Man about town Ricardo Simich brings you Society Insider. The exclusive parties, the exotic holidays, the hook-ups, the break-ups and the high-stakes business deals – this new Thursday column pulls back the curtain to reveal how New Zealand’s other half live.
Society Insider: Have the Harts bought a new superyacht?; Polo player Marcus Beresford’s aristocratic lineage; tributes flow for artist Lance O’Gorman
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Graeme and Robyn Hart and Gretchen and Duncan Hawkesby have been in Ibiza enjoying time on a new yacht – but is it theirs? Plus, polo player Marcus Beresford (right), who lived in New Zealand for more than a decade, has an aristocratic connection. Photo / Getty Images; Herald composite
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In May, Boat International reported Five Oceans had been sold at an asking price of more than $60 million.
The sale came eight months after its original owner, US multimillionaire Tommy Allen, the director of global operations at Five Oceans Global Solutions, took ownership but then had a change of heart.
Hart took ownership of Ulysses in Amsterdam in November 2023, with his family joining him to christen the magnificent boat.
While the Harts regularly buy and sell their boats, speculation is that the family may have added the Five Oceans for their time in the Mediterranean this season.
Gretchen Hawkesby was with her parents aboard the Five Oceans for the Fourth of July celebrations, with her husband Duncan, their two youngest sons, Dylan and Fletcher, and their friends.
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The yacht was decorated with red, white and blue balloons and other American paraphernalia.
The Harts are known for their love of the US – they have a large estate near Aspen, Colorado.
The Five Oceans could be described as Ulysses’ little sister. The main salon features a marble dining table with brass chairs and a lounge setting with a high-end AV system that allows the space to double as a media room with full electric blackout blinds.
The bridge deck features a custom table for alfresco dining, two sun beds and a lounging sofa. There are plenty of toys on board, including a Triton 3300 submersible for underwater exploring.
Guests have moderately sized guest cabins, with sleeping space including an owner’s suite, two double cabins and two twin cabins.
At about twice the size, the Ulysses can accommodate up to 20 guests in 10 suites, including an owner’s suite on a private deck, and two VIP staterooms on the pool deck.
The yacht has 20 exterior sliding doors for maximised views, four outdoor hot tubs, a swimming pool that covers the full height of the main deck, a winter garden and a helicopter hangar under the boat’s helipad.
The interior also boasts a towering glass staircase and elevator in the main atrium, and numerous entertainment areas. A gym and a beauty salon are also said to feature.
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While his family were enjoying Ibiza last weekend, Graeme and Robyn’s son Harry, and his fiancee, Australian heiress Cartier Lee, are said to have been in New Zealand. They are believed to have been enjoying wintertime golfing at Mangawhai’s Tara Iti Golf Club, where Harry and his parents are shareholders, with Duncan Hawkesby.
Meanwhile, the Hawkesbys’ oldest son, Miller, is believed to be working in the US as a sales analyst at Zuru Edge, the company owned by billionaire brothers Nick and Mat Mowbray.
The Hawkesbys’ daughter, Jemima, enjoyed a weekend in Queenstown, where her grandparents own a $24m home at the exclusive Closeburn Station.
Before Gretchen, Duncan, Dylan and Fletcher arrived in Europe, they spent time in London, celebrating Dylan’s 19th birthday with a pub crawl, joined by many of his friends.
The party continued in Barcelona, with Dylan and his crew enjoying table service at the seaside city’s best club, Shoko, before making their way by chopper to Ibiza.
Dylan and friends enjoyed Thursday night at the famous island’s new “hyper-club” UNVRS, with Australian DJ Fisher in residence.
The Fourth of July party may have seemed a little tame in comparison, but Dylan and his friends had fun jumping off the Five Oceans’ decks into the Mediterranean.
The British lord who lived anonymously in NZ for a decade
New Zealand’s polo set travelled to England last week for the wedding of Lord Marcus Beresford to equestrian Ella McEwen.
Beresford, 35, lived among New Zealand’s polo set for nearly a decade before he returned to Britain in 2020, but his aristocratic ancestry was kept under wraps.
When Beresford was starring in the media as a British player for the Urban Polo event and the NZ Polo Open, there was no mention of his being a lord, and that’s just the way he liked it.
Beresford is the middle child of Henry De La Poer Beresford, the 9th Marquess of Waterford, and his wife, Amanda, the Marchioness of Waterford.
Henry inherited the title and the family seat at Curraghmore House, Ireland, in 2015, after the death of his father, John, the 8th Marquess of Waterford. The house and its surrounding 1010ha estate have been in the family since 1170.
Once the family seat was handed over, Beresford’s older brother, Richard, became the Earl of Tyrone.
The two brothers and their younger sister, Lady Camilla, grew up with their parents in Lower Kilcott in Gloucestershire, England.
Society Insider is told that, being the “spare” not the heir, Beresford wanted to carve out a niche for himself in New Zealand, away from his family.
When Beresford’s family moved into Curraghmore House, he was firmly ensconced in his Kiwi life.
“Marcus had many happy years in New Zealand,” an acquaintance tells Society Insider.
“He enjoyed his anonymity from the aristocracy and got on with forging his path.”
When Beresford arrived in Auckland in 2011, he was a project manager for a house-building firm, started a seafood business and became a member of the Auckland Polo Club in Clevedon.
New Zealand polo veteran Ross George took the talented polo player under his wing, with Beresford spending some years living at and looking after George’s polo farm.
George is the executive chairman of the leading private investor company Direct Capital, where Beresford spent his last five years in New Zealand as a business analyst.
When he left Auckland in 2020, he continued a successful career in finance in London.
Society Insider is told that not long after Beresford arrived back in Britain, his cousin, a good friend of Ella McEwen, introduced the pair.
Ella grew up in Wiltshire, a neighbouring county to Beresford’s home county of Gloucestershire.
She studied media and business at Oxford before becoming an account manager and living in London. Ella now works for the chief executive of British Eventing. As a teenager, she was a national pony eventing champion and spearheaded Britain’s eventing squad at the European Championships for ponies.
Beresford comes from generations of polo players. His father John was a teammate of the late Duke of Edinburgh.
Ella’s brother Tom is also an equestrian and has two Olympic gold medals and one silver in eventing.
The couple have lived in West Sussex for just over a year, a renowned haven for the polo-playing set and an easy drive to London for Beresford’s successful business career. Their home is in the charming village of Heyshott, which was also the setting for their wedding.
They married at the 12th-century church of St Giles, with an elite guest list, including Kiwi equestrians and members of the polo set.
Ross George and his wife Deb were in attendance, with George said to have given a heartfelt karakia.
Also attending from New Zealand was actor and singer Greta van den Brink, who is the polo-playing daughter of rich-lister and president of the Auckland Polo Club, Tony.
NZ’s best-known polo player throughout the world, Cody Forsyth, attended with his wife Mitty and their daughter, equestrian Amelia, as well as fellow Kiwi equestrian Laura Inkster, who is said to be dating British polo star player Jimbo Fewster.
Racing and polo fashionista Carena West was there with her husband, businessman Rob Worker, and his brother, Daniel – who is Auckland Polo Club captain – and his wife, Sarah. They had all previously been Beresford’s guests at Curraghmore.
Sydney-based Kiwi Sam Hopkinson, director of Urban Events, also attended with his wife, Aleisha.
The reception was held in the newlyweds’ village in a large marquee in a friend’s field. The newly married couple waved to guests as they drove off in a vintage red Corvette.
Tributes to beloved NZ artist Lance O’Gorman
Tributes are flowing from the arts community after the death of renowned NZ painter Lance O’Gorman, aged 85.
The Auckland-born and raised artist earned a reputation over his five-decade career for being New Zealand’s most popular neo-impressionist artist. His landscapes and seascapes capture the quintessential lifestyles of New Zealand and are considered by many to be national treasures.
O’Gorman was a Kelliher Award-winning artist, a member of the New Zealand, Australian and British Fellowship of Artists and the author of several books, including Northland – A Portrait, The Art of Lance O’Gorman and Auckland, City of Sails.
O’Gorman’s wife, Christine, tells Society Insider her husband was a kind man and “a Peter Pan at heart”.
“Lance was an eccentric thinker and a proud father,” she says.
The couple have two sons, actors Brett and Dean O’Gorman. Dean, who has starred in TV series and movies including The Hobbit trilogy, The Almighty Johnsons and After the Party, is also a celebrated photographer. Brett has appeared in The Breaker Upperers, Baby Done and Our Flag Means Death.
Of her husband’s legacy, Christine says Lance painted for years and produced a large body of work and styles.
“His paintings have brought joy to many New Zealanders.
“His real legacy will be his love of art, he shared with everyone, and most importantly, the kindness and unconditional love he showed to his family,” she says.
O’Gorman was a keen fisherman and loved camping.
“We used to camp for many years up north and Lance would sit for hours on a rock waiting for the fish to bite,” says Christine.
“Being of an eccentric nature, Lance would wander off into his imagination only to find that his rod, once again, had been pulled into the ocean by a fish.
“At last count, he had lost five rods.”
Christine says O’Gorman was a generous mentor and teacher, always ready to share his considerable knowledge with others.
Although he completed a degree at Auckland’s School of Pharmacy, O’Gorman’s first love was painting. He attended night classes at the Auckland Institute of Technology, specialising in Fine and Graphic Art. Before he graduated in 1972 with diplomas in Advertising and Management, O’Gorman won the Auckland Festival Art Award.
In the early 1970s, O’Gorman was an illustrator and artist for the Auckland Automobile Association as well as the North Shore Times and the Herald Gazette, where he created a cartoon series of Woof, a philosophical dog series of political comment of the day.
In the latter part of the decade, O’Gorman was the art director of the Hobson Gallery of Fine Art, where he began mentoring young artists.
During his long career, O’Gorman held numerous exhibitions throughout New Zealand, Australia and Britain.
He travelled all over the globe painting; Italy’s landscapes were a favourite.
For more than 30 years, he produced the very collectable and sought-after Roche Calendar, released annually by the pharmaceutical company. O’Gorman’s work was so popular with Roche that he was commissioned to produce the UK version for several years. In 1993, a book was published of the best of 20 years of Roche in New Zealand.
In the 1990s, O’Gorman was contracted by TVNZ to create art for Maggie’s Garden Show to paint images live for the popular segment, Hidden Places.
In 2000, as well as O’Gorman publishing his third book, Auckland, City of Sails, American Express was the latest in a long list of corporations that commissioned him to paint at the corporate hosts’ restaurant and club for the America’s Cup.
Frances Davies of Parnell’s International Arts Centre, who represented O’Gorman, says it is a sad farewell to an artist of singular talent.
“When Lance pulled up on the gallery forecourt in his small red car and began unloading canvases, it was like Christmas,” says Davies.
“We loved him and we adored his work. It was an honour to represent him.”
A good week for the Fowler women
New York-based top model Georgia Fowler, 33, and her Sydney-based older sister, former model and bed linen entrepreneur Kate, 35, flew in to New Zealand last weekend for their mother Kim’s 60th birthday celebrations.
Georgia arrived in Auckland with her two children, 3-year-old daughter Dylan and 1-year-old son Zeke, and enjoyed family time at Cafe on Kohi in Auckland’s eastern suburbs on Friday.
Kate arrived for the weekend with her daughters, Alexa, 9, and Sacchi, 7. Kate’s boyfriend, David Oettle, flew in with them.
A large group of extended family gathered for Kim’s birthday lunch at Azabu Mission Bay on Saturday afternoon.
Animal print was the dress theme, with Kate wearing a leopard-print skirt and Georgia wearing a snakeskin dress, accessorised with the perfect gold necklace to celebrate her mum.
Kim posed for a lovely intergenerational photo with her daughters and grandchildren.
Party people of the week
Billy’s Winter Wonderland Gala
Queenstown’s party of the year took place at the newly opened Billy’s at Ayrburn for its annual Winter Wonderland Gala.
As they walked up to the venue, 150 well-heeled guests were greeted by Chinese ribbon dancers before entering through the original door into the homestead.
Each room of the homestead offered a different sensory activation. The central point was the bar, where guests enjoyed the venue’s signature cocktails and roaming canapes that took inspiration from Billy’s menu by executive chef Richard Highnam.
The party started with a burlesque-style dancer making her way from the homestead and into the custom-built conservatory, where she wowed guests with a performance that ended with her in a giant martini glass spraying bottles of champagne.
A custom-built ice sculpture, with vodka flowing down straight into cocktail glasses, was a focal point of the room, with Sweet Mix Kids on the DJ decks. Towards the end of the night, custom Billy’s fortune cookies were distributed – all with cheeky notes inside.
Notable guests included Ayrburn owner and founder and CEO of Winton Group, Chris Meehan, his wife Michaela and their son Percy; Winton Group’s creative lead Alex Watts; architect and director of SA Studio Jessie Sutherland; media personality Laura McGoldrick; The Mountain Club’s Paddy and Bethan Kluts; Centuria NZ CEO Mark Francis and his wife, the Red Room’s Dominque; real estate king Graham Wall; model and wellness professional Ether Cronin; and Zoë Gibbs of Aro Hā Retreats.
Ali Bond’s Breast Cancer Cure Moxie Gala
A night of impact, generosity and flair was hosted by breast cancer survivor and podcast host Ali Bond for her Breast Cancer Cure Moxie Gala.
Guests enjoyed delectable canapes and a three-course dinner by James Bratton, the owner/chef of Moxie, a restaurant in Auckland’s Birkenhead, followed by a heartfelt address from professor Andrew Shelling on the groundbreaking work of BCC.
Auction highlights included items from Yvonne Bennetti and Adrian Hailwood, Bentley Auckland, Fifth Avenue Jewellers and Label House Design, with spirited bidding led by auctioneer Shane Cortese and the evening’s MC, embodiment coach Tina Kapp-Kailea. The night raised $30,000 for the charity.
Attendees included First Mates Last Laugh co-owner Judith Tabron, artist Ross Dowie, The Weekender Gifts and Events founder Jennie Iago, podcaster Dominic Harvey and his partner Ash Males, and media personality Jay-Jay Feeney, and her partner, accountant Minou.
Ricardo Simich has been with the Herald since 2008 where he contributed to The Business Insider. In 2012 he took over Spy at the Herald on Sunday, which has since evolved into Society Insider. The weekly column gives a glimpse into the worlds of the rich and famous.