Credit: Supreme Court

Howard Kennedy had wanted to sue the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) for up to £50,000 after claiming statements made by the NTS affected his business.

The freelance photographer took photos of a female model at Craigievar Castle in 2012.

In some of the pictures, Rachelle Summers posed nude, angering a member of the family that had gifted the castle to the nation in 1963.

Gabriel Forbes-Sempill, daughter of the 19th Lord Sempill, took issue with the photos in 2016. Ms Summers had stood naked in front of a window and wore a corset in another.

Ms Forbes-Sempill said her parents had not gifted the castle “for this sort of thing”.

Mr Kennedy said he had verbal consent from an NTS official to take such photos at the castle, but the NTS said it would “never sanction” such pictures.

The High Court and Court of Appeal refused to allow the case to proceed and the Supreme Court has also refused permission to appeal.

Lord Hodge, Lord Kerr and Lady Arden refused the application as it failed to “raise an arguable point of law”.

An NTS spokeswoman said: “We welcome the court’s decision in this matter.”