Lucia van der Post has spent 25 years dishing out advice on matters such as where to buy the best smoked salmon and packing for a weekend away.

She edited the Financial Times' How To Spend It section and later magazine for nigh on a quarter of a century and is also well known for her Ask Lucia' and interior design columns in The Times and The Sunday Times.

Now 72, she could pass for a woman many years younger, but she assured the audience of 50 women who had gathered to hear her speak at The Cotswold House Hotel in Chipping Campden that she has never resorted to plastic surgery.

Instead, she relies on non-surgical facelifts and vitamin injections, something she explains in more detail in her book, Things I Wish My Mother Had Told Me - Lessons in Grace and Elegance.

"I have tried hard to make this book useful," she said. "Through the years, I've coped with love, marriage, work, children and had too little time and too much to do. I have interviewed beauty and design gurus such as Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace and Estee Lauder and I wanted to pass that knowledge on."

There are chapters on fashion, beauty, interior design and even a whole one dedicated to radiance', for instance: "Black is chic and very slimming but wearing black can deaden your complexion."

But what would she say to critics who dismiss this sort of things as trivia?

"It is a question of proportion. It is not more important than love, marriage, babies or generosity of spirit but it is nice to have it as well. It adds to the gaiety of life," she explained.

"You have to get up and get dressed every day so why not put on something you feel fabulous in?" she asked.

She is modest about her own looks.

"I have no model figure. I wish I was thinner and taller, so I have learned to disguise these imperfections."

Another of her style tips is to find a good personal shopper. "No matter how well you dress they will still bring something new out of you," she pointed out.

She still retains a slight accent that reflects her roots - her father was highly respected South African novelist and travel writer Sir Laurens van der Post, best known for his book on the Kalahari tribesmen.

A friend and mentor to Prince Charles, he also advised Margaret Thatcher, who honoured him with a knighthood in 1981, 15 years before his death aged 90.

Having a guru for a parent guaranteed that Lucia would have a slightly philosophical take on fashion and luxury items.

"It is not just about taste and style, it is about honesty," she pointed out.

"The important thing is that you buy it because you love it, not just because it's expensive."

In her book, she tackles the work/life balance issue and is sceptical as to whether it is possible for women to have it all' by juggling a career and home life.

"When I look back I feel bad because I worked all the way through. My children turned out to be really lovely people, but there were things I missed," she admitted.

The children' she refers to are Emma, a journalist and TV producer, and her son, David Crichton-Miller.

Between them they have presented Lucia and her husband Neil Crichton-Miller, a retired barrister, with five grandchildren, all aged under ten.

She remains silent for a few minutes when asked whether etiquette and how to behave is still relevant in today's informal world.

"People's ideas of manners are changing but human nature hasn't. Most of us respond to warmth and generosity," she said. "It is not about externals - formality and show. It is about having consideration for others.

"One of my father's favourite sayings was Never take offence, darling. Only small minded people take offence.' "To be utterly gracious, now that is class."