Born and bred in Shrewsbury, Syrie got a first at Trinity College, Cambridge. She worked as assistant director of the Hay on Wye Literary Festival before working on documentaries for Channel 4’s Dispatches, Equinox and Without Walls, and the BBC’s The Late Show.

Syrie then moved to the Guardian and the Evening Standard, while contributing features to Harpers & Queen, Tatler, the Literary Review, the Mail on Sunday, the Sunday Times and GQ. While she brought up her daughters she interior designed and renovated numerous properties here and abroad. She was a patron at the Royal Academy of Arts, and a member of the first committee of Soho House as well as a number of other clubs. Nicolas was a partner at the law firm De Brauw, and head of its London office for 14 years, before leaving to join Stndrd, the international ESG real estate development company, as a partner and director.