Welcome to London's Met ball

British Museum hosts elite gala in new push to raise funds

- Esther Addley

There will be champagne, of course, and dancing, fine Indian food served in the shadow of the Parthenon marbles and cocktails mixed in front of the Renaissance treasures of the Waddesdon bequest. And everywhere - from the lights illuminating the Greek revival architecture, to the carpet on which guests arrive, to the glamorous outfits they are requested to wear - will be a particular shade of pink.

When the British Museum throws open its doors this evening for its first Pink Ball, it will not only be hosting an enormous and lavish party, but inaugurating what its director, Nicholas Cullinan, has called a “flagship national event” that he hopes will become as important to the museum’s finances as it will to the London elite’s social calendar.

Eight hundred invited guests have each paid £2,000 to party alongside some of the world’s most sensational artefacts and bigwigs from the worlds of fashion, art and culture: Naomi Campbell and Alexa Chung, Miuccia Prada and Manolo Blahnik, Steve McQueen, Stephen Fry, Courtney Love and Kristin Scott Thomas.