Elle Macpherson has no problem getting her photo snapped while donning a bikini. It's the lack of hair, makeup, lighting and consent that she takes issue with.
Britain's Press Complaints Commission has upheld the supermodel's formal beef with Hello! magazine, whom the 43-year-old alleged violated her right to privacy by publishing photos of her and her two children on a private beach.
The commission, a self-monitoring watchdog group created by British publishers, ruled that the Australian beauty had a reasonable expectation of privacy and "had made a particular effort to choose a private holiday location, staying at a private villa on a secluded island."
The photos of the threesome were snapped last summer on Mustique, where there are no public beaches, and published in the weekly tabloid on Aug. 29. While the family appeared together, the faces of Macpherson's two children were not visible in the photos.
For its part, Hello! originally argued that the photo agency that provided the snaps had sworn the pictures were neither taken on a private beach nor through the use of a telephoto lens.
According to the commission's ruling on the complaint, filed Jan. 29, the editor of Hello! has agreed to write a formal letter of apology to the erstwhile supermodel and has also agreed not to republish the offending photos or post them online. The magazine will also pixelate the faces of Macpherson's children in all future photo ops.
The tabloid will not, however, pony up any monetary damages because the commission does not have the powers to impose fines. The commission was formed solely for the purpose of keeping tabs on the industry.