The Evening Standard apologized for wrongly calling Rachel Garley a prostitute. (Credit: Evening Standard, screenshot)

The London Evening Standard apologized this week for wrongly saying a woman named Rachel Garley was a prostitute.

The Standard‘s Aug. 7 story was about an exhibition of suits by the late artist Sebastian Horsley. Garley was Horsley’s girlfriend and “arranged the exhibitions.”

The apology reads in part:

“By unfortunate error we referred to Rachel Garley, the late Sebastian Horsley’s girlfriend, who arranged the exhibitions, as a prostitute. We accept that Ms Garley is not and has never been a prostitute. We offer our sincere apologies to Ms Garley for the damage to her reputation an the distress and embarrassment she has suffered as a result.”

The Guardian suggested it’s the “finest [apology] in many a decade.”

A search of the Standard‘s website produces two results for “Rachel Garley,” which suggests the original article was unpublished. One is the Sept. 23 apology and the other is an August 2010 report about Horsley’s death.

iMediaEthics has written to the Standard to ask how the error occurred, if Garley threatened legal action and why it took more than a month to issue a correction. We’ll update with any response.

Hat Tip: the BBC’s Chris Hamilton