A non-starter for her, a bumper party for him

Last month, the Prince's Trust, the charity founded by Prince Charles, raised close to £1m from its Party in the Park concert in Hyde Park. It was the most successful of the three Party in the Park concerts held to date.

Last month, the Prince's Trust, the charity founded by Prince Charles, raised close to £1m from its Party in the Park concert in Hyde Park. It was the most successful of the three Party in the Park concerts held to date.

A little over two weeks after that event, a 10km road race through central London should have raised between £2m and £5m for two charities - the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and the British Red Cross. It didn't - because it never took place. The event which was organised independently of either charity but with their full support, was axed due to "sponsorship difficulties".

The race's organiser Mike O'Reilly, a former marathon runner, is putting a brave face on its cancellation - he prefers to call it a postponement and will try again next year. He had hoped to attract 20,000 runners for the race from Kensington Palace to St Paul's Cathedral.

The London Evening Standard claimed it was "scrapped due to lack of interest" with participants "measured in hundreds". Mr O'Reilly says that 7,000 people had in fact signed up by May before the event had to be postponed following the withdrawal of the road race's major sponsor.

But while the memorial road race was being cancelled, the Party in the Park was proving a huge success. More than 100,000 people packed into Hyde Park to cheer on Prince Charles who appeared on stage alongside the likes of Posh Spice Victoria Beckham.