Few could resist an invitation from the Gettys, whose patriarch, the five-times married J. Paul Getty, started off with a few oilfields and ended up being known as 'the world's richest man'.
He lived in Tudor splendour at Sutton Place in Surrey – where his mistress persuaded him to install a payphone...
But those who were lucky enough to enjoy Getty largesse – perhaps at Wormsley, the 2,500-acre estate acquired and restored by John Paul Getty Jr, or on a yacht off St Tropez – may pause to reflect on the fate of Mogens Tholstrup.
Just last month I disclosed that the enduringly debonair Dane – still revered for resurrecting Daphne's in Kensington and opening some of London's most acclaimed restaurants in the 1990s – had narrowly cheated death in a plane crash in .
Now I can reveal that the plane belonged to Tara Getty, 57 – third and youngest son of John Paul Getty Jr – and was piloted by Anton, the man who ferries the family around Zuka, their breathtaking 15,000-acre estate.
'Anton is a big part of Getty life – sort of Tara's top pilot out there,' a chum tells me. 'They were flying low and hit power lines. They are lucky to be alive.'
Anton, I'm told by another family friend, is already on the way to a full recovery. 'I think he'll be fine,' says the pal. But Mogens, 64, is another matter – for the time being, at least.
'He's in hospital in Cape Town, now in rehab. It's going to be a few months before he walks away from that.'
Mogens Tholstrup, pictured with former flame Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, is in hospital in Cape Town
Mogens's wife, Gretha, posted a video of his rehabilitation. In the video, she says he has been in hospital for six weeks
Indeed, the full extent of his injuries is made excruciatingly clear in a video posted online by his wife, Gretha. Its opening moments show Mogens 'carving down a mountain' and displaying the dance moves with which old loves, like the late Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, became happily familiar.
Gretha's video then cuts to 'after'. Mogens, she explains, 'has been in hospital for six weeks... an absolutely traumatic time.' X-rays show a spray of metal pins in his spine.
Then, grimacing, Mogens (left) totters forward with the aid of a walking frame.
Enough to resurrect talk of a 'Getty curse'? Not if Tara can help it.
Tara was just three when his mother, the beautiful Talitha Pol, died of an overdose, and five when his half-brother, John Paul Getty III, was kidnapped.
Tara was 'mortified' by the crash, a chum tells me, adding that he is 'the kindest, most benevolent person' and 'has gone out of his way to help Mogens'.
A Woman Of Substance star takes on Gervais
Jessica Reynolds as Emma Harte in Channel 4's hit new drama A Woman Of Substance
Nothing will
And, in real life, Jessica Reynolds won't take any lectures from the likes of Ricky Gervais. The comedian, 64, memorably told a Hollywood audience at the Golden Globes awards ceremony in 2020 that actors are in 'no position to lecture the public'.
However, Jessica, 27, declares: 'Ricky Gervais telling actors and artists not to speak up, because 'What do we know?' I say, 'What is his place to lecture artists?'
'If you have done your critical reading and you're informed, then you have to speak up.
'It could be any one of us born into war or with no home to go to... It is so easy to be silenced.'
Tamzin's 'facelift' fury
Tamzin Outhwaite has been left bemused by some barbed compliments from friends.
'Somebody called me the other day and said, 'Your facelift looks brilliant',' the New Tricks star tells me.
Actress Tamzin Outhwaite has had the non-invasive NeoGen Plasma treatment, which delivers controlled heat to the skin to promote collagen production
Tamzin, 55, had not undergone surgery. Instead, she'd had the non-invasive NeoGen Plasma treatment, which delivers controlled heat to the skin to promote collagen production, after noticing her face was 'sagging'.
Speaking at the British Diversity Awards at JW Marriott Grosvenor House London, she admits: 'People keep calling it a facelift. It's annoying. I've never had a facelift, and that was the point. I didn't want a facelift and I didn't want injectables.'
Jimmy Carr isn't the only comic fretting over his follicles. Fellow stand-up John Bishop admits he sought advice from Jimmy – who underwent a hair transplant – amid fears that his own hairline was on the move.
'I said to Jimmy, 'I think my fringe might be rising up,' says the Liverpudlian, 59. 'He said, 'I'll give you my guy.' So I went to see his hair transplant man, and he went, 'Mate, you'd look odd. That [hair] is age-appropriate – you'd look daft if you put anything in there. You're not losing your hair.
'Get out... But when you leave the office, please act like I've treated you.'
