Liz's Dome diamond 'snatch'

The huge diamond that survived the JCB raid on the Millennium Dome narrowly avoided being snatched at an Aids fundraising dinner.

The Millennium Diamond was hanging around the neck of supermodel Iman - the new face of De Beers - when Elizabeth Taylor took a sudden fancy to it. She exclaimed: "Oh my god, is that real?" as she made a grab for it.

For a moment there was a mock tussle between the ladies. Elton John also got in on the act when he lifted the jewel out of Iman's cleavage and stuck it in his mouth like a dummy.

The diamond is the largest pear shaped stone in the world and experts estimate its value is in the tens of millions of pounds.

It was the centrepiece of a £200 million display at Greenwich that robbers failed to grab in November 2000, when they drove a JCB digger through the wall of the Dome and attacked the display case. Five men later received long sentences for the botched raid.

Last night's dinner and an auction, hosted by Sharon Stone, raised more than $1.5million (£1.1million) for the American Fund for Aids Research.