‘FULLY VINDICATED’

Prince Andrew’s Ex Wins ‘Substantial Damages’ in Daily Mail Libel Suit

In 2019, Daily Mail referred to Prince Andrew’s former girlfriend, Koo Stark, as a ‘porn star’—a decision that her lawyer said has caused “very considerable distress and upset.”

Koo Stark, an actress and photographer dated Prince Andrew in the 1980’s, has won “substantial damages” in her libel lawsuit against The Daily Mail over a piece that inaccurately labeled her a “porn star.” The Guardian reports that the 2019 story described Prince Andrew as having “very shady friends” and included a photo of Stark with the caption “The prince and the porn star.” The piece later labeled Stark a “soft porn actress,” The Guardian states. Stark’s lawyer, Francis Leonard, said Stark “never appeared in a pornographic film or posed for pornographic photographs. None of her work could properly be described as pornographic or indeed as ‘very shady.’” Per Sky News, a lawyer for Associated Newspapers (which owns The Daily Mail) and two Daily Mail editors also listed as defendants offered the company’s “sincere apologies to the claimant for the distress, embarrassment and upset.” Per The Guardian, Justice Rowena Collins Rice said, “Ms Stark is entitled to consider herself, and be considered as, fully vindicated.”