The Countess of Wessex is to be guest of honour at a ball being held to raise funds for the Journalists’ Charity.

Proceeds of the 10th Anniversary London Press Club Ball on 9 October will be going to the charity which is celebrating its 150th year.

The Countess, pictured, already has a long association with the charity, having opened its new care home, Pickering House in Dorking, in 2007.

London Press Club Ball co-chairmen Robert Jobson and Ray Massey said: ’It is a great honour to have HRH The Countess of Wessex attend this year’s Ball which celebrates two landmark anniversaries for such a good cause.’

The event is taking place on at the Royal Courts of Justice in The Strand.

Tickets have already sold out in record time thanks to unprecedented demand.