CHARLES DUNSTONE GETS HITCHED IN GLITZY STAR-STUDDED STYLE
THE BELLS rang out at the weekend for the business wedding of the year, the nuptials of Carphone Warehouse tycoon Charles Dunstone and PR executive Celia Gordon Shute.
After the service at Christ Church in Spitalfields, the throng of moneyed guests hopped into black cabs to travel to everybody’s favourite bit of a wedding, the reception (well, when the booze is free, at any rate).
At the marquee in the Inner Temple Garden on Embankment, champagne, rhubarb martinis and Bellinis were served to Dunstone, his bride and their guests – including best man Johnny Hornby (advertising guru and brother of novelist Nick), Marks and Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose, business secretary Lord Mandelson, Girls Aloud’s Sarah Harding and Simon and Yasmin Le Bon.
Then it was into the dining area, decorated with autumnal trees and orange, red and white roses, where tables were named after films such as Sex and the City, Some Like it Hot and Top Gun. The guests munched on a feast of Norfolk seafood cocktails, steaks carved at the table, tarte tatin, cheese and wedding cupcakes, before a screen was lifted to reveal music maestro Jools Holland on stage.
Jools whipped up the crowd into a frenzy before they moved on into a nightclub area with cheesy Eighties music, where the loved-up Dunstones led the dancing until the early hours of the morning before slinking off for their first night as man and wife.
BEAR NECESSITY
It’s always intriguing to have a nosy into the lives of the rich and famous thanks to novelist Tom Bower, who recently fought off a libel case from newspaper mogul Richard Desmond.
Wading through Bower’s latest tome, a study of the oil industry entitled “The Squeeze: Oil, Money and Greed in the 21st century”, The Capitalist chanced upon this gem about Lord Browne, the former chief executive of BP.
Apparently, top gossip at the firm surrounded Browne’s close relationship with his mother, who lived with him during his time as a mature student at Stanford University.
“Wry smiles were exchanged about the anxious plea after the Brownes’ departure from Stanford that a BP employee fly to California and rescue John’s teddy bear,” writes Bower, sardonically. “It was returned to London in a Federal Express carton…”
I should think so, too.
TROPHY CABINET
The Ladies Ski Club – set up to promote female skiing in the UK – descended upon accountancy firm Smith & Williamson at the end of last week for a fundraiser, attended by 200 City guests and most of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic hopefuls, including star skier Chemmy Alcott.
Around £24,000 was raised through the auction, which saw the guests bidding for trips to the Maldives, shopping vouchers and a football signed by the entire Chelsea team.