The Duchess of Cornwall hosted an afternoon tea reception for leading Asian businesswomen to celebrate their support for an organisation helping disadvantaged Asians abroad.

Camilla opened the doors of her London home Clarence House to female Asian entrepreneurs who have backed the British Asian Trust (BAT).

The Trust was founded in 2007 by a group of British Asian business leaders at the suggestion of the Prince of Wales, and it serves as a ''social fund'' supporting charities within the areas of education, health and livelihoods in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

When the Prince and Duchess toured India and Sri Lanka last November they visited a number of Trust projects including a school teaching children living in a New Delhi slum.

They also visited Mumbai to meet the women and children benefiting from a mobile creche, which provides much needed education and health facilities for the children of poor workers.

Among the guests was Kamal Basran, founder of the ready meal firm The Authentic Food Company, whose products are stocked in hight street supermarkets.

She is a new supporter of the BAT and travelled to India with the Duchess and Prince to see first hand the work of the Trust.

She said: "Most British Asians support a school or a hospital in the community where they come from and some groups like doctors volunteer their services.

"The BAT is a formal version of that, you know where your money is going and who it's helping and its sustainable support."

The Duchess shared tea with the women and informally chatted about a range of issues including empowering girls through literacy and the possibility of staging a conference to bring together the best practices of the UK and Asia on the issue of rape and sexual violence.