A few years ago Elizabeth Hurley famously declared she would never again be seen eating her lunch in a bikini, nor strolling the beach with her midriff showing. Now she's stepped back into a two-piece, though, in a series of stunning shots to launch her own designs for a High Street store.

The sultry pictures depict the mum-of-one on the deck of a boat in a selection of the colourful creations she designed for Mango. And they show that at 42, Elizabeth looks better than ever, though she has admitted in an interview to accompany the shots that she enlisted the expertise of "nice photographers" and a little digital enhancement.

"I like a certain amount of retouching like anybody," admits the upfront English rose.

Even if the pictures have been retouched slightly they suggest Elizabeth has fulfilled on the promise she made in a 2005 interview to "go to ground and annoy everyone by emerging thinner, sexier and mentally cleansed".

Source:hellomagazine

Elizabeth Hurley's designs are a roaring success in Monte Carlo

Elizabeth Hurley's colourful new beach collection can claim a royal seal of approval after being viewed by Prince Albert of Monaco.

Looking stunning in a plunging sky blue Azure dress, the English beauty and her husband, Arun Nayer, led the celebrities at a charity fashion show at the chic principality.

Helping to raise money for Elton John's AIDS foundation, a host of famous faces attended the Grand Prix And Fashion Unite event in Monte Carlo.

Joining the Prince and Elizabeth in the audience were supermodels Naomi Campbell and Jodie Kidd, Take That's Gary Barlow and Jimmy Choo founder Tamara Mellon, fresh from the equally fashionable Cannes.

The celebrity list didn't stop there. Taking time out from their training for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, British racing stars Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and David Coulthard showed their skills navigating the catwalk. The drivers strutted their stuff wearing designs by Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone's daughter, Petra.