 Higgins was actually a baronet, a British hereditary noble. He was  engaged to a countess, but she broke it off when he refused to  renounce his title; she didnt want to take a step down in the  heraldic list. When Robin bought a castle in England and set the  crew to get things set up, Higgins refused to see his father (they  were estranged over Higgins dismissal from Sandhurst), so Magnum  kidnapped Higgins and drove him to the family estate, where he was  embraced by his father, also played by John Hillerman.