Shirley Bassey Dress Auctioned For Charity

In case you missed it -- two Fridays ago, that gorgeous leopard print gown worn by Nigerian British Diva, Dame Shirley Bassey to the 2008 Pride of Britain awards, went up for auction at the lavish Copthorne Hotel in Cardiff.

The auction was to raise funds for the Children's Hospital for Wales, which needs £7 million to deliver the second phase of its redevelopment.

This is not the first time Dame Shirley Bassey, who is a patron of the hospitals charity - The Noah's Ark Appeal, has donated her dresses to raise money.

In 2003, she auctioned 50 of her famous gowns to celebrate a half-century in show business, raising £250,000 in the process, of which £125,000 was donated to The Noah's Ark Appeal, towards the concluded first phase of its hospital redevelopment.

Shirley Bassey (DBE), is best known for recording the theme songs to the James Bond films Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), and Moonraker (1979). She is a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (the 2nd highest class in the Order of the British Empire), and a UNESCO Artist for Peace.

She has won over 20 awards from 1972 through 2008.