Divided by origins, united by wealth: the new super-rich

When John Major moved into Downing Street in 1990, he used a phrase coined by Karl Marx to describe his ultimate ambition: turning Britain into a "genuinely classless society".

A glance at today's super-rich would suggest that, in this one regard, both the Major government and that of his successor, Tony Blair, can go down as a staggering success. The seriously wealthy are no longer a social class. There are too many of them. Some were born rich, others self-made. Meet them, and it's difficult to know if they'll talk in cut-glass vowels, or like a fishwife.

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Instead of a single class, then, we should actually divide the wealthy into tribes. In London today, there are five big ones: Old Money (or OMs), City Boys (and girls), Celebrities, Entrepreneurs, and the Foreign Invaders.

Each has its favoured habitats. Old Money gravitates towards Chelsea and Kensington, with a weekend pile in the country; celebrities prefer Belsize Park or Primrose Hill. Self-made Entrepreneurs such as Sir Richard Branson (Holland Park) live wherever they can buy a decent mansion.

Meanwhile, Foreign Invaders take over entire areas of town. In Belgravia, it's the Russians, in Notting Hill, the Americans. The French like South Ken, and Arabs have always been fond of Mayfair.

The holy grail of wealth is an Eaton Square house, with a mews behind it, providing both a servants' quarter, and discreet alternative to the front door. The City's highest-paid trader, Driss Ben-Brahim, lives nearby. He made headlines at Christmas, after rumours that he had received a £50m bonus.

Once they've bought a home, High Net Worth individuals (known in the trade as HNWs) love a facelift. Designers such as Kelly Hoppen and Nina Campbell are employed to sell them £2,000-a-roll wallpaper, or vases filled with pebbles at £750 a throw.

The surrounding area gets filled with beauty salons, designer boutiques and other luxury stores.

In parts of Belgravia, it's now more-or-less impossible to purchase white sliced: instead you must visit Poilane, and fork out £5 for a sourdough alternative to the baguette.

Schools are a big deal. London's poshest preps, such as The Hall and Hill House compete with provincial rivals such as Summerfields. Sending children to Eton represents a coup, but you've got to "put them down" early and many still don't make it. They have to put up with Harrow or Rugby, or worse still, Radley and Stowe.

At play, the HNW tribes gravitate towards upmarket restaurants. There's Zuma for the Eurotrash crowd, Gordon Ramsay for Americans. In the centre of town, Celebrities eat at the Ivy, Nobu, or the Wolseley. Old Money dines at his club, or at a push, the Savoy Grill.

Later on, new HNWs enjoy joints such as Aura, Bouji's or Movida. Celebs mooch around haunts such as Soho House, the Groucho Club, or Annabel's.

If they have any free time HNWs are attracted to the traditional pursuits of the moneyed classes. Polo is one of Britain's fastest growing sports. Tickets for a decent enclosure at this summer's major High Goal events, the Cartier and Veuve Clicquot cups, will go for £500 a head.

For holidays right now, think resorts such as Gstaad, St Moritz and Courchevel; favourite beach destinations include St Tropez, or the Sandy Lane Hotel in Barbados. All of which brings up the nasty business of travel. Real wealth doesn't "do" scheduled flights. Instead they go private; Battersea heliport, where most choppers arrive in town, is booked from dawn to dusk.

For cars, think Ferrari, Range Rover and Bentley (even new money deems Rollers too vulgar), or to a lesser extent Porsche. At Stratstones of Mayfair, an Aston Martin dealership, one salesman recently reported a six-month waiting list. "For some it's just a whim," he said. "Others just say, 'I haven't got that model in my collection'. It's a wonderful world." And if you're lucky enough to be part of one of the HNW tribes, he's probably right.

The 10 richest foreigners in Britain

Lakshmi Mittal - India With a net worth of £14.8bn from the steel industry, Mittal is the richest Indian in the world. He lives in Kensington.

Roman Abramovich - Russia Oil billionaire and owner of Chelsea FC has been deemed the world's greatest spender on luxury yachts.

Hans Rausing - Sweden Professor Hans Rausing amassed his £4bn from co-inheritance of Swedish packing production company Tetra Pak.

Leonard Blavatnik - USA Billionaire who has interests in Russian and Kazakhstani mines, property and telecommunications.

Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja - India Now cleared of involvement in a deal to sell guns to India, the brothers' profits have soared.

John Fredriksen - Norway/Cyprus Most of the shipping tycoon's £2.89bn fortune was amassed during the Iran-Iraq war.

Charlene and Michel de Carvalho - Netherlands Inherited a 25 per cent stake in Heineken from Charlene's father, Freddy Heineken.

Kirsten and Jorn Rausing - Sweden Tetra Pak heirs (brother and sister-in-law of Hans) with a stake in food delivery chain Ocado.

Mahdi al-Tajir - UAE His £2bn wealth was generated by property and finance. He is known for his extensive collection of antique silver.

Poju Zabludowicz - Finland He owns the investment house Tamares, in London, New York, Liechtenstein and Tel Aviv.

Source: Sunday Times Magazine