In a surprise Instagram post, model Naomi Campbell has announced she has had her first child, at the age of 50.

Campbell shared a photo of her cradling her baby daughter’s feet in her hand.

“A beautiful little blessing has chosen me to be her mother, So honoured to have this gentle soul in my life there are no words to describe the lifelong bond that I now share with you my angel. There is no greater love,” Campbell wrote on Instagram.

Campbell had made no announcement of a pregnancy, and it is not known who the father is and whether Campbell gave birth, hired a surrogate or has adopted the baby. The baby’s name has also not been revealed.

Ground-breaking modelling career

The child of a South London single mother, Campbell has been modelling since the mid-1980s, and became one of the world’s most recognisable supermodels.

Campbell was the first black model to appear on the covers of French Vogue and Time magazine.

She was also the first black model on the cover of US Vogue’s key September issue.

Her mother Valerie Morris Campbell also shared the same photo on Instagram with a message congratulating her daughter and said: “I’m beyond thrilled as I’ve waited a longtime to be grandmother.”

‘I can do it when I want’

In 2017, Campbell spoke about her desire to be a mother and said “with the way science is I think I can do it when I want”.

The supermodel has kept her recent dating life private, and it is not known if she currently has a partner. She has been engaged twice in the past (to U2 bassist Adam Clayton and Formula One racing head Flavio Briatore) but never married.

-with agencies