Crew that keep Lady Shifty (and her £100m yacht) shipshape: Two chefs, a dog walker, a hairdresser, a florist, a masseur, an army of window cleaners - just to mention a few! 

  • Lionheart has finally been delivered to Philip Green and wife Tina in Malta
  • This is inside story of Team Tina - the crew keeping Lady Shifty shipshape
  • Who carried Tina's bags? What are secrets of its oh-so-fabulous interior?
  • And who else will be joining the Greens on the high seas this summer? 

She swept aboard last Monday — the queen of a brand new £100 million superyacht, with a fluffy white dog in her arms and a team of acolytes in her wake.

Yes, Lionheart, billionaire Sir Philip Green's amazing floating palace, has finally been delivered to him and his wife Tina in Malta.

But as the BHS scandal rumbles on, this usually highly visible tycoon is nowhere to be seen. He is, however, expected to join Tina at some point over the next fortnight, and then spend the next few months on the yacht.

So who carried Tina's bags aboard? What are the secrets of its oh-so-fabulous interior? And who else will be joining the Greens on the high seas this summer?

ALISON BOSHOFF has the inside story of Team Tina — the crew who keep Lady Shifty shipshape, on and off the ocean waves.

Tina Green swept aboard last Monday — the queen of a brand new £100 million superyacht, with a fluffy white dog in her arms and a team of acolytes in her wake

Tina Green swept aboard last Monday — the queen of a brand new £100 million superyacht, with a fluffy white dog in her arms and a team of acolytes in her wake

Yes, Lionheart, billionaire Sir Philip Green's amazing floating palace, has finally been delivered to him and his wife Tina in Malta

Yes, Lionheart, billionaire Sir Philip Green's amazing floating palace, has finally been delivered to him and his wife Tina in Malta

SUAVE BEST FRIEND AND BUSINESS PARTNER

Handsome and suave, Tina's very best friend is Pietro Mingarelli. He is the partner in her Monaco-based yacht and private jet interior design company, Green and Mingarelli, which they set up four years ago.

The Italian architect, who is married and in his 50s, followed just a few paces behind her up the gangplank on Monday, dressed in blue and carrying a large briefcase.

They met 13 years ago while Tina was designing the interior for a 37-metre yacht. She has said they 'clicked immediately', and have worked together ever since. Projects have included designing furniture for Lalique, the ultra-expensive French glassmaker, and a string of luxury residences.

His sense of style certainly fits in with Lady Green's very expensive tastes. The interior of the yacht is nothing short of sumptuous.

Mingarelli is known for his attention to detail and his insistence on everything being immaculate. He had a gold statue of Buddha hand-crafted in Jaipur and then flown to the yacht. No expense is ever spared.

The colour scheme is monochrome — Lady Tina is known to favour stark white and black interiors

The colour scheme is monochrome — Lady Tina is known to favour stark white and black interiors

Other essentials he helped Tina design include a helicopter landing pad, gym, spa, jacuzzi, swimming pool, beauty salon and exterior bar.

The colour scheme is monochrome — Lady Tina is known to favour stark white and black interiors, which she says are 'timeless and tireless', and cites the influence of Coco Chanel.

That's not to say that it's cheap: a single armchair from her collection — cream fabric on a high gloss ebony wood veneer — costs £16,000. And white cushions with a black trim? Up to £3,500 each.

That said, the partnership is highly thought of in the yacht design world. She has no plans to retire, but is ambitious to expand her business. Her motto, apparently, is: 'There will always be rich people.'

She and Mingarelli fly around the world to check on the design and quality of all of the elements, personally picking marble from Italy for the bathrooms and countertops and so on.

They leave nothing to chance. It was reported that last week Mingarelli apparently had the yacht stewardesses going in to every guest cabin and having a shower — to test temperature controls and the water pressure.

THE PAMPERED POOCHES …

Clutched tight in Lady Green's right arm is one of the loves of her life: her dog.

It is thought to be a Coton de Tulear — a rare toy dog (puppies go for up to £2,000) of the same sort owned by Barbra Streisand, Jane Fonda and Catherine Zeta-Jones. They're a happy, playful and inquisitive breed, though trainers say they can be hard to housetrain — a pressing issue given that expensive interior.

The other dog — a greying chihuahua carried by a housekeeper — belongs to Philip Green. For Philip Green's 63rd birthday in March last year, Lady Tina commissioned a cake showing him in bed cuddling up to the dog, with the message 'His greatest love, Louie'.

Lionheart has a total of 40 crew, who were brought to the yacht in a fleet of silver Mercedes people carriers

Lionheart has a total of 40 crew, who were brought to the yacht in a fleet of silver Mercedes people carriers

… AND THE COSSETED CREW

Lionheart has a total of 40 crew, who were brought to the yacht in a fleet of silver Mercedes people carriers. They include the stewards and stewardesses, who look after everything inside the boat, to deckhands, first mate, bosun and engineers.

The captain oversees it all, with the chiefs of each section reporting back to him. Keeping a yacht the size of Lionheart running smoothly is like a very well oiled military operation.

The crew on Green's previous boat had a monochromatic uniform to fit Tina's tastes, but now the uniform is cream.

While in Malta, every single window is cleaned daily by a team of window cleaners, and the deck is polished with a microfibre broom twice a day.

The crew are all on tax-free wages starting at £2,500 per month, with board and food included for deckhands. This rises to more like £6,500 per month for people like the chef and the chief engineer. The captain gets even more.

Keeping a yacht the size of Lionheart running smoothly is like a very well oiled military operation

Keeping a yacht the size of Lionheart running smoothly is like a very well oiled military operation

A source indicates that the Greens pay well. 'They believe in looking after the staff who are around them,' he said, 'as that will keep them loyal and working to Tina's high standards.

'She is seen as lovely to work for. While she has high expectations, she will also treat them. She gives away her designer cast-offs and takes them all out for expensive lunches.'

Those who witnessed Sir Philip's distinctly belligerent performance at the House of Commons select committee last month will not be surprised to learn that he is by reputation rather less lovely to work for than Tina.

The source says: 'The way he acted at the BHS hearing was him on his best behaviour. He is notorious for his shouting and swearing. For example, when he had a party for his birthday in the Caribbean, they had ordered an entire lock-up garage full of flowers for the dinner on the boat. Philip didn't like them, and new ones had to be flown in from Holland.'

SUPERFOODS AND ROSE CHAMPAGNE

THE Greens enjoy the attentions of a personal chef in Monaco, who apparently is a whizz in raw food and superfoods — a fact which is not perhaps evident in Sir Philip's plutocratic waistline.

The chef has joined Tina and will be on the yacht all summer, along with a second chef.

Laurent Perrier rosé champagne (at £60 a bottle) is served on board. Apparently, Sir Philip frowns on anyone who asks for champagne at breakfast. They are told that the yacht is waiting for a new delivery and they must wait until lunch.

With her deep tan, long blonde hair and plenty of jewellery, Lady Tina has a very Cote D'Azur sense of style

With her deep tan, long blonde hair and plenty of jewellery, Lady Tina has a very Cote D'Azur sense of style

Lady Tina also has a dog walker — a trained animal behaviourist — who is on board for the rest of the summer. When they are at sea, the dog walker takes the pooches for a daily turn around the deck, and is on poop scooping duty.

A personal hairdresser is also in situ in the boat's beauty salon. There is also a masseur on board, who in addition can do anything from facials to manicures.

KEEPING UP WITH SUPERMODEL PALS 

Just behind Mingarelli is Tina's personal trainer. At 67, Tina is very much interested in health and wellness. While in Monaco, she does regular juice fasts and has a selection of green juices (at around £6 for 250ml) delivered to her penthouse by local company the Organic Detox Bar, which she drinks on the go.

Her personal trainer also specialises in yoga, pilates, meditation and mindfulness, and is with her in Malta at the moment. Presumably, if you are hanging out with supermodels half your age all summer, it pays to keep yourself in tip top shape.

REFIT FOR THE BABY BOAT 

The little Lioncub — a smaller boat which takes passengers to and from the yacht when it is moored — has had a fancy new paint-job.

Previously it was leopard print, but that wasn’t deemed swish enough for the new boat.

Now it has been painted black, with a huge silver lion’s head. If possible, it is even more eye-catching — and vulgar — than ever before.

The little Lioncub — a smaller boat which takes passengers to and from the yacht when it is moored — has had a fancy new paint-job

The little Lioncub — a smaller boat which takes passengers to and from the yacht when it is moored — has had a fancy new paint-job

Advertisement

THE LADY LOVES HER DIAMONDS

With her deep tan, long blonde hair and plenty of jewellery, Lady Tina has a very Cote D'Azur sense of style. She wears huge diamond earrings, and a ring with a diamond the size of a Fox's Glacier Mint.

Many of her clothes come from the Monaco branch of Isabell Kristensen Couture. Danish-born Isabell favours designs of the frothy and colourful variety: her best known gown is Sheryl Gascoigne's wedding dress, a confection consisting of 200 metres of peach tulle, topped with 30,000 pearl and glass beads.

Tina was front row at Isabell's Monaco summer fashion show last month, sitting alongside her close friend Prince Albert.

She also favours Melissa Odabash swimwear and cover-ups. Odabash, an American fashion designer and former model, has been credited with creating the 'Ferraris of swimwear', and is particularly adored by women of a certain age thanks to her flattering cuts.

While in Malta, every single window is cleaned daily by a team of window cleaners, and the deck is polished with a microfibre broom twice a day

While in Malta, every single window is cleaned daily by a team of window cleaners, and the deck is polished with a microfibre broom twice a day

EXQUISITE BLOOMS THAT ARE FLOWN IN 

Both the Greens are wild about blooms. For dinner parties they have exquisite floral arrangements that hang from the ceiling of whichever part of the yacht they have decided to eat in, and can take up to ten hours to arrange.

Blooms are flown in from Azur Flowers in Cagnes-Sur-Mer, run by blonde British florist Natasha Russell. Her idea for the brand came from her time working on yachts, where one of her duties included ordering and arranging flowers.

In 2014, she enrolled in a course at London's premier florist McQueen's, a world leader in floral design favoured by five-star hotels and fashion labels. Russell's signature style is vintage with a modern twist, and based around the English rose.

Tina wears huge diamond earrings, and a ring with a diamond the size of a Fox's Glacier Mint

Tina wears huge diamond earrings, and a ring with a diamond the size of a Fox's Glacier Mint

AT LAST — TIME TO SHOW IT OFF

Pals including Kate Moss and her boyfriend Nico von Bismarck are expected on board this summer. Other likely guests include Richard Caring, the West End restaurants and clubs tycoon, and Simon Cowell.

Apparently, even though they hid the boat away for a long time, Tina is incredibly proud of their new yacht and sees it as the result of four years of hard work.

It's the jewel in her interior design crown and she hopes it will bring in all kinds of new business from all over the world.

Sources say it is to ultimately be their retirement home, and they want to show it off to everyone.

There was to have been a party during the Monaco Grand Prix this spring, but it had to be cancelled because of the fallout from the BHS scandal.

The couple's daughter, 25-year-old Chloe Green, will be among those trying out the new yacht. She and her elder brother Brandon have their own boat, which is currently in Ibiza, but they also stay with their parents on Lionheart, especially over the summer.

Chloe, who has appeared on the reality TV show Made In Chelsea, has designed numerous ranges of shoes for Topshop. She recently shared some pictures of herself with Real Madrid and Portugal footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, including an autographed mobile phone case inscribed: 'To my love Chloe.'

Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.