Kazakh-born socialite ‘Lady Goga’ who partied with her ‘very, very close friend’ Prince Andrew at her 30th birthday reveals she leads a far quieter life after turning 40

  • Goga Ashkenazi has just turned 40 without having a star-studded luxury party 
  • Ten years ago she enjoyed a spectacular party featuring Prince Andrew 
  • Goga is no longer a fixture on London's social circuit and off-sets her carbon use
  • She described rumours linking her romantically to Prince Andrew as 'nonsense' 

By Ian Gallagher for The Mail on Sunday

Published: | Updated:

No one exemplified oligarch ostentation quite like the beguiling, Kazakh-born socialite Goga Ashkenazi.

Shimmering in a Swarovski crystal-encrusted backless dress, she announced her arrival on the scene ten years ago in spectacular style at her 30th birthday party.

The event featured fire-eaters, peacock-feathered stilt-walkers and a girl swinging from a trapeze pouring vodka into ice sculptures shaped like naked men.

Goga Ashkenazi, pictured, off-sets her carbon footprint every time she flies on her private jet

Goga Ashkenazi, pictured, off-sets her carbon footprint every time she flies on her private jet

Ten years ago, the socialite was photographed next to Prince Andrew, right, while celebrating her 30th birthday

Ten years ago, the socialite was photographed next to Prince Andrew, right, while celebrating her 30th birthday 

And sitting on the top table was Prince Andrew, welcomed as ‘my very, very close friend’. Weeks later, Goga and a string of glamorous women celebrated Andrew’s own milestone – his 50th birthday – at St James’s Palace.

Now The Mail on Sunday can reveal that, ten years on, Goga’s life, like Andrew’s, has altered significantly.

No more a limelight-loving party animal, Goga is rarely seen on the social circuit, preferring a less hectic, though by no means frugal, existence. These days, she says, it is all about ‘sustainability’ rather than conspicuous consumption.

So Goga has gone green? Well, not completely. She still has her private jet, but where she was once chauffeured around in a £137,000 Bentley, she now cycles and walks when she can.

‘I have changed all of my cars and I am offsetting all the miles that I fly,’ she declared.

‘Every mile that I fly goes towards reforestation. I am also teaching my children about sustainability.’

Her 40th birthday last month was a much quieter affair than that 30th – as was Andrew’s 60th party following his fall from grace over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

Goga spent her birthday with friends in Costa Rica, a favourite eco-tourism destination. Andrew was not among them this time. Goga lives in a 17th Century Milan palazzo where her fashion firm Vionnet has its headquarters, and says she wants to make eco-friendly garments and ultimately establish the first entirely sustainable fashion brand. Goga’s two sons, meanwhile, live in her £27.5 million home in Holland Park, West London, with her mother and a nanny.

Born Gaukhar (which means Diamond) Erkinova Berkalieva in Kazakhstan, she grew up in Moscow, the daughter of a senior Communist Party official, and was later educated at Rugby School and Somerville College, Oxford.

It is not altogether clear how she became so well-connected but during an interview with this newspaper a few months after her 30th birthday, she explained: ‘Late in 2003, one of my father’s old friends told us about a tender which was coming up in Kazakhstan. He thought our family could help put it together because we knew so many people in positions of power.’

Oil and gas-rich, Kazakhstan was fertile ground for entrepreneurs. With their political connections, Goga and her sister were ideally placed. ‘It didn’t require any money really. That’s the joy of it. The government gave us the money to put the deal together.’

Others say it was oil and banking kingpin Timur Kulibayev, son-in-law of the president of Kazakhstan and the father of Goga’s two children, who was instrumental in establishing her wealth and influence. It was Kulibayev who eventually bought Andrew’s marital home Sunninghill Park – for £3 million above the £12 million asking price.

Goga dismissed her alleged ‘fixer’ role in the house deal, saying during an interview: ‘I introduced them, that’s all. It just happened one was looking for a house and the other wanted to sell.’

Whatever the truth, Andrew and Goga remain friends. Like his other high-profile socialite pal, Ghislaine Maxwell, Goga is fantastically loyal and has sprung to his defence over the Epstein affair.

Goga has always denied rumours linking them romantically. ‘Such nonsense,’ she told The Mail on Sunday. ‘Andrew has been a very good friend of mine since we met at a dinner party in 2001… He’s very clever and I don’t know why people have it in for him.’

For now, both she and Andrew are moving out of the limelight but as a friend said: ‘I’m not sure it is possible for Goga to drift away. We haven’t heard the last of her.’

 

Most watched News videos

Comments 1

Share what you think

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.