Roberto Cavalli seems to have a royal muse to add to his circle of gal pals, which includes Victoria Beckham. At a party to unveil a new venture the Italian fashion maestro had a particularly affectionate welcome for Sarah, Duchess of York.
The pair have known each other for years after meeting on the international social scene.
Roberto's party was just Sarah's first social engagement of the evening. She later met up for dinner with her multi-millionaire Norwegian companion Geir Frantzen.
Other guests at the bash, which was thrown by the 67-year-old designer to introduce wines produced by his son Mommaso in the Cavalli family vineyard, included former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis and her pop singer daughter Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Also on hand to sample the vintages were Tamara Beckwith, Bianca Jagger and Sharleen Spiteri.