Introduction of Chanel into English 'High Society' Lombardi gave Chanel entrée into the highest levels of the British aristocracy. It was in Monte Carlo in 1923 that Lombardi introduced Chanel to the vastly wealthy 2nd Duke of Westminster, Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, known to his intimates as “Bendor” or, more usually, "Benny" (a pun on the Grosvenor coat of arms, which included a 'Bend Or' before the famous legal case of Scrope v Grosvenor in 1389), who became Chanel's lover for the next ten or more years.[15] Lombardi also introduced Chanel to Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII, and they were rumoured to have had a brief affair.[1]

Origin of Chanel's 'English Look'
Adapting traditional British sporting clothes to her modern vision of dress, Chanel found in Lombardi and her social set an inspirational template for a new design concept; Chanel's signature 'English Look'. Linking Lombardi’s promotional value to her own business success, Chanel hired the thirty-seven-year-old Lombardi as public relations representative for the House of Chanel in 1920. The Chanel look worn by Lombardi was the visible daily attire, the casual yet chic style that became identified with the modern ease and elegance of Chanel couture.[16] The Lombardi/Chanel friendship was a close one, sustained over many years. Their formal business association, however, ended in 1930 when Lombardi left Chanel to work for couturier Edward Molyneux.
source: http://research.omicsgroup.org/index.php/Vera_Bate_Lombardi#Association_with_Coco_Chanel