No Cannes do for Elton as he gives his all to charity gala

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But, as his partner David Furnish explained, Elton took the painful decision to stay away so that he could devote all his energy to preparing for a special star-studded party in aid of a cause close to his heart.

Elton is to perform at the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation Annual Gala Dinner at Hampton Court Palace on Saturday, and many of the Cannes set will be joining him there, including Elle Macpherson, Tamara Beckwith and Tamara Mellon.

"It's a big event and Elton's busy preparing,' said David.

The foundation is named in honour of President Mikhail Gorbachev's late wife and the £1,000-a-head gala dinner's organisers include Madonna, Lady Thatcher and Viscountess Rothermere, wife of Viscount Rothermere, Chairman of the Daily Mail and General Trust, owners of The Mail on Sunday.

The grounds of Hampton Court will be transformed into a fantasy Russian forest for the star-studded event.

The former Soviet President himself will host the gala and playing alongside Elton in a specially built amphitheatre will be the Scissor Sisters.

Joint host Evgeny Lebedev, whose family co-own one of Russia's few remaining independent newspapers and who will be underwriting the event, said: "Getting Elton and the Scissor Sisters wasn't easy but we managed it.

"We want everyone up and dancing. Madonna has also been great. She is on the committee because she wants to help sick children in Russia."

The Raisa Gorbachev Foundation was set up by Mr Gorbachev after his wife died of cancer in 1999.

All proceeds will go to the Raisa Gorbachev Centre of Children's Haematology and Transplantology in St Petersburg.