NSPCC rejects 'Dianagate' money

The NSPCC, the children's charity, said last night that it is rejecting a pounds 50,000 donation from the Sun out of the profits from its 'Dianagate' tape telephone line.

The move comes after the ICSTIS, the telephone watchdog on premium-rate services, banned the line featuring a tape of an intimate conversation allegedly between the Princess of Wales and her friend James Gilbey.

The NSPCC, whose president is Princess Margaret and whose patrons include the Queen and the Queen Mother, said: 'We felt we stood to lose more money than we would gain, because we feared people would be deterred from making donations to us.'

The NSPCC has an operating deficit of pounds 2.2m and relies on public donations for more than 90 per cent of its income.