Bill Andrew, 78, was taking a picture of his family in front of the castle when they noticed what look like a ghostly apparition in one of its doorways.

The shadowy sighting is not the first at Crathes Castle near Banchory, Aberdeenshire, which already has its fair share of ghost stories.

Bill, from Bridge of Alford, was visiting the castle earlier this month with daughter Coleen Marsh, 60, who lives in Kent.

A close-up of the figure in the castle door (Photo: National Trust Scotland/SWNS)

His granddaughter Jessica Hockley, who is in her 30s, and great-grandson Findley Hockley, three, who also live in Kent, were there as well.

He took the picture of his family in front of the castle but it was only afterwards that Coleen spotted the strange figure in a doorway in the background.

Bill said: "My family had come up from England for a week to stay with me and we thought it would be good to go along and see the castle.

The full photo featuring great-grandson Findley (Photo: National Trust Scotland/SWNS)

"I didn't know it had this reputation of being haunted and having ghosts appearing all the time, to be honest.

"When the picture was taken I didn't notice anything, but my daughter had a look and it did seem that something was standing in the doorway behind us.

"I'm not sure if it was a ghost or not and I'm not really clued up on the fact or fiction of the castle, but it's definitely something interesting to remember."

Coleen contacted staff to see if there was an explanation for the ghostly sighting as the door was closed.

Crathes Castle management say there has been several recent "ghost" sightings (Photo: SWNS)

The property manager James Henderson said: "There have been a number of mysterious sightings in and around the castle of late, in particular around Halloween, and the castle guides have reported that things have felt strange.

"They have reported a chill down the back in an otherwise warm room, odd noises in an otherwise empty building.

"Could this photograph be related to this? Or, perhaps it is a sighting of the Green Lady."

The Green Lady is almost always spotted in the same room in the castle, carrying an infant child.

Legend has it that the skeletons of a woman and child were discovered under the castle's fireplace during renovations, and that even Queen Victoria witnessed the apparition.

Another ghost, thought to be Lady Agnes, has been spotted at the castle. She is said to have died suddenly after she poisoned her son's sweetheart.

Lady Agnes is said to only reappear on the anniversary of her death.