Kiss me, Kate!

It is shocking. It is scandalous. It will provoke moral outrage from Borehamwood to Bexley.

Yes, the picture we could have published here would have been one of the most controversial ever to grace the pages of the Evening Standard.

But frankly, anyone who has read anything about the private life of Kate Moss is not going to be shocked by a picture of her kissing another woman. Even if it is Jemima Khan.

The picture that might have been is another matter altogether. The kiss took place at a charity auction at Annabel's and the man who bid £60,000 to kiss Kate was retail billionaire Philip Green.

Having paid what is more than a year's salary for most people for the pleasure of getting up close and personal with the world's most famous supermodel, Mr Green, 54, suddenly decided to decline the opportunity. The presence of his wife, Tina, may have had something to do with his decision. He offered the kiss to the person he outbid, Ms Khan.

One eyewitness said: "We thought it was going to be a kiss on the cheek. It lasted just over 60 seconds. A few people were shocked but everyone was laughing after."

Ms Khan's boyfriend Hugh Grant was himself the object of intense bidding when a guest paid £12,000 for a game of golf with him with Ms Khan as the caddy. Others at the event included Sadie Frost, Rupert Everett, Jerry Hall and Jade Jagger as well as Zac and Ben Goldsmith and their wives.

Among lots on offer at the auction, hosted by Bella Freud in aid of the Hoping Foundation for Palestinian refugee children, was a cricket lesson with Jemima's former husband Imran Khan. The auction raised more than £200,000 for the charity.