Kate has been close friends with Sir Philip since meeting at a charity auction in 2006, where he had paid ?60,000 for a kiss with the model. She said at the time: 'I'm a girl from Croydon, you're a boy from Croydon. Let's do a collection together.'

Sir Philip has previously described her as 'smart and witty', and has regularly expressed his admiration of her business acumen. After the launch of her Topshop line last year, he gushed: 'To give Kate credit, she insisted on personally signing off on every piece.

'The six designers, buyers and merchandisers I assigned to work with her found her ideas totally inspiring.' Kate is regularly spotted on intimate dinners-for-three with Sir Philip and Jamie, who she has been dating for 18 months. For the supermodel's recent birthday, Sir Philip arranged for dozens of flowers, edible treats and champagne to be delivered to her suite at the Dorchester Hotel, where she started her four day bash.