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Applegate Castle is the home of the 17th Lord Applegate, a cousin of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Elizabeth II of England. The castle is located on the border of Sweden and Norway overlooking the town of Mætållisøft and is the seat of a large and influential lordship that spreads across Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Applegate Castle is most famous as the focal point of the Applegate Affair which brought down the government of Sweden and briefly reverted the country to an absolute monarchy. The Applegate Affair is centered around the theft of documents from the offices of the Swedish Secret Service concerning a plot to asassinate the King and invade Finland. Several high ranking government officials including the prime minister were arrested and jailed for treason, bringing down the government. The King stepped in to take control of the country while the former government was being purged of plotters and appointed Lord Applegate as his prime minister. It was at a reception hosted at Applegate Castle held for the Libyan Ambassador to Sweden that Lord Applegate announced that he had obtained the stolen documents and proceeded to name those involved in the plot. A new government was elected after approximately 2 weeks and Lord Applegate took up a post as the head of the newly reformed Swedish Secret Service. Lord Applegate lived for a short time in Philadelphia in the United States before being expelled for espionage. Lord Applegate was indicted by the Supreme Court on espionage charges but was smuggled out of the country inside a diplomatic bag before he was due to stand trial. The first Lord Applegate, William Applegate came to the town of Mætållisøft from his native town of Leeds, England after marrying a Swedish prostitute by the name of Olafina and had Applegate Castle built as a suitable home for their 26 children, all boys. Lord Applegate lives in considerable wealth, partially from the family estates but mainly from his venture capital company, Mætållisøft. Lord Applegate’s company recently bought a 51% stake in heavy metal band Metalica, his favourite band, for a sum reported to be in the region of $6.2m.
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