A photographer who claims his reputation has been damaged in a row over a nude photoshoot at an Aberdeenshire castle has failed in a bid to take his case to the Supreme Court.
Howard Kennedy planned to sue the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) for up to £50,000 after claiming statements made by the body in the wake of the controversy affected his business.
Mr Kennedy, a freelance photographer, snapped a female model at Aberdeenshire’s Craigievar Castle in 2012.
In some pictures, Rachelle Summers posed in the nude, prompting an outcry from a member of the family that gifted the 17th century castle to the nation in 1963.
Mr Kennedy, of Aberdeen, claims he had verbal consent from an NTS official to take nude pictures at the castle but NTS said it would “never sanction” such pictures.
He claims their denial damaged his reputation and had hoped to launch a defamation action in London’s High Court, with the prospect of up to £50,000 in damages if he won the case.
The High Court and the Court of Appeal, however, ruled the case could not proceed south of the border as it concerned two parties based in Scotland.
Mr Kennedy has since attempted to challenge that decision and have it heard by the Supreme Court in London but his application for permission to appeal to the UK’s highest court has now been thrown out by a panel of three of the country’s most senior judges.
Lord Kerr, Lord Hodge and Lady Arden refused the application because they said it did not “raise an arguable point of law”.
The row erupted in 2016 after Gabriel Forbes-Sempill, daughter of the 19th Lord Sempill, learned of the photos Mr Kennedy had taken four years earlier at Craigievar, a pink-turreted fortress said to be the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Cinderella castle.
In one photo, Summers stands naked in front of a sun-drenched window and in another, sits draped on a four-poster bed wearing a corset. Kennedy advertised the prints for sale online.
Miss Forbes-Sempill said at the time that she was not a “prude” but did not believe her parents had gifted Craigievar to the nation “for this sort of thing”.
Despite both Mr Kennedy and the NTS being based in Scotland, his legal team told an earlier hearing the case should be decided in England as the photographer’s “substantial business reputation in England” had been damaged.
They claimed the row had caused a considerable drop – of about 50% – in bookings of the photography training courses Mr Kennedy runs.
The court heard that in the English High Court, Mr Kennedy would have the potential to win “higher damages” than that possible in a Scottish court.
The trust has insisted the case should be decided in a sheriff court north of the border, where the events complained of took place and nearer to the homes of potential witnesses.
An NTS spokeswoman said: “We welcome the court’s decision in this matter.”
Mr Kennedy was approached for comment.