Sir Elton John and famous friends raise the bar for HIV

11 April 2012
The Weekender

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Sir ELton John and David Furnish rolled out the white carpet at the Grosvenor House hotel for the Grey Goose Character and Cocktails — the winter equivalent of their famous White Tie and Tiara Ball.

Good cause: David Furnish, Lily Allen and Sir Elton John. Allen's handcrafted bar fetched £100,000

Guests, including Lily Allen, Lily Cole and designer Roland Mouret, had all been asked to design their own Grey Goose vodka cocktail and "ultimate bar". The creations were then
auctioned to raise money for the Elton John Aids Foundation.

Glamourous: Liz Hurley wasn't going to be outdone as far as her fur gown was concerned

Allen's handcrafted bar — made of three silver boxes that unfold into velvet sofas and a vinyl collection selected by Elton and Lily — went for £100,000.

Well suited: Arun Nayar and Arpad Busson; Scott Douglas and Tracey Emin; Sir Terence Conran, right, with son Jasper

Mouret created a silver mirrored bar, which came with a sequined cocktail dress modelled by model Amber Le Bon, the daughter of Yasmin and Simon. It sold for £32,000.

David Furnish, who organised the ball, was joined on stage by Freddie, a young sufferer from HIV who had asked if he could interview Sir Elton.

In response, Elton described how he he had been moved to change his rock'n'roll lifestyle for after meeting HIV sufferer Ryan White, who
had contracted HIV through a blood transfusion.

At the time Elton recalled, he was "self-obsessed" and a drink and drug addict.
During Ryan's last week, Elton visited him and his family in India.

"During that last week, I realised that my life was so extraordinarily awful compared to his family in hardship, that I had to get clean and change my life and to do something more rewarding," he said.

Seeing their suffering, he added, made him realise "how lucky you are, and how bad your life is".

Guests at the £350 a ticket extravaganza included Elizabeth Hurley, a long-standing supporter of the charity — who said that her dress was too revealing to take off her fur wrap — Kevin Spacey, Arki Busson, Richard E Grant and Tracey Emin.

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