Summer English Galas

On June 5, Evgeny Lebedev  transformed the grounds of his house in Hampton Court into a Russian church, with a bell tower and the roof of the temporary dining room based on that in St Basil’s Cathedral. Lebedev, President Mikhail Gorbachev and Geordie Greig, editor of the Evening Standard, will be hosting the fifth Russian Midsummer Fantasy in aid of the Raisa Gorbechev Foundation, which fights childhood cancer.  

The most coveted auction prize is dinner with the Man Who Changed the World.  Last year private equity investor Cyrus Vandrevala bid £75,000 for it and joined President Gorbachev with his family in Moscow; the previous year it went to Hugh Grant, and before that the mobile phone tycoon John Caudwell.  

Another important event was Elton’s charity ball The ball is in its 12th year and has raised £40 million since it started. The most important bidders were Caring, Cyrus Vandrevala and John Caudwell.