Prince Andrew’s former girlfriend who made headlines in the 80s has won a substantial payout from a British publication that wrongly labelled her a “porn star”.
The Daily Mail was forced to issue a public apology and correction for the article that referenced the “prince and the porn star” on 21 November 2019.
It was headlined ‘Embarrassing stunts. Shocking misjudgements. And VERY shady friends’ and included photos it said proved Prince Andrew was a ‘Duke of Hazard’.
The photos included pictures of Prince Andrew and Koo Stark alongside the caption ‘The Prince and the porn star’.
“We accept that Ms Stark is not a ‘very shady’ porn star and has never participated in any pornographic enterprise, nor would a relationship with her be a ‘shocking misjudgement’,” The Daily Mail wrote after Ms Stark’s successful lawsuit.
“In fact, she was a professional actress appearing in film, TV and on stage.
“We apologise to Ms Stark for the distress caused and have agreed to pay her substantial damages and her legal costs.”
Ms Stark and the prince dated in the early 80s for a couple of years and the relationship sparked scandalous headlines.
The romance with the actress was one of Prince Andrew’s first major controveries to create a royal fallout.
The Daily Mail‘s defamatory reference to Ms Stark related to her role in the 1976 film The Awakening of Emily.
IMDB explains the movie’s plot involves 17-year-old Emily returning home from school to her family estate in the English countryside and “it seems everyone is trying to seduce her”.
Ms Stark’s lawyer, Francis Leonard, said the movie was a “coming of age drama”, not porn, according to The Guardian.
“The true position is that Ms Stark has never appeared in a pornographic film or posed for pornographic photographs,” he said.
“None of her work could properly be described as pornographic or indeed as ‘very shady’.
“In particular, the film The Awakening of Emily is a coming-of-age drama and not a pornographic film.”
Mr Leonard said the article and false statements about Ms Stark caused the claimant very considerable distress and upset.
