His avant-garde designs are favoured by the likes of Kate Moss, Madonna and Dame Joanna Lumley.

Yet society jeweller Stephen Webster says wearing expensive accessories in London has become too dangerous in Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan’s crime-ridden capital.

‘You have to be smart,’ Webster tells me at the Nela London restaurant launch party. ‘You can’t go around London flaunting, “Here’s my gold Rolex”. You’re an idiot.

‘It will attract the wrong kind of attention and can make you a target.’

Earlier this year, I disclosed that actress Susan Hampshire, 88, who starred in 1960s BBC classic drama The Forsyte Saga and Monarch Of The Glen, was robbed on the Tube.

‘I was mugged on the Underground the other day,’ she said, adding: ‘I wish I’d put my money in my bra because I lost my phone and my purse.’

Violent crimes on the Tube have increased steadily since Khan became mayor in 2016, with 2023 the worst year ever on record.

Just this month, I revealed that Prince Andrew’s pal Caroline Stanbury avoided wearing ‘tons of jewellery’ when visiting Britain due to safety fears. Webster, 66, believes his creations are safer to wear than those of his competitors including British jeweller and billionaire businessman, Laurence Graff, the founder of Graff Diamonds. His opulent designs include The Hallucination, a unique ladies’ watch valued at more than £40million.

‘I don’t make Laurence Graff-style jewellery,’ Webster says. ‘I don’t make necklaces that cost $10 million. I make jewellery that people wear, literally, every day. I chose not to do that many years ago. I’ve not ever had someone who’s come to me and said, “I’ve been mugged for my Stephen Webster jewellery”. Never. So far, so good.’

Here's an offer Hollywood stars can’t refuse: the ‘original house’ from The Godfather film in Taormina, Sicily, is to be turned into a private members’ club. It is being developed by the Powell Continental Group, which describes itself as the ‘first legal global practice’. I hear that Oscar-winners Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro were among the guests at a party in Mexico City at the weekend to celebrate the launch of the law firm.

Strictly winner Joanne Clifton was the star of her own show when her boyfriend staged a romantic proposal in London’s Green Park with a musical serenade.

The dancing professional, 41, who won the Glitterball trophy in 2016 with BBC presenter Ore Oduba, said Yes to actor and musician AJ Jenks, after a five-year romance. Joanne, whose brother Kevin was also a Strictly pro, looked surprised and delighted after being presented with a sparkler diamond ring in front of the couples’ friends and musicians, who’d gathered to witness the spectacle. She jokes: ‘Got bored so we’re getting married, cheers.’

Sir Rocco Forte’s elder daughter, Lydia, hosted a lavish Six Chefs’ Dinner at her family’s Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair at the weekend to raise money for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Disaster, however, almost struck when one of the celebrated chefs taking part, Andrew Wong, whose London restaurant has two Michelin stars, hobbled in on crutches.

‘He injured his leg but was so determined to come in that he grabbed some crutches and came in anyway,’ says Adam Byatt, who oversaw the menu. ‘He hasn’t even seen a doctor yet.’ Guests heard from a breast cancer patient who had been successfully treated at the Royal Marsden.

She said she’d been inspired by meeting the Princess of Wales, who was also treated at the London hospital.

John Malkovich recently broke his silence on his affair with Dangerous Liaisons co-star Michelle Pfeiffer which tore apart both their marriages.

Now, the actress, 67, has a happier family update. The Scarface and Batman Returns star has revealed that she is a granny.

‘I became a grandmother last year,’ says the actress, who has two children with her second husband, the writer and producer David E Kelley. 

‘It’s heaven.’

Michelle, who does not say which of her children has become a parent, admits it has changed her perspective. ‘When I committed to do all this work, I didn’t know I was gonna be a grandmother. If I had known, I wouldn’t have taken on so much work.’

The Princess of Wales’s favourite interior designer Kelly Hoppen was delighted by the results of a health check.

‘I had a scan to measure my bone density, and they said to me, “You’ve got the bones of a 20-year-old”. I was quite chuffed with that.’

Queen of taupe Kelly, 66, had followed NHS advice for post-menopausal women to have their bone health checked, with a DEXA scan, which measures mineral density. Kelly adds: ‘It’s just a shame that I don’t have the face of a 20-year-old to go with it.’

Showbiz agent Jonathan Shalit has said: ‘When Prince William met Kelly, he told her, “My wife will be so jealous I met you – she’s a huge fan”.’