Rich women and their cash

Ever wondered what it would be like to lead a jet-set lifestyle? Breakfast in St Tropez, lunch in London, dinner in New York with matching outfits, accessories and entourage. Gliding through the social scene via limo and Lear jet without a care in the world. The air full of the scent of fresh lilies and soft leather as you 'mwah, mwah, darling' across the globe.

Fallen press baron Conrad Black has been accused of helping to plunder no less than £220 million from his company, the ex-owners of the Daily Telegraph. But the real jaw-dropper in the court documents are claims of lavish spending by his wife, Barbara Amiel. The 63-year-old journalist is reported to have got expenses of £1,400 for handbags, £80 for 'jogging attire' and £1,100 for exercise equipment. Conrad Black and his company Hollinger International are alleged to have picked up a bill of more than £24,000 for Barbara's birthday party held at an exclusive New York restaurant. where round 80 guests feasted on caviar and 69 bottles of fine wine.

Barbara, who is reckoned to have spent her way through £3.8 million over the years, also blew a staggering £300,000 on a ten-day holiday to Bora Bora in French Polynesia with her husband. But if the accusations turn out to be true, she would not be the first high-profile wife whose taste for the good life has cost her hubby a fortune.

First ladies of spending

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is estimated to have spent £8.2 million in her lifetime. The heiress, who died in 1994, owned a string of luxury homes including a New York mansion. When her first husband, John F Kennedy, became US President in 1961, she was determined to be known as the first lady of style. Hiring her own personal designer, Oleg Cassini, she created the 'Jackie look' by spending £20,000 on clothes in just the first three months after her husband reached the Oval Office. Jackie faced accusations of gold-digging in 1968 after accepting a £1.2million diamond engagement ring and a £2.3 million pre-nuptial gift from second husband, Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis. She celebrated by blowing £200,000 on the stockmarket. Despite being lavished with gifts, including her own private Island, Skorpios in Greece, Jackie still managed to pretty well in the spending stakes. She once handed her husband a bill of £4,000 for a private messenger service and followed it up with a £4,800 bill to cover the cost of caring for her pets.

Now Onassis's granddaughter has become one of the world's richest girls after inheriting her share of the family's fortune. Athina Roussel picked up an estimated .7 billion in cash, homes, companies, art, shares, a private jet plus Skorpios Island when she celebrated her 18th birthday in 2003. She will inherit a further billion on her 21st birthday when she will also take control of the Onassis Foundation. So far, there are no signs of her having inherited the expensive spending habits of her famous step-grandmother.

Former secretary Grace is married to Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe. The Mugabe family own six luxury homes around the world, including a Footballers Wives-style mansion called Gracelands in a suburb of the capital, Harare. The couple also own a three storey mansion overlooking a golf course. Grace has managed to work her way through an estimated £2.1 million during her frequent shopping sprees. The 39-year old Gucci addict spent an estimated £75,000 in just two hours in Paris fashion houses during a jaunt last year. Not to be outdone, her husband, 40 years her senior, splashed out on a lavishly-equipped DC-9 airliner, once owned by Playboy baron Hugh Hefner, as a present for her.

The late Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos was deposed and driven into exile in 1986. He fled to Hawaii and was later indicted for embezzlement in the United States. But his wife Imelda is just as famous for her spending. She turned shoe shopping into an obsession, spending a large chunk of the £1.3 million she is reckoned to have blown on travelling the world to buy pairs of designer heels from Givenchy, Chanel, Ferragamo and Christian Dior, amongst others. An incredible 3,000 pairs of her shoes were found in a huge special room in the couple's palace after they fled. Many of these are now in a museum, including the pair of simple canvas espadrilles Imelda - now 74 - was wearing at the time she had to literally run from the palace to escape the revolt.

Gold-plated girls

Former model and Olympic skier Ivana Trump is more famous for being the ex-wife of American business billionaire Donald Trump. Czech-born Ivana, 55, was estimated by fashion pundits to have blown a stunning £524,000 a year on clothes during her marriage to the casino tycoon she called 'The Donald'. She now owns a luxury London flat and a house in New York. In June 1998 gambling enthusiast Ivana opened her own casino in Croatia. That same summer she chartered a 120ft yacht to tour the Mediterranean. In 2002 she splashed out £15,000 buying three vibrating exercise machines for her homes and yacht and in an interview with the New York Times, revealed that she buys six dozen bras every year.