Charles Saatchi is so reclusive that he famously never attends parties — even those given by himself.
But at the weekend the 76-year-old art tycoon broke cover to make a rare public appearance for the wedding of his only child, Phoebe, as she married designer Arthur Yates at Chelsea Old Town Hall.
Hair neatly cropped and wearing a navy-blue suit and white shirt, Saatchi opted to go tieless, while his fashion guru partner Trinny Woodall sported a £650 Zimmermann Lennon Paisley linen dress and Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses.
'Charles looked happy,' an onlooker tells me. Phoebe, 24, who wore traditional bridal white, and Arthur, tieless like his prospective father-in-law, arrived together and waited on the King's Road before mounting the steps into the Register Office.
They were followed by Saatchi and Woodall, and an intimate party of friends and family, including Phoebe's mother, Kay – the second of Saatchi's three ex-wives — and photographer and film-maker Amanda Eliasch, ex-wife of tycoon Johan Eliasch, a former deputy treasurer of the Conservative Party.
Arthur Yates and Phoebe Saatchi (left) kiss after their wedding at Chelsea Register Office and Charles Saatchi with presenter Trinny Woodall (right) as the art tycoon made a are appearance
Guests at the wedding of Charles Saatchi's daughter Phoebe and designer Arthur Yates where her father made a rare public appearance
(Not present was Phoebe's former step-mother, domestic goddess Nigella Lawson, from whom Saatchi was acrimoniously divorced in 2013.)
After signing the register at 5 o'clock, the newlyweds walked down the steps into clouds of confetti as Phoebe waved a bouquet of sunflowers to match her beau's shirt.
I'm told: 'Trinny was darting about taking pictures on her phone, and Charles was floating around the edge of the party.'
Arthur, 28, who set up fashion label Bruta in 2015, seemed struck at one moment by the enormity of his new status.
'He put his hands over his face — he looked a bit stunned about it.'
But there were huge smiles moments later from bride and groom as they posed for official photographs, before heading off for further celebrations, which were kept deliberately discreet.
'That's what Phoebe wants,' explains a friend. 'She's very private, like her father.'
Charles Saatchi's daughter Phoebe and her fiance Arthur Yates at their wedding on Saturday at Chelsea Register Office
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