Melania Trump: Telegraph apologises and pays damages

A spokeswoman for Mrs Trump decried 'opportunists out to advance themselves' at her cost

The Daily Telegraph has apologised "unreservedly" to Melania Trump and agreed to pay her "substantial damages" for an article it published last week.

The paper said its Saturday Magazine cover story "The Mystery of Melania" contained a number of false statements.

These included claims the US first lady was struggling in her modelling career before she met her husband and that she cried on election night, it said.

A spokeswoman for Mrs Trump said she would not ignore lies told about her.

The paper accepted the statements should not have been published and said it would also pay Mrs Trump's legal costs.

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In an apology printed on Saturday, the paper accepted Mrs Trump was "a successful professional model in her own right before she met her husband and obtained her own modelling work without his assistance".

It said the article also wrongly claimed that Mrs Trump's mother, father and sister relocated to New York in 2005 to live in buildings owned by Donald Trump.

The paper added that Mrs Trump's father was not "a fearsome presence" and "did not control the family", as alleged in the article.

It also accepted that Mrs Trump did not leave her design and architecture course at university for reasons relating to the completion of an exam but because she wanted to pursue a successful career as a professional model.

A spokeswoman for the First Lady said she often encountered "opportunists out to advance themselves by disparaging her name and image".

The spokeswoman continued: "She will not sit by as people and media outlets make up lies and false assertions in a race for ratings or to sell tabloid headlines."