Irene, the Lady Forte, was born on May 4 1921. Born Irene Chierico, she was the widow of the late Lord Forte, of Ripley, the hotelier and caterer. Even before this she had been a loving and resourceful daughter to her parents, Italian immigrants who ran a delicatessen in Wardour Street, Soho, for many years.

Her mother, who lived to be 103, worked very hard (aged 80 she would still rise at six every morning) and from an early age her daughter helped with the washing up and in the preparation of food for sale in the shop. She would watch her mother boiling, peeling and crystallising chestnuts to make marron glacé and pouring wine over whole Gruyère cheeses, then wrap them and keep them until they had matured. She also recalled watching her mother prepare the ravioli to sell and as a child she was allowed to make and sell her own smaller versions.