The first lady who once spent £40,000 in an afternoon

Grace Marufu married Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe in 1996, after working as his secretary, becoming his mistress and bearing him two children. Acquiring the nickname “Gucci Grace”, Mrs Mugabe became legendary for international shopping trips including to London’s Harrods, where she reportedly once spent £40,000 in an afternoon. Her overseeing of two lavish multimillionpound palaces built in Zimbabwe, where 76 per cent of rural households live on less than $1.25 per day, was also derided.