LUCY BALLINGER

Last updated at 21:55 25 August 2006

The trouble with throwing a party is that the guests get in the way. Some turn up at the wrong time, others are not dressed for the occasion and yet more fail to mind their manners.

Read her incredible email in full

Story: Live webcam foils transatlantic burglary

On the occasion of her 21st birthday bash at the Ritz Hotel, however, bank worker Lucy Gao decided there would be none of these problems.

She sent a detailed e-mail to 39 of her friends setting out the schedule for the evening. It gave them staggered time slots for arrival and told them what to wear and even what to say.

There were also helpful hints such as: ‘It goes without saying that the more upper-class you dress, the less likely you shall be denied entry.’

The meticulous Miss Gao, however, saw her best-laid plans backfire on her. One colleague at Citigroup bank was so stunned by the message that he forwarded it on to a friend. She in turn sent it to 12 colleagues in her department with four additional words at the top – ‘Her best yet … enjoy’.

And as always seems to happen in these cases, the e-mail has pinged around the world, entertaining bank workers by the thousand.

Miss Gao was a pupil at Parkstone Grammar School for girls in Poole, Dorset, before studying engineering at Balliol College, Oxford. Her father Zhiyong, 49, and mother Pin Lui, 48, both have doctorates. Mr Gao works for Sony while his wife works for Marconi.

They recently moved to Coventry while their daughter took up a work-experience internship with Citigroup in Real Estate Equity Research at the bank’s headquarters in Canary Wharf, East London.

Her birthday party began last Friday evening with a champagne reception at the Rivoli Bar in the Ritz, and ended at the Pangea nightclub in Mayfair.

Miss Gao opened the e-mail by briefly thanking her friends for confirming they would attend. She then launched into 350 words of instructions about precisely where they should go and when. The honoured few were given slots in staggered arrival times and told that if they had any problems on the night to call her ‘PA’ – believed to be university friend Sanampreet Gill.

The message went on: ‘Please read ALL the following to ensure your entry into the Ritz. I have arranged the Ritz to host a Champagne Reception with a selection of Ritz Champagne for all my guests, this will be on me so please come and indulge.

‘A specially made birthday cake has also been ordered and the Ritz waiters will kindly serve you each a generous slice with Ritz cutleries, etc … also on me.’

Men were to wear shirts, jackets and ties while women should stick to cocktail dresses and skirts. If in doubt, they should contact the birthday girl who gave her mobile number, direct line at work and fax number.

She stipulated that when asked by staff: ‘How can I help you Sir/Madame?’ partygoers should reply: ‘I am here for Lucy’s Birthday Party at the Rivoli Bar’. One recipient wrote on the e-mail: ‘Maybe we need to revisit the intern selection criteria – I think the emphasis on control may be too high!’

Yesterday a message, claiming to be from Miss Gao, was posted on an Oxford University gossip website.

It said that the e-mail was meant to be a joke between friends, but that things were now ‘seriously getting out of control’. The message went on: ‘I am sorry if you found the content of the invitation details offensive and I am glad to entertain.

‘But please stop now because it is getting really unprofessional and unnecessary, and a lot of you know me anyway and have heard about this so I apologise for repeating this again, but hopefully for the final time.’

A Citigroup spokesman said Miss Gao had done nothing wrong and her employment was unaffected.