Astrid Harbord has always been the person Guy has 'bounced ideas off'. They met through their friend Amanda Sheppard, who is now dating Bryan Ferry, while Astrid was studying history at Bristol, and they lived together when they moved down to London. Astrid, who is going out with the banking heir James Rothschild and is great friends with Kate Middleton, is an uproarious Chelsea legend and Raffles regular, famous for bringing any party to life. She and her sister Davina are known as the Hardcore Harbords and once threw a party in a tatty Shoreditch warehouse attended by Prince Harry. An upmarket property agent by day, she learnt her party planning skills at the knee of her mother, who runs a charity called the Children's Trust, and puts on numerous fundraising events. Astrid's first foray into fundraising was a children's tea party for adults complete with jellies. 'Guy and Jakey approached me because I've got some experience in doing events. I've built up a huge database and I love parties. I'm sort of a backdrop for Guy to encourage people to come.' Her party philosophy is simple: 'I don't mind where I am as long as I'm with friends. Good music helps - Fleetwood Mac and Jump by the Poynter Sisters are two of my favourites - a good dance floor and obviously drinks. That's what I've learnt from my events. But if you have enough people who are all up for it you can have a really good time anyway.' When the party life palls, Astrid would like to open a dog home and a meercat sanctuary.
Jake, 26, is the Ascot aficionado. 'I've been coming here ever since I can pretty much remember,' he says, batting his luxuriant dark eyelashes. His father, the dashing Johnny Warren, runs the Queen's Stud Farm and was the Essex boy who stole Lady Carolyn Herbert, Jake's mother and daughter of the Earl of Carnarvon, from Prince Andrew. Jake, who was at Ludgrove and Eton with Prince Harry, works at the Sports Agency Pitch and his sister, Susannah, has been going out with Guy Pelly for over three years. 'Ascot is a bit square,' he explains. 'There is so much scope to do something really fun. When my parents were younger there was this place called the Mill Reef bar. That was in the days before Ascot changed and everyone still went. Everyone knew it was there, and it was really fun. My parents think what we are doing is going to be just like the good old days of the Mill Reef bar, which is exactly what we want to create.'
