The bizarre extravagances of the super-rich

There was a time when multi-millionaires thought it was enough to bathe in champagne, get their favourite pop star to sing at their birthday party, and have their toilet gold plated. But today's super-rich are getting far wealthier and more creative, and are coming up with some far more unusual extravagances.

The super rich have never been richer. The Sunday Times Rich List recently found that the combined wealth of the 1,000 richest men and women in the UK had more than doubled over the previous ten years - to hit a total of £547 billion.

With so many billionaires, carrying so much more money than they need, it's hardly surprising that a huge industry has been established to cater to their every whim and wish. Concierge services have flourished around the world. The very wealthy will keep them on retainer, so that if they want an elephant to greet a work colleague from the airport, or a giraffe as the star of a jungle-themed wedding, the professional is there to grant it (both these things have actually been organised by concierge companies around the world).
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Wild requests

We have compiled a list of five of the most unexpected requests from the super-rich in recent years.

1) Ten Group, a concierge service, recently told the Telegraph about some of the more extravagant requests it has received. Among the most interesting was the UK member who wanted to organise a surprise for his 16-year-old daughter's birthday. Not only did he whisk her off to New York, but while they were walking through Central Park they were greeted by a flash mob dancing to Pharell Williams' 'Happy'.

2) Concierge group Quintessentially, meanwhile, says it has been asked to install a bat cave in a client's house, and oversaw the entire job - ensuring that their client could access the cave through a secret door from the library.

3) Last year CNN asked hotels to reveal the most extravagant things they had been asked for. The St Ermin's Hotel in Westminster said that one guest had asked for a daily supply of Kobe beef for his dog. They had it couriered from a high-end restaurant every day.

4) The Savoy Hotel, meanwhile, says it was once asked to bring in wild goat's milk from Wales - to fill a bath. The milk itself only set the client back £50, but the taxi to and from Wales cost £600. After the bath of warmed goats milk, the hotel heated a bath of 60 bottles of mineral water in order for the guest to wash themselves off.

5) However, not everything is available for a price. Ten Group was asked to encourage JK Rowling to include the name of a member's daughter in a Harry Potter book. The client offered to pay £50,000 but JK Rowling's team said it wasn't on offer - at any price.

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