£3,000 a head for Beckhams' big party

Leading companies are being asked to pay £3,000 a head for a table in the presence of Britain's king and queen of celebrity, David and Victoria Beckham.

Some of Britain's most successful blue-chip companies have been invited to book tables at the pre-World Cup party being thrown by the England captain and his wife this weekend. Each table of 10 guests would net the Beckhams £30,000 for charity, it can be revealed today.

It has already been described as the party of the year and has all the ingredients we have come to expect of Mr and Mrs Beckham - a glittering array of celebrity guests, glamorous decor that borders on the camp, and of course a suitable theme - this time all things Japanese.

No Beckham party would be complete without either Hello! or Ok! magazines, or, in this case, both of them. The rival glossies have agreed to split the cost of staging the party at the couple's "Beckingham Palace" home in Hertfordshire in a bid to avoid an expensive bidding war for exclusive pictures of the event.

The 350-strong guest list includes England World Cup stars of past and present, including members of the squad announced by Sven-Goran Eriksson yesterday and the heroes of the 1966 World Cup winning team, such as Geoff Hurst, Gordon Banks, Martin Peters and George Cohen.

However, it is likely the Arsenal members of the England team will be unable to attend as they will be showing off their FA Cup and Premiership trophies from the upper deck of an open-top bus parading through the streets of Islington at the same time.