A charity dinner raised £28 million in four hours, with tables of 10 guests selling for up to £100,000 and raffle tickets for £1000 each. (Daily Telegraph).

It was held in aid of Absolute Return for Kids at the Marlborough House in Pall Mall and was attended by entertainers Bob Geldof, Liz Hurley, Madonna and Prince with former US president Bill Clinton giving a speech and pledging £4 million from his own foundation to help Aids victims in Mozambique.

Guests were equally generous with the top auction prices of around £½ million being paid for a safari in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley. More than £8 million was also pledged in matched contributions from six hedge fund millionaires. Absolute Return for Kids was founded by Arpad Busson, a multi-millionaire financier.

The £28 million is thought to be a UK record for a single dinner and is only topped by the £35.5 million raised by the Robin Hood hedge fund charity dinner, held in New York in early May.