Tamara Ecclestone: Hero or Villain?

She's the daughter of a billionaire and a model whose career, such as it is, seems to revolve around "lifestyle and glamour" work. Her most famous TV project was a reality show all about her called Billion $$ Girl. She's 30 and has been engaged three times to a series of unsuitable men. Oh, and she's currently promoting an eight-page photoshoot for Playboy. Tamara Ecclestone seems every inch the pointless modern celebrity. And yet, and yet ….

Is it just the pointlessly modern words "Twitter backlash" that make us suddenly soften towards her, or does this annoyingly rich and good-looking young woman actually have something to her?

Last week, she was pilloried online by a lot of presumably very pointful but sadly anonymous people. "Tamara Ecclestone has all the money in the world yet still looks like a tramp," said one. Another added: "Tacky …. Money definitely can't buy class." Ecclestone replied: "Sad there are so many haters out there. Instead of worrying about my life, which I couldn't be happier in, you should probably worry about why you're so miserable and try to make your life better." Good point.

The Ecclestone daughters have always been quite straightforward about their inherited wealth. They admit that they are fortunate and very grateful for it. (If only certain politicians could be so up-front about their own privileged positions.) Tamara supports Great Ormond Street Hospital and Peta's anti-fur campaign. And, okay, lifestyle and glamour work is not Médecins Sans Frontières, but at least she bothers to get out of bed in the morning. She doesn't have to. And those fiancés? She dumped one when he blackmailed her, and moved right on.

Nobody is pretending Tamara Ecclestone is a feminist icon for appearing in Playboy. But, guess what: feminists support women's right not to have every action and twist of fate turned into a policy statement. If young girls want to emulate her, perhaps they will also take on a confident attitude that says, "sort your own life out before you put me down". Way to go, Billion $$ Girl!