Elton welcomes Camilla into the fold

Sir Elton John greeted Camilla Parker Bowles with a kiss on the cheek at a star-studded charity event.

Mrs Parker Bowles - who looked stunning in an off-the-shoulder evening gown by designer Robinson Valentine - smiled warmly as she was also kissed by Sir Elton's partner David Furnish.

She arrived 30 minutes before the Prince of Wales at Somerset House where Sir Elton, one of Princess Diana's staunchest supporters, was playing a 45-minute concert to a crowd of millionaires and celebrities.

Organisers of the charity evening, one of the biggest in London for some years, hope to raise up to £3 million from a guest list scattered with names such as Rothschild, Rausing and Getty.

Each paid £5,000 to attend the event, in aid of Somerset House and the children's charity Absolute Return For Kids (ARK), which aims to transform the lives of children who are the victims of abuse, disability, illness and poverty.

The evening, co-hosted by Lord Rothschild and Lily Safra, Britain's wealthiest woman, started with a champagne and canap? reception in the courtyard. Guests, including Elle Macpherson, Joanna Lumley, Jemima Khan and Sophie Dahl and Tim Jeffries, then had a candlelit meal in a marquee.

Sir Elton, wearing a black jacket with a sequined motif on the back, said before his concert: "I was asked to perform by Lily (Safra) and I said yes because she's been so supportive of my charities. And when Lily asks you to do something, you do it. Anyway, it's a wonderful charity to be supporting."

More funds were raised at an auction which included a chance to meet Arsenal football stars and a day's pheasant and partridge shooting at Ashcombe, the £9 million Wiltshire estate of Madonna and Guy Ritchie.

Other lots included the chance to play tennis doubles against Sir Elton and Guy Forget, captain of the French Davis Cup team in 2001.