Marie is no stranger to posing in a bikini having done so since her youth

Brave: As Marie's picture was not airbrushed when it was first published, neither was Liz's when she replicated the pose, left

When I saw the photographs of her modelling the new range of swimwear by Isme, the fashion brand for older and bigger women, I was again amazed and jealous. She looks, if possible, even more beautiful than she did in her heyday: less severe, softer somehow.
And so I call her up and ask my idol whether she was nervous about taking on the assignment, given that model years are like dog years — at 40 you are treated like a veritable geriatric.
‘I was hesitant at first,’ she says. ‘The last time I modelled a bikini was ten years ago, to celebrate my 50th and because I was talking about my exercise and beauty tips.’
Has she always loved her body? ‘I like my body, I always have,’ she admits. ‘I have flaws, of course: mine is my flat bottom. But why worry about it?’

Cover girl: Marie is no stranger to posing in a bikini having done so since her youth

Does she still work hard to look like she does? Marie admits: ‘I’m very disciplined, I always have been. I go to the gym four times a week, having leapt out of bed at 5.15am. I even go to the gym on holiday. I call ahead and check what equipment they have.’
Of course, neither Marie nor I have had children.
For my part, all I do these days is walk my dogs and ride my horse, feeling badly let down by the fact that 30 years of aerobics never gave me a flat tum.
She says she also stopped drinking five months ago — champagne is notorious for causing cellulite.
When I ask how her body has changed since the height of her career in the 1970s, she says: ‘I weighed 7st 2lb then, with not an inch of fat on my body. I’m 8st 5lb now. My bust is a little bigger, too.’
The only regret Marie has from wearing a bikini on so many modelling assignments is the amount of sun damage her skin has suffered — Vogue would always put her out to fry in the sun, covered only in baby oil.
‘It’s the bane of my life, as when I’m working the make-up artist has to spend more and more time covering up the discolouration,’ she says.
I wonder if growing older is harder when you were once so beautiful. I hope it is. But Marie isn’t playing ball.
‘I don’t think so,’ she says. ‘It’s easier now than ever before with so many great cosmetics and skincare ranges. I have these spider veins on my legs, so I have to cover them with MAC body make-up as I never wear tights. I feel these days I have nothing to prove.’
Those bikini photos certainly support that. But how much of the flat stomach and perky breasts does Marie owe to the Isme bikini? Is it flattering enough to be worn by an ordinary fiftysomething?