Syrian president's wife in £270K spree

Details revealed on the lavish lifestyle of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's wife Asma (Getty Images)

Further details of the lavish lifestyle enjoyed by the wife of the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, were revealed yesterday in a leak of emails allegedly sent by her to an exclusive London furniture store.

The emails, a selection of which were released by Wiki-Leaks, appear to show Asma al-Assad discussing the purchase of furniture worth £270,000 for a presidential palace last March. Among the orders the British-born first lady placed with DN Designs of Chelsea, west London, were five chandeliers costing £8,800, The Mail on Sunday reported.

An earlier batch of emails released by WikiLeaks in March painted a similar picture of Mrs Assad's shopping habits. In those, she discussed buying jewellery and finding a copy of the latest Harry Potter film.