$25,000 to eat with Prince

Press, 24 February 1986, Page 4

$25,000 to eat with Prince

By RONALD CLARKE NZPA-Reuter Palm Springs Prince Charles sampled the wealth of the millionaires’ desert resort of Palm Springs on Saturday, playing polio, lazing by a private pool and mingling with couples who paid $25,000 each to eat with him.

The Prince, who had complained earlier that his liver badly needed exercise after five days of Texas hospitality, was guest of honour at a dinner that surprised even Palm Springs socialites by its cost.

The host, the multimillionaire publisher, Walter Annenberg, refused even to say who was attending the dinner, at his sprawling, heavily

guarded mansion, in case guests were embarrassed by requests from other charities.

But staff members said the guest list included Bob Hope and singer Dinah Shore, who have homes in Palm Springs, and the Colorado oil millionaire, Marvin Davis, who flew in with his wife in his own jet. Mr Annenberg, former United States Ambassador to Britain, said he expected the dinner to raise about $750,000 for one of Prince Charles’s charities, Operation Raleigh. The organisation sends young people from Britain, the United States and other countries overseas to take part in scientific, community and explorer schemes.