Rumours about the racy private life of Sting and Trudie Styler have persisted for many years

She also curiously went on to admit that her son Giacomo once wanted to know if the photo of the almost nude, sprawled-out woman was his mother or sister. She told him it was neither.

Elsewhere in the apartment are rather more homely points of reference - cow paintings by daughter Mickey, family photos scattered in silver frames, a giant wall of Polaroids in the kitchen and Sting's lute resting on a sofa.

The musician has six children, namely Joseph, 31, and Fuchsia Katherine, 25, from his first marriage to actress Frances Tomelty, and Mickey, 23, Jake, 22, Coco, 17, and Giacomo, who was 12 this week, from his marriage to Trudie.

He also has homes in Mayfair and Malibu, and estates in Wiltshire and Tuscany.

The couple put the Manhattan property, which they have owned for 20 years - on the market last year, but have now taken it off, despite buying a further ￡15million home in a separate development in the city.