Concerts raised £10m for charity - and left BBC with £3m bill

Six charities nominated by the Queen are estimated to have made £10m from the weekend's jubilee concerts.

The money will be raised from a premium phone line called by the two million people who applied for tickets, and the sales of recordings of the concerts, to be released shortly, and overseas broadcast rights.

The £3m bill for mounting and screening the two Palace concerts, a classical music gala on Saturday and Monday's pop show, was met by the BBC. The artists performed free.

The cost of the "sound and light" show, which included the fireworks, 50 searchlights and two powerful projectors that covered the palace's façade with a collage of images, was met by private donations raised by the Jubilee Trust. The bill has not been disclosed.

Sir George Martin, the producer of the Beatles, was credited yesterday with being the "unifying force" behind the Party at the Palace concert on Monday night.

He was introduced ahead of the Duke of Edinburgh, but very few of the 200 million-strong global audience would have recognised him among the superstars.

The 76-year-old impresario, who suffers from deafness induced by his years of listening to music, was brought in by organisers of the pop extravaganza to act as a consultant on which acts to recruit.

Many of those who performed for charity in front of the Royal Family and 12,000 people in the gardens of Buckingham Palace are thought to have appeared only after they were approached by Sir George.

BBC planners in charge of choreographing the event on Monday evening also agreed that Sir George should be with Sir Paul McCartney on stage for the climax to the concert.

After he was introduced to the crowd, Sir George gave a personal tribute to the Fab Four member George Harrison, who died last year. The speech, littered with personal recollections, lasted longer than that of the Prince of Wales, but the BBC insisted that, rather than hogging the royal limelight, the producer had only been doing what he was asked.

A corporation source said: "We thought because of his links with Paul McCartney and the Beatles that it would be nice to mention George Harrison. It was always going to happen.

"We asked for [Sir George's] help to act as a bridge across the musical generations and between the artists and the Palace. More than anything, he is irreplaceable for his contacts book."