WITH the one-to-one lobbying over, the Princess Royal will open London’s final pitch today to the International Olympic Committee in the finely balanced contest to host the 2012 summer Games.

One of Britain’s IOC members, precluded from first-round voting because of national affiliation, the Princess is the first in a packed line-up of speakers who will attempt to secure any last-minute swing votes in the most closely fought bidding process in Olympic history.

London officials are quietly confident of beating Paris in the first round of voting by the 99 eligible IOC members but it is in the second round, and any subsequent rounds until a clear majority is secured for one city, where the real progress of Lord Coe and his colleagues will be tested.

Coe, the bid chairman, will take the podium with Amber Charles, a 14-year-old basketball player from East London, who has become a mascot for the bid.

Other speakers in the 45-minute presentation — partly conducted in French and featuring five new videos including a message from a mystery guest — are Craig Reedie, chairman of the British Olympic Association, Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, and Denise Lewis, Britain’s most successful heptathlete, who won gold in Sydney.

“It’s the biggest event in the world and we just want to play a significant part in that,” Lewis said. “We are not here just as decoration.”

At their last press conference before the vote, the London bid team presented a top table of official ambassadors, including Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Matthew Pinsent and Jonathan Edwards, with ten Olympic titles between them.

David Beckham could not be counted among this tally despite being the centrepiece of media attention. The England captain has, of course, never competed in an Olympics.

“I have never won a gold medal but I have achieved in other ways,” he said in defence of his involvement in the bid. “I am not here because of my celebrity profile. I am here because I am a team member.” Beckham will not address the IOC members but the bid team are drawing on the fact that he grew up in East London, the main Olympic site, which would benefit from substantial regeneration.

A delegation of 30 local schoolchildren has also been drafted into today’s presentation to demonstrate London’s commitment to the next generation of Olympic athletes.

When asked how he felt about the Games potentially coming to his “hood”, Beckham replied: “You mean my manor? It would be incredible for me if it was held there. When there is a big competition, our country comes together better than any other.”

Beckham threw his support behind a Britain football team if London were to win, although the concept has found little support from the English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish football associations for fear of jeopardising their independent status at World Cups.

“To have a team in the Olympics with a chance to go all the way, I would definitely like to see that,” he said.

Tony Blair left Singapore last night for the G8 summit in Edinburgh after working “all out” to convince the IOC of London’s “extra dimension”. He will miss the final presentation, while Jacques Chirac, the French President, will be there because Paris is first in the running order and London fourth. “Everybody knows by my coming here the strength of (Britain’s) commitment,” Blair said. “I was always committed to having the Games. We have a whole series of plans for sport in the UK. It’s time that sport moved from the periphery to the mainstream of policy.”

The London delegation, which includes Sven-Göran Eriksson and Sir Bobby Charlton, last night continued the eleventh-hour lobbying in Singapore hotels after a dinner hosted at the exclusive China Club by David Tang, the Hong Kong-born, English-educated entrepreneur.

By that point, most of the IOC members had already made up their minds; as few as ten could be undecided. Olympic insiders said the presentations and a 15-minute question-and-answer session were still crucial, although they were likely to cost a city votes rather than win them.

Opening the 117th IOC session, Jacques Rogge, the IOC president, said: “Four cities (New York, Madrid and Moscow are the others) will be deeply disappointed, but they should know that a candidature, even if it is not selected, leaves a tangible legacy. It allows a city’s resources to be pooled around one project and results in a pioneering vision for future sporting and urban development.”