Her lawyer, Simon Smith, told the judge, Mr Justice Tugendhat: "The grossly defamatory allegations are entirely false, deeply offensive and utterly without foundation."

Mr Smith added: "As a mark of its regret, the defendant has since agreed to publish a prominent front-page apology and to enter into this statement to unequivocally apologise for the deep distress and acute embarrassment caused by its allegations, which it acknowledges were completely false.

"The defendant has also agreed to pay very substantial damages to the claimant for the libel and to reimburse the claimant's legal costs in full."

In a statement released after the hearing, Ms Hatcher said: "Anyone who has ever entered a legal proceeding knows that when you are totally in the right, it still takes a lot of energy to move forward this kind of proceeding.

"This is probably why more celebrities do not fight back against every made-up story - from who they date, to where they shop, and what they eat.

"But when a story appeared about me, insinuating that I am an irresponsible and neglectful parent, I had to draw the line. I will never allow any tabloid to so egregiously attack the area of my life which I give top priority, and that is my parenting."

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