The Daily Mail published an apology to Vanessa Redgrave on Saturday as follows...

Our serialisation of a forthcoming book about the actress Vanessa Redgrave and her family on 7th May included the allegation that she had once found her husband in bed with her father.

We accept that this incident did not take place and we sincerely apologise to Vanessa Redgrave and her family for the distress and embarrassment caused.

The claim, which appeared in the paper's serialisation of a book, The house of Redgrave: the secret lives of a theatrical dynasty, was also used as the headline: "Revealed: The day Vanessa Redgrave found her husband in bed with her father."

At the time of the Mail extract, the book - written by Tim Adler - was due for publication later that month by Aurum Press. But it was then withdrawn.

An Aurum Press spokeswoman tells me it has since been read by lawyers and will now be published, though it has yet to be scheduled (it does not appear in the publisher's autumn catalogue).

She blamed the Mail's "inflammatory" and "lurid" presentation of the allegation for causing controversy.

On the other hand, the allegation was properly sourced and I have more than a little sympathy for the Mail (and the author). I can't construe it as a libellous remark.

That having been said, the gap between the publication of the offending material and the apology was almost four months. Was that delay justified?