Inseparable couple: Chau Kai-bong and his wife Brenda in a photo from Discover Hong Kong. Chau was quoted in 2007 as saying that he and his wife became instant celebrities in their country when they started wearing the latest European fashions in the 1960s.

HONG KONG - A flamboyant Hong Kong socialite who owned the city's first golden toilet and travelled around with his fashionista wife in a pink Rolls Royce has died at 75, his son said Wednesday.

Lawyer Chau Kai-bong lived in Villa d'Oro (literally the "House of Gold"), a mansion draped in gold from the window trimmings to bathroom fixtures.

Carpets and even chauffeur uniforms were also draped in shocking pink.

Chau's son Brandon, also a lawyer, told AFP his father saw his newborn grandson before succumbing to cancer on Tuesday.

Chau and his wife Brenda often appeared at glamour balls with matching outlandish outfits and were frequently splashed across the society pages in the southern Chinese city.

"Some reporters criticise the way we dress. They know nothing about fashion," Chau was quoted as saying in a 2007 magazine article.

"I could have become a monk. I've got a sixth sense. I can feel things before they happen," he added.

"Long story short: my father tricked me into becoming a lawyer. I never loved it but I made a living out of it," Chau said.

The socialite earned a law degree at Cambridge University before returning to Hong Kong in the 1960s to set up his own legal practice.

Chau's father, Sir Chau Sik-nin, was a renowned eye specialist and prominent political figure in Hong Kong between the 1940s and 1960s during British colonial rule.

Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997.