Miss Wax remained uncharacteristically silent after newspaper reports last October linked her with South African-born Internet entrepreneur Christian Auchincloss, who is 16 years her junior.

Mr Auchincloss has promised a “fundamental reset” to boost performance after it emerged the US hedge fund had built a near 5 per cent stake in the £72 billion (€87 billion) FTSE 100 company.

Auchincloss has promised a “fundamental reset” to boost performance after it emerged the US hedge fund had built a near 5 per cent stake in the £72 billion ($143 billion) FTSE 100 company.