The sun sets on Palm Beach's Dame Celia

Celia Lipton Farris

Its rich and famous residents have included the Kennedy family tycoon Donald Trump, Manchester United owner Malcolm Glazer, Rod Stewart and fashion designer Vera Wang. Michael Jackson and John Lennon once had homes there.

Less famous but perhaps considerably far more wealthy, are the scores of multi-millionaire business leaders who, with their sprawling mansions, fleets of sports cars, servants and lavish lifestyles, have made the east coast town one of the most desirable addresses on earth.

And at its helm, dubbed the 'Queen of Palm Beach', was Edinburgh-born socialite, Celia Lipton Farris.

She had a fortune in the bank thanks to her late husband's shrewd inventions including paper clips and milk cartons. Her address book was stuffed with glamorous names like Ginger Rodgers and Prince Philip.

Today Palm Beach is mourning her death.

Born a stone's throw from Bruntsfield Links at 73 Leamington Terrace, she became a child theatre star, Forces' sweetheart, actress and an astonishingly-generous philanthropist. She is barely known in her home town yet regarded in this exclusive Florida enclave as the closest it could possibly have to royalty.

She counted British royals among her friends and close associates. She knew Prince Philip before he married the Queen. 'Dame' Celia also knew the Kennedys and Hollywood giants like Elizabeth Taylor, Gregory Peck, Lauren Bacall and Kirk Douglas.

She also had dazzling looks and a talent for socialising in a town famed for its glittering social events. She was generous too. At one point she was said to be giving away at least 1 million a year of her 150m fortune. Few in Palm Beach did not know the name Celia Lipton Farris.

Yet there were few clues to the destiny that awaited Celia Lipton when she was born in Edinburgh on Christmas Day, 1924. Her parents were already well known in Scotland: her father, Sydney Lipton was regarded as one of the country's most gifted bandleaders of his generation. He had stopped off in Edinburgh during a tour when he met the glamorous singer and dancer he'd eventually marry, Lauder beauty Marion Parker.

They married in 1923, and made their home in a two-bedroom flat in Leamington Terrace. On December 25 the following year, Marion gave birth to their only child, Celia May Lipton. By the time she was eight, demands for her father's talents had taken the family to the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane where he'd stay for 35 years. Yet it was her Edinburgh roots that provided the foundations for Celia's remarkable life.

In one of her final interviews before her death, she recalled her love for Scotland and her pride for the city of her birth.

"I adore Scotland," she said. "I have a lot of happy memories of it. I am very proud of the fact that I come from Edinburgh and never hesitate to tell people that. I had an amazing Scots mother who gave me and taught me so much."

Raised by musical parents, it was only a matter of time before the young Celia explored her own special talent to sing on stage. Aged ten, she answered an advert asking for a Judy Garland 'soundalike' to play the lead in a BBC radio production of Babes in the Wood. Celia, who perfected Garland's singing style, headed to the audition and was given the role.

That initial step into showbiz later earned her the Palm Beach title 'Britain's Judy Garland.'

At 15, she was a competent performer with radio plays and albums to add to her growing CV when her father introduced her to the audience at the London Palladium where he was leading the orchestra. Later when he served with the Army during the war, the young Celia became a Forces' sweetheart and the family breadwinner, performing for the troops in Britain and Europe.

She matured into a beautiful young woman and began to travel further afield, to Paris and then to the French Riviera. It was there she encountered dashing young Prince Philip of Greece who kindly offered to escort her on an outing to a casino in Cannes.

"I asked him how we were going to get there and he said he'd borrowed a man's bike and he put me on the back of it," she later recalled. "My dress kept catching in the back of the bike. I was lucky since I got to dance with him. He was an exceptionally good dancer."

Celia's destiny could have taken her on a career path to Hollywood - by the early 1950s she'd appeared in a number of movies - or to Broadway, where she had impressed critics. Perhaps she could have stayed in television where she'd already notched up impressive performances. But it was a chance meeting with a smooth, good-looking American in New York that sealed her fate.

At first she mistook Victor Farris for a plumber at her friend's apartment. In fact he was the multi-millionaire inventor of the paper clip and the milk carton. His Farris safety and relief valve is still used in shipping, oil and chemical industries.

They married, propelling Celia into a world of glamour and riches beyond most people's dreams. Her blonde hair was always perfectly styled while she dressed to impress, and her striking good looks meant she was perfectly at home with Hollywood's most glamorous. At one awards event she stood on stage with the late Elizabeth Taylor and fellow silver screen giants Bacall, Douglas, Peck and Wagner. At another, she joined Shirley Bassey, Sir John Mills and Michael Bolton.

Her husband died in 1985, leaving her a 100m fortune and the sprawling Palm Beach mansion once owned by the Vanderbilt family.

Already a tireless charity supporter, she embarked upon a whirlwind of charitable work in Britain and America. In the mid-80s she was among the first to give generously to help fledgling Aids charities and was a strong supporter of the arts and cancer research.

She supported all manner of charities including the National Trust for Scotland, the Salvation Army, the Prince's Trust, the Duke of Edinburgh Awards and the American Red Cross.

In 2004 her charitable support was recognised by the Queen who honoured her with the title Dame of Grace of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem.

It entitled her to place the letters D St J after her name, but from then on in Palm Beach she became known as Dame Celia Lipton Farris - heightening her status as local ‘royalty'.

Her death last month at the age of 87 was, say friends, sudden and unexpected. Until recently she had been working as a Centennial ambassador for Palm Beach's 100th anniversary celebrations.

Close friend Patrick Park, who lived near her, said she had given away millions of dollars to charity. "She never talked about how much. She was very humble and careful not to appear crass. But she donated enormous sums. She was an icon."

Perhaps, though, the most poignant tribute came from someone not averse to revelling in a high profile, Donald Trump. "She was a great woman," he said. "She did more for charity than anybody, and she did it in a quiet way."