London, Dec. 17: A mother has been slammed for putting a heavily made up photograph of her daughter on social media.

The problem is that the mother is Katie Price, a 37-year-old former topless Page 3 glamour model and one of the country's most high profile figures. And her daughter, whom she named Princess Tiaamii, is only eight.

While some have said this is a little girl having a bit of innocent fun, many commentators have laid into Price and questioned the appropriateness of her behaviour and the questionable nature of the photograph.

These days it has become increasingly common for "celebrities" to use their children as "accessories". For them, no publicity is bad publicity.

But in this particular case, which has turned into a British issue, there is widespread agreement that a certain ethical line has been crossed. For girls to experiment with their mother's make up is common the world over.

But to put the result on Instagram and other social media is altogether a separate matter. Princess herself has been allowed to hit back at her detractors: "By the way, I do my make-up not my mum, I do. And anyway it's none of your beeswax so oosh."

Price has a fan following of 800,000, who have become involved in the rights and wrongs of the case.

One fan wrote: "What is awful is to put all that makeup, false eyelashes and fake nails. To let her dress like that and talk like that, this is awful."

Price may have begun as a glamour model, who had her natural assets augmented by cosmetic surgery in the days when she adorned Page 3 of The Sun. But she is also a shrewd businesswoman who has managed to keep herself in the public eye and is now said to be worth £45 million. She had many publicised relationships, been married three times, has five children and has proved adept at keeping Britain's tabloid press gasping for more.

She is currently appearing as the "Wicked Fairy" in a Christmas pantomime, Sleeping Beauty, in Woking, Surrey, from where posted snaps on Instagram of herself and Princess, as her daughter is called by the tabloids. She captioned one picture of the pair wearing matching horn head-dresses: "Like mother like daughter."

Editors have asked Britain's best known women columnists to condemn Price.

In the Daily Mail, Sarah Vine, whose husband happens to be Michael Give, the justice secretary in David Cameron's cabinet, asked: "What IS Katie doing to her poor little girl? What in the name of all that is holy is Katie Price doing to her eight-year-old daughter?

"Most mothers who have a reputation like hers would do their best to spare their daughters a similar fate. Instead, Ms Price seems intent on initiating poor Princess Tiaamii into the family tradition of over-painted pouting at a worryingly early age."

Vine added: "My own daughter, 12 (who is not averse herself to stealing a bit of my eyeliner), took one look at this picture - posted on social media by Princess's proud mum - and said: 'Under-age stripper.' How utterly heart-breaking."

Libby Purves, another well known journalist, pointed out in a separate column: "The whole idea of make-up is to make women sexually appealing. Don't argue: it just is. We all know the rules. You emphasise the wide submissive doe eyes. You lengthen the lashes to bat in flirtation; you redden the mouth to draw attention to its luscious, sexy kissability. That's what make-up is for, and very nice, too. It makes us feel confident, because being attractive is part of women's confidence. But little girls of eight should not yet have any ambition to be sexually attractive."

"So the last thing a child of eight should be doing is going out in public made up like an LA stripper," she added.

Purves feels there is a serious issue involved about how to bring up children.

She said that "heavy make-up worn out on the street at night at the age of eight is the start of something dodgy. Whether the child does it herself is irrelevant. There are looks, especially concerning make-up, that shouldn't leave the house, for everyone's sake. Apart from any risk, it is not a good idea to train our daughters into thinking the way to get attention and self-esteem is to use their bodies as decoration."