy scheme.

the scheme has been criticised by taxpayers' groups who say that public money should not be used to subsidise the farming interests of wealthy landowners.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "It's totally unfair that ordinary taxpayers are subsidising some of the wealthiest people in the land.

"These payments were meant to keep poor farmers above the poverty line, not swell the coffers of royals and business magnates.

"It's high time the EU stopped squandering our money. At the height of the credit crunch, plenty of taxpayers need this money more than these landowners."