STOCKHOLM – Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel are expecting their first child.
Swedish Royal Court spokeswoman Annika Sonnerberg said Victoria, 34, is expected to give birth sometime in March next year. She said "the entire royal family is overjoyed for the couple."
The court said no changes are expected to be made to the princess's schedule for 2011.
Victoria married her private gym instructor, Daniel Westling, 37, in a lavish Stockholm ceremony in June 2010.
CAPE TOWN (AFP) – Monaco's newly wed Princess Charlene is "very happy", the South African bride's brother told a local magazine, rejecting rumours that her marriage to Prince Albert II is troubled.
"Everyone's making up their own stories. I can promise you, my sister is very happy," younger brother Sean Wittstock told the latest edition of the country's top selling English weekly magazine YOU.
"She and her bridesmaid were in SA on a game farm a week before the wedding. She could have stayed behind if she'd wanted to."
It would not be as easy for the former South African Olympic swimmer now, the 27-year-old added.
"She's a Roman Catholic now and they don't believe in divorce," he told the newspaper.
Prince Albert and the Monaco government haved lashed out at media spreading what they describe as false rumours and threatened to sue French magazine L'Express.
Rumours that Wittstock tried to leave the principality in a huff just days before the royal wedding have already been rejected by the palace, a lawyer for the princely pair, as well as by Albert himself.
L'Express had reported on its website that Wittstock, now Princess Charlene, interrupted preparations for the lavish celebrations and prepared to take a flight for her home country South Africa.
As for the allegations that Albert fathered a third child out of wedlock while engaged to Charlene, the government head Michel Roger said there was proof that this was false.
LOS ANGELES – In Puccini's "Turandot," the title character is an imperious princess whose icy heart melts when she responds to a lover's kiss — just in time for the final curtain.
Singing the role in a complete performance for the first time, soprano Christine Brewer herself took a while to warm to the challenge.
The occasion was a concert version of the opera at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday night, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by music director Gustavo Dudamel.
Brewer, a dramatic soprano with a huge voice that combines plush sound and steeliness, would seem to have all the ingredients for an ideal Turandot. Yet she was surprisingly tentative in her opening aria, "In questa reggia." in which she traces her hatred of men to the murder of a long-ago ancestor in ancient China. Her top notes were thin and uncertain, and she chopped them off prematurely. Part of the problem may have been some distortion of her powerhouse voice under the heavy miking in the outdoor arena. When she performed the same aria in concert with the New York City Opera last fall, she sounded magnificent.
Happily, matters improved significantly in the final scene (completed by Franco Alfano after Puccini's death) when she tells of shedding her first tears in the aria "Del prima pianto." Here she sang with an aching tenderness, and her laser-beam high notes were full and centered.
Even though Turandot is one of the briefest title roles in opera, Brewer alone among the principals carried a score and frequently referred to it. Should she decide to keep the role in her relatively small repertory, it will be intriguing to hear how she fares in a staged performance in an opera house.
Certainly, she could not hope for a better supporting cast. Filling in for an ailing colleague, tenor Frank Porretta was superb as Calaf, the prince who solves Turandot's three riddles and then wins her heart. He poured out a stream of rich sound all night, and his extended high note at the end of "Nessun dorma" was an impressive feat of stamina.
As Liu, the slave girl who kills herself rather than betray Calaf, soprano Hei-Kyung Hong sang with the lustrous tone and straightforward lyricism that have made her a mainstay of the Metropolitan Opera for more than a quarter-century. Bass Alexander Vinogradov sounded eloquent in his few opportunities as Calaf's father, Timur, while baritone Timothy Mix was animated and incisive as the leader of the trio of ministers Ping, Pang and Pong.
There are few operas in which the chorus plays so important a part, and the combined forces of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Los Angeles Children's Chorus were tremendous in a variety of roles — from the Peking populace crying out for blood, to the hushed voices of a moonlit serenade, to the ghosts of the many princes who have fallen victim to Turandot.
As for Dudamel and his orchestra, it was a treat to hear Puccini's score played with such verve and elegance. Dudamel reveled in the Orientalisms (Puccini included xylophones and Chinese gongs in his orchestration) and in the many quicksilver shifts in tempo and dynamics. The dramatic climaxes that end each act resounded with awe-inspiring power in the night air. But he also brought out some unexpectedly delicate harmonies in the strings that accompany the three ministers as they lament the pastoral lives they left behind to live at court. That scene can often seem like a tedious marking of time before Turandot's arrival, but under Dudamel's baton it became an interlude to treasure.
CHARLOTTETOWN, Canada (AFP) – With her ready, warm smile and slender, elegant figure, Catherine has made a dazzling public debut as a royal seducing Canadian crowds on her first official visit with Prince William.
But royal watchers sense a bit of tension too.
From the Duchess of Cambridge's arrival in the capital Ottawa to Charlottetown on the Atlantic Coast, chants of "We love you Kate" seem louder than for the prince as the newlyweds step onto the international stage.
Full of pomp and ceremony, the trip comes just two months after a radiant Kate Middleton walked down the aisle in the wedding of the year, watched by two billion people worldwide.
Part of her attraction may be the lure of the Cinderella story: William was born to ascend to the British throne, but Kate's rise from commoner to future queen is perhaps proof that fairytales can come true.
"We've come to see her," said Marley MacCuaig, the five-year-old girl who was lucky enough to present the duchess with a bouquet of flowers during a walkabout in Quebec City, and told her idol, "I want to be a princess."
The same scenes have played out at every stop on the nine-day royal tour.
According to experts, or "royal watchers," Catherine has remained cool, showing no outward signs of nerves despite the cauldron-like atmosphere of public walkabouts.
Only once did the duchess briefly appear nervous as she watched her husband take the controls of a military helicopter to carry out emergency water landing drills on a Prince Edward Island lake.
And after smiling broadly and exchanging polite banter as she shook hands with an enthusiastic crowd for longer than intended at Canada's War Memorial in Ottawa, the duchess slipped into a car and rested her head on William's shoulder.
"It was a gesture that said: 'well, we got through that one,'" said the British newspaper The Times.
The lasting impression is a mixture of spontaneity and professionalism in the couple's gestures, as well as tiny moments of tenderness such as William's reassuring glances or when he stroked his wife's back as she spoke with gravely ill children at a Montreal hospital cancer unit.
"The underlying message is that none of this is easy. It is not easy coping with the constant intrusion of the media, not easy trying to come up with endless small talk for the hundreds of strangers she meets every day, not easy always being on show with a happy smile and an easy manner," opined Times correspondent Valentine Low.
In accordance with Buckingham Palace's protocol, the duchess will not make any public statements during this trip. In private moments, she also focuses on easy topics with the crowds of well-wishers.
A Huron chief welcomed her to Quebec City as the couple disembarked from a navy frigate and Catherine pressed him about the type of feathers used to make his headdress -- wild turkey feathers.
Her warm interest left him convinced that she would like to visit his village sometime soon in the future.
She has also taken care with her wardrobe, exhibiting the same easy fashion sense and grace with which she has already made a mark.
Her outfits have been perfectly matched to the events: Canadian colors red and white for a celebration of Canada's national holiday, a navy blue vest for a visit to a Coast Guard ship.
The elegant Catherine, standing tall in her stylish high heels, and Prince William stand out from afar despite their entourage and crowds of well-wishers.
And the visit has gone a long way toward boosting the image of Britain's future king and queen.
Friday was a royal watcher's bonanza, with wedding vows, an official visit — and poignant reminders of princesses past.
Monaco's Prince Albert II took the plunge with Olympic swimmer Charlene Wittstock of South Africa, marrying her in a civil ceremony ahead of a religious service Saturday. His father, Prince Rainier III, wed Hollywood actress Grace Kelly in the tiny country 55 years ago.
British royal newlyweds Prince William and Kate — the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge — won raucous cheers from an estimated 300,000 people while touring Ottawa on Canada's national holiday. It was their first official visit abroad after their widely watched wedding in April.
And admirers of the late Princess Diana gathered at the gates of Kensington Palace in London to leave tributes to her and share their memories on what would have been the 50th birthday of "the people's princess."
Kathy Martin of Australia who left a tribute at the gates said both Grace and Diana were icons who died in car accidents at a young age — Grace in 1982 and Diana in 1997.
"They'll be remembered as princesses — beautiful, radiant princesses," Martin said.
Diana also was on the minds of some Canadians in the crowd greeting her son, William, and his wife.
"Happy Birthday Lady Di. Canadians love you," read one sign held up during the Canada Day celebrations.
The red-and-white-clad crowd chanted "Will and Kate" frequently during their appearance on Parliament Hill to mark Canada's 144th birthday on the second day of the royal visit.
Kate was similarly attired in Canada's colors, wearing a cream dress by the London designer Reiss, complete with a maple leaf brooch, and a brilliant red hat topped with a maple leaf. Queen Elizabeth II loaned the brooch to the duchess for the tour; the queen wore it in 1951 as a princess on her first visit to Canada.
William, who wore a blue suit and a red tie, thrilled the crowd as he spoke in English and French for the second day in a row and drew loud cheers when he referred to his grandmother as "the queen of Canada."
He also reminded the crowd how Kate's grandfather "held Canada dear to his heart" after training in the province of Alberta as a young pilot in World War II.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper welcomed the royal couple as "the world's most famous newlyweds."
Their other stops in Canada include Quebec City and Calgary before traveling to Los Angeles on July 8.
In sun-splashed Monaco, residents of the principality cheered as Prince Albert and his new bride appeared at a palace window, waved and kissed shyly after exchanging vows in the civil ceremony.
Albert's sisters — Princess Stephanie and Princess Caroline — were among an audience of several dozen inside the throne room, the red silk-walled hall where Grace and Rainier once took their vows. Rainier died in 2005.
Wittstock wore a silken blue jacket with ankle-length palazzo pants, an outfit press handlers said was made by fashion house Chanel, while Albert wore a sober dark suit and white tie.
Saturday's Roman Catholic ceremony will also take place in the palace, followed by a gala dinner by famed chef Alain Ducasse. The guest list included the kings of Spain, Sweden, Lesotho and Belgium; the presidents of France, Iceland, Ireland, Lebanon, Malta, Germany and Hungary; opera singers, models and race car drivers.
Wittstock swam for South Africa at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, while Albert has been an International Olympic Committee member since 1985 and competed in five Winter Olympics as part of Monaco's bobsled team. They met at a 2000 swimming competition in Monaco.
Albert, 53, acknowledged having fathered two children out of wedlock — a now-teenage daughter with a California woman and a son with a flight attendant of Togolese origin.
Before the wedding, the 33-year-old Wittstock said she wanted children of her own.
"I love children and have always wanted to have children of my own," she said on BFM television, sitting next to Albert with a close-lipped, tense smile. "We'll see in the next couple of months or years."
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Associated Press Writers Jenny Barchfield in Monaco; Rob Gillies in Ottawa, Ontario; Charmaine Noronha in Toronto, and Matt Dunham in London contributed to this story.
LONDON (AFP) – Britain's Princess Beatrice, whose eccentric hat made headlines at the royal wedding, celebrated her graduation Friday by spending the day at the Wimbledon tennis championships.
Beatrice, fifth in line to the throne, earned a 2:1, the second-highest grade, in her history and history of ideas degree at London's Goldsmiths College.
The 22-year-old, the eldest daughter of Queen Elizabeth II's second son Prince Andrew, was diagnosed with dyslexia in her childhood.
"I have had the most amazing university experience," the princess said in a statement.
"I am so excited about my results."
The redhead's flamboyant hat, which stunned onlookers at the April 29 wedding of her cousin Prince William and Kate Middleton, was likened to a giant pretzel and a toilet seat.
It made ?81,100 ($130,375, 89,700 euros) when it was auctioned for charity.
Beatrice was in the Royal Box on Centre Court on Friday to watch the men's semi-finals.
The princess does not currently carry out royal engagements.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: "In terms of her future, like a lot of students she'll be considering her options."
MONACO – After waiting for nearly 30 years, the glitzy principality of Monaco has a new princess.
Charlene Wittstock, a one-time Olympic swimmer from South Africa, married Prince Albert II in an intimate civil ceremony Friday.
Wittstock succeeds Grace Kelly, the Hollywood beauty who wed Albert's late father, Prince Rainier III, in 1956 and had three children with him before dying in a car crash in 1982.
Dressed in a dusty blue jacket and matching palazzo pants made by Chanel, her blond hair pulled back, 33-year-old Wittstock seemed to be channeling a bit of Princess Grace's legendary elegance.
The couple took their vows in a ceremony before several dozen guests in the palace's sumptuous, red silk-walled throne room, where Grace and Rainier also married.
"Oui," both responded in voices so soft as to be barely audible, when asked if they took each other as their spouse. The marriage became official — and Monaco finally had its princess — when the president of Monaco's Council of State, Philippe Narmino, who officiated the ceremony, pronounced "I declare you united by the bonds of marriage."
"A new page in the history of the principality has opened today," Albert told his subjects in a florid, post-ceremony address. "I know that (Princess Charlene's) spontaneity and generosity will come into full bloom ... to the great joy of the principality and its inhabitants."
Many of Monaco's 7,618 citizens braved the scorching sun to watch the ceremony live on two giant screens set up in front of the palace, some of them decked out for the occasion in suits or formal gowns and heels.
Cheers erupted from the crowd when, after the 15-minute-long ceremony, the newlyweds emerged from a window to wave at their subjects. The couple's brief, embarrassed peck on the mouth garnered even more enthusiastic applause.
"It's a gift that they've given us," said Henri Doria, a retired 73-year-old, as he watched the ceremony. "We've waited to long for him to marry and now he's given us this lovely bride, who will hopefully give us children, heirs. That's would be the most beautiful gift of all."
Long regarded as one of Europe's most eligible bachelors and reputed for his string of romances with some of the world's most beautiful women, 53-year-old Albert long eschewed marriage. His reticence to settle down was known to have exasperated his father and made many here despair of him ever tying the knot.
Albert's prolonged bachelorhood even sparked persistent rumors he was gay, though those were largely quashed after he acknowledged having fathered two children out of wedlock — a now-teenage daughter with a California woman and a little boy with a stewardess of Togolese origin.
Rumors that a third illegitimate child may have recently surfaced have overshadowed the wedding. News reports emerged earlier this week suggested that Wittstock learned of the child and allegedly tried to break off the engagement and return home to South Africa days before the wedding.
The palace unequivocally denied the reports, which a top aide to Albert dismissed as "ugly rumors" born out of jealousy and spite.
Still, the tensions were evident when Wittstock talked in a rare TV interview before the wedding about wanting to have her own children.
"I love children and have always wanted to have children of my own," she told BFM television, sitting next to Albert with a close-lipped, tense smile. "We'll see in the next couple of months or years."
Wittstock was born in Zimbabwe but moved to neighboring South Africa when she was 12, and under the tutelage of her mother, a swim coach, competed for that country at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Like his now wife, Albert is a former Olympic athlete. A member of the International Olympic Committee since 1985, he competed in five Winter Olympics as part of Monaco's bobsled team.
Albert met Wittstock during a 2000 swimming competition in Monaco. Wittstock then began appearing regularly at social events and moved to Monaco, known for its lax tax laws and high-stakes casinos, in 2006. Locals say she has since maintained a low profile and is rarely seen out and about the principality.
"She seems like a very calm, very clear-headed young woman, but honestly we don't know that much about her yet," said Abeda Testa, a 56-year-old housewife dressed in screaming pink for Friday's festivities. "Now is when we'll start to really get to know her."
After the ceremony, the couple joined their subjects on the palace square for a cocktail. Monaco's mayor presented the newlyweds with two gifts from the people of Monaco, a painting by Russia's Wassily Kandinsky and a bronze by French sculptor Antoine Bourdelle. A concert by French composer Jean Michel Jarre and a laser light show were to cap the evening.
Perhaps in a bid to focus media attention on Saturday's religious ceremony and star-studded gala dinner and away from the lower-key civil proceedings, palace minders hemmed journalists into holding areas and kept from interacting with residents, who were sipping Champagne and snacking on trays piled with finger foods.
The guest list for Saturday's festivities reads like a who's who of Europe's rich and famous. Billionaire businessmen, assorted royalty including the kings of Spain, Sweden, Lesotho and Belgium, heads of state, celebrated opera singers, top models and race car divers will converge on the palace for Saturday's Catholic ceremony and the gala dinner to follow.
Household names on the guest list include Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld and Giorgio Armani — the perma-tanned Italian designer behind Saturday's wedding gown — as well as supermodel Naomi Campbell, American soprano Renee Fleming, former James Bond actor Sir Roger Moore and gold medal winning Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci.
Alain Ducasse — the world famous French chef who like many in his tax bracket has taken Monegasque citizenship — is serving up a three-course gala dinner based on the tastes and smells of the Mediterranean. Besides the Champagne and South African wines, everything at the dinner will be sourced in a 10-kilometer (6-mile) radius around the hive of high rises, Art Deco casinos and five-star hotels that is Monaco. The main course will be line fished out of the waters off Monaco the morning of, and the vegetables will be harvested hours before they hit the plate, Ducasse has said.
Ducasse is also helping prepare a Sunday brunch that will cap the wedding festivities before the newlyweds head off to South Africa for an IOC meeting. They'll take their honeymoon in August.
OTTAWA (AFP) – Princess Catherine on Friday will celebrate Canada's national holiday on her international debut with Prince William as crowds throng to catch a glimpse of Britain's newest royal couple.
Packed with pomp and pageantry, the North American tour comes just two months after a radiant Kate Middleton walked down the aisle in a fairytale royal wedding watched by an estimated two billion people worldwide.
The couple were to cap off their visit to the capital by joining tens of thousands of revellers outside parliament for musical performances and fireworks to celebrate Canada's national holiday.
Canadians turned out en masse for a glimpse or a handshake as Middleton, now Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, arrived in Ottawa on Thursday wearing a navy lace dress by Montreal-born designer Erdem Moralioglu.
"Welcome to Canada, honeymoon capital of the Commonwealth," said Governor General David Johnston.
The couple's arrival at the National War Memorial in downtown Ottawa triggered excited screams from an estimated 10,000-strong crowd -- several of the women wearing fascinators, the hair accessory of choice for the duchess.
"There he is. There's our future king," Pat Snair shouted from the fringes of the crowd as the 29-year-old newlyweds stepped from the cortege to place a bouquet of flowers before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
While Prince William, second in line to the British throne, has plenty of experience at royal duties, Kate is a relative rookie. But it was clearly the elegant woman from Berkshire, southeast England that many in the crowd had come to see.
She represents the future of the monarchy, she's "excitement and youth," said Denise, in her 60s.
"William is OK, but Kate is fascinating," added two teenage girls.
The princess was cool under fire and showed no outward signs of nerves on her first overseas walkabout, smiling broadly and exchanging polite banter as she shook hands with the crowd for longer than the intended hour.
"I'm hoping to find romance like theirs," said one wildly-impressed teenage girl.
From the war memorial unveiled in 1939 by William's great-grandparents King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, who established a tradition with the first royal walkabout, the show then moved on to the official residence of the governor general, the vice-regal representative of Queen Elizabeth II.
"Catherine and I are so delighted to be here in Canada," William said.
"We have been looking forward to this moment for a very long time. Quite separately, before we were married, we had both had a longing to come here, instilled in us by our parents and grandparents."
He spoke in both of Canada's official languages, French and English, and to laughs vowed his French would improve over the course of this trip.
"The geography of this country is world-renowned, as is the hospitality of its peoples," William said.
Support for the monarchy hovers above 50 percent in Canada and has risen from last year when Queen Elizabeth II visited, although there is still a vocal anti-monarchist minority planning to protest in Quebec City on Sunday.
In addition to official and military ceremonies, the royal schedule has lighter moments planned, such as a cooking class, an aboriginal sports event and a rodeo.
Later Thursday, the royals attended a barbecue with 120 young Canadians at the residence of the governor general, where they are spending the night. A downpour, however, forced the event indoors.
William, in a buttoned down shirt slightly open at the collar, khakis and brown loafers, put his arm around the princess's waist to guide her around the room, chatting with guests.
Kate changed into a black and white dress by Issa for dinner, where a gourmet menu included Quebec cheeses, New Brunswick oysters, Qikiqtarjuaq sea urchins, musk ox prosciutto and potato-crusted Alberta yak tartar.
On Saturday they will embark on a countrywide tour, taking a cooking class in Montreal before travelling on to Quebec City, Charlottetown, Yellowknife and Calgary.
Prior to their final stop in Canada, the newlyweds are expected to sneak away on a romantic getaway to a secluded and undisclosed location in the Rocky Mountains.
After wrapping up their Canadian tour, they will travel to California for a three-day visit on July 8-10 whose highlight will be a black-tie celebrity reception for British filmmakers in Los Angeles.
OTTAWA (AFP) – Britain's Prince William and new bride Princess Catherine arrived in the Canadian capital on Thursday to begin their first official foreign trip as a couple, AFP journalists saw.
Thousands desperate to glimpse the pair lined the streets of Ottawa ahead of their first scheduled event, a wreath-laying ceremony at a World War I memorial at 1835 GMT.
During a nine-day tour packed with pomp and pageantry they will also celebrate Canada's national holiday and take in lighter events such as a cooking class, aboriginal sports and a rodeo.
LONDON – Princess Diana would have been 50 years old on Friday, perhaps the only certainty about what might have been in a life abruptly cut short by a 1997 car crash in Paris, with a new boyfriend, two months past her 36th birthday.
Officially, there are no plans for marking the birth anniversary; Prince William, Diana's elder son, will be in Canada on Friday with his wife Catherine on their first big international tour as husband and wife.
But the "what if?" questions abound as the world looks back on Diana's life and legacy.
Andrew Morton, the British journalist who was Diana's confidant and collaborator on an explosive book about the marriage turmoil that led to a royal divorce, believes she might now be living in the United States.
"A lot more billionaires live in America than in Britain," Morton said in an interview with The Associated Press in Los Angeles.
"And she probably would have snagged a guy with all the toys; you know, the guy with the private jet, the boat and the house in the Hamptons. Maybe started a second family. She always wanted a baby girl, and that was an ambition that she held very dear."
A new life in America is exactly the future imagined by British writer Monica Ali in her new novel "Untold Story." It depicts a princess closely modeled on Diana who fakes her own death, changes her name and rebuilds her life in a small American town — until the paparazzi who dogged her past threaten catch up with her.
The enduring fascination Diana commands in the United States was in evidence on the latest cover of Newsweek, which showed a computer-generated image of Diana at 50, strolling next to William's bride.
The image, which came under widespread criticism for being "creepy," was for an article by Newsweek editor-in-chief Tina Brown titled "If She Were Here Now."
However irresistible that question is to some, Diana's former secretary Patrick Jephson says the speculation is "entertaining perhaps, but hardly useful."
"The first Mrs. Wales might by now be solving conflicts, banishing poverty, feeding the world's hungry or even breeding spaniels in happy rural obscurity. Alas, we will never know," Jephson said in a commentary for The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"Instead we have an even greater enigma. Why is it that 14 years after her death she continues to figure so large in popular imagination?"
It's a power that can be measured in dollars — $800,000 in the case of a black dress in which Diana danced with John Travolta in 1985, sold at auction in Toronto earlier this month, or $34,000 for a letter to her nanny, auctioned in 2008.
Popular fascination with the tragic princess remains a tempting market for some merchants, whose birthday wares include:
• The Diana 50th birthday bear by Steiff from the Danbury Mint. "Her blonde mohair is gloriously soft to the touch, and those big eyes recall the young 'Shy Di' we remember so well."
• The 50th birthday portrait coin from the Westminster Collection.
• The Royal Doulton 50th birthday Diana porcelain figurine.
• The commemorative stamps from Grenada.
• The Diana Queen of Hearts Earrings from Compton & Woodhouse.
Inevitably, there's a Facebook page, where one post says "neither time nor reason, will change the way we feel."
A website, http://www.high50.com, offers some speculation about what a 50-year-old Diana would be doing.
Contributors speculated that she might be living in New York, getting botoxed, happily married or happily divorced (again), undergoing therapy, working hard for charities.
"She was a very down to earth kind of woman and I think she'd have embraced 50 with a certain amount of resolution. I think she'd have found it quite amusing that she'd gotten that far," said Bruce Oldfield, one of the British designers who worked for Diana. One of his dresses for her sold for $163,000 in the auction.
"I think she'd live in New York," Oldfield said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"New York is very classic, very conservative. She'd live in some fab apartment on the Upper East Side... She'd probably be very involved with the Metropolitan museum and charities. And she'd wear a lot of beige I think. I think she would wear sensible shoes and I think she would be chic. Chic isn't dull and boring, nor is it old."
Diana died at a time of turmoil in her life. A discreet and lengthy romance with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan had recently ended because he had concluded that her fame made it impossible to have a normal life together. The romance with Dodi Fayed, who died with her, was less than two months old.
Morton feels confident that Diana would still be a problem for her ex-husband, Prince Charles, and the royal family.
"She always towered over Prince Charles, so anything she did reflected on Charles," said Morton.
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Associated Press reporters Tom Rayner and Jill Lawless in London and Ryan Pearson in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
TORONTO – A dress worn by Princess Diana when she danced with John Travolta brought in the top bid at a Toronto auction that featured some of late princess' well-known designer gowns.
The midnight-blue silk velvet dress designed by Victor Edelstein sold for 800,000 Canadian dollars ($821,000). Diana wore the Edwardian-inspired gown with off-the-shoulder straps while taking a memorable spin on the dance floor with Travolta during a 1985 White House state dinner.
Prior to Thursday night's sale, auction house Waddington's had listed the estimated selling price of the dress between 800,000 Canadian dollars and 1 million Canadian dollars.
Stephen Ranger, vice president of business development for Waddington's, says it will take a few days to compile a final tally of all 14 dresses sold at the collection.
Princess Diana died in a car crash in 1997.
LONDON – Officials say a Rolls-Royce limousine made to the specifications of the late Princess Margaret will be auctioned later this month.
The Silver Shadow was also owned by Hollywood star Burt Reynolds.
Auction officials at Bonhams said Thursday the 1975 Rolls-Royce is expected to sell for more than 20,000 pounds ($32,800) when it is auctioned along with other vintage Rolls-Royces and Bentleys on June 18.
The limousine boasts red coachwork with contrasting gold details and a special black leather interior requested by Margaret, who was the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II.
Reynolds bought the car in 1984 and kept it at his Florida ranch.
CANNES, France (Hollywood Reporter) – Being hatched from her own difficult childhood experience as a misused muse for her photographer mother doesn't lend authenticity, coherence or genuine feeling to actress-turned-director Eva Ionesco's "My Little Princess."
Dominated by an archly affected performance from Isabelle Huppert in her worst high-manic mode (think Jennifer Saunders' "Absolutely Fabulous" character in a humor vacuum), this overwrought drama about a spotlight-seeking Madame Frankenstein and her Lolita monster becomes increasingly risible.
No relation to Theater of the Absurd pioneer Eugene Ionesco, the director is the daughter of Irina Ionesco, whose provocative nude photographs of her child made waves in the Paris art world of the 1970s. Ionesco says her mother started shooting her from age four, but the child in the film is 10, no doubt to tone down the distastefulness of showing a girl of that age being grotesquely sexualized. Depiction of the actual photographs is relatively restrained, with nudity confined to older models.
The story could certainly be the basis for an intriguing psychological drama, but this isn't it. Lip service is paid to questioning the boundaries between art and pornography, but mostly this is just a lurid clash between overbearingly theatrical mama diva and petulant baby diva.
Ionesco's command of tone is too shaky to make the emotional stakes remotely serious, so despite its grounding in reality, the movie plays like something cobbled by hacks out of "Pretty Baby," "Auntie Mame," "Mommie Dearest" and "Velvet Goldmine." Actually, that makes it sound kind of fun, but don't be fooled.
Winsome Violetta (Anamaria Vartolomei) is living contentedly with her God-fearing great-grandmother (Georgetta Leahu) when her eccentric mother Hannah (Huppert) resurfaces after one of many prolonged absences. Dressed like a crazy lady with a '40s Hollywood fixation, Hannah swans around in floor-length satin gowns, furs, feathers, elaborate jewels and hats.
Violetta finds her mother's outre glamour captivating, so she submits readily when Hannah takes up photography and asks her to pose in frilly period garb. The pictures quickly transition from haunted damsels into more overtly sexual territory as Violetta is pushed to drop her bourgeois inhibitions. Overnight, Hannah is hailed as the high priestess of morbid eroticism while Violetta, sent to school dressed like a poptart flapper, becomes the class pariah.
During a trip to England to photograph a punky glamrocker (model Jethro Cave, channeling a louche version of his dad, Nick Cave), Hannah encourages Violetta to shed more clothes and get more physical in their pictures together. But Violetta balks at her requests, setting into motion an escalating love/hate battle between mother and daughter.
A child being exploited by such an egomaniacal parent should spark automatic sympathy. But Ionesco remains curiously detached from the psychological impact on Violetta, focusing more on her tantrums and preening affectations than her lost innocence. Seldom disturbing, the conflict more often veers into silliness, especially when Violetta's flouncing self-dramatization starts making Mom look stable.
The threat of legal intervention when Hannah is accused of being an unfit mother is introduced too late and too clumsily to acquire any urgency. (She turns up to the social worker interview draped in chain mail like Theda Bara, with Violetta looking like a Mack Sennett girl, so it almost seems as if she wants to lose custody.) The revelation of nasty secrets from the past about Hannah's mother is just one tawdry note too many.
Ionesco and co-scripters Marc Cholodencko and Philippe Le Guay bring a chaotic story sense to the material and remarkably little evidence of personal investment for an autobiographical drama. Perhaps it might have worked better with a more stylized approach of heightened realism, but the filmmaking is at best pedestrian, at worst inept. What's most peculiar is Ionesco's use of music, with Bertrand Burgalat's '70s-inflected score evoking everything from goofy comedy to Just Jaeckin softcore slush to Hammer House of Horror.
If only the film were from that schlock stable, then somebody might sink a meat cleaver into Hannah's skull and silence this supremely irritating character. Vartolomai is not called upon to do much beyond pout and vamp in inappropriate outfits, but trying to convey any kind of bond with Hannah would defeat the most resourceful of actors. Huppert's psychotically fussy performance might as well be happening in a void.
(Editing by Zorianna Kit)
SYDNEY (AFP) – Popular Australian children's entertainers The Wiggles have entered the bidding race for the flamboyant hat worn by Princess Beatrice at the royal wedding.
The colourful quartet want to bring the headwear Down Under, and joked that they may give it to cricketer Ricky Ponting to wear when he next bats against England.
"We wear some pretty crazy costumes on stage but this hat beats them all," blue Wiggle Anthony Field was quoted as saying in the Sydney Daily Telegraph on Wednesday.
"If we win, we might give it to Ricky Ponting to wear when he bats against the Poms (England) next time.
"It would certainly distract the bowler."
The princess, the oldest daughter of Prince Andrew and a granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth, has put the Philip Treacy creation on online auction site eBay, with bidding currently at ?18,400 (about $30,000).
Proceeds of the sale will be split between two charities: the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, and British charity Children in Crisis.
The Wiggles are UNICEF Australia ambassadors.
The 22-year-old princess is using the notoriety of the hat, which generated almost as much publicity as newlyweds Prince William and his wife Catherine -- although much of it highly critical -- to offload it.
Observers compared the creation to a toilet seat and a giant pretzel, and it has inspired its own Facebook page, "Princess Beatrice's ridiculous royal wedding hat".
THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Plucking lice from schoolchildren's hair may not seem an obvious way to win the heart of a nation, but it worked for the Argentine-born ex-investment banker who will be the next queen of the Netherlands.
As Kate Middleton settles into her new life, she need only look to Princess Maxima, wife of the heir to the Dutch throne, for an example of how to make the tricky transition from commoner to royal.
Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander's engagement 10 years ago to a woman whose father was a minister in an Argentine dictatorship sounded like a gift to the Dutch republican movement seeking to end the nearly 200-year-old monarchy.
Instead, Princess Maxima — nee Maxima Zorreguieta — helped bring the distant House of Orange closer to the people. She topped a recent poll as the most popular Dutch royal, beating current Queen Beatrix and her husband.
The popularity of Maxima, 39, and other princesses elsewhere in Europe has soared thanks to a carefully cultivated blend of the common touch — one was a journalist, another a real estate agent, yet another a single mother — and the glamor and grace demanded of royalty. They are constantly on the covers of gossip magazines, yet try to live relatively normal and private family lives.
In Maxima's case, that could mean inspecting a guard of honor one day, and the next day taking her turn as "lice mother" at her three daughters' school, inspecting children's hair.
Maxima and her Australian-born Danish counterpart Crown Princess Mary got a head-start in the popularity stakes by mastering the tricky language of their new homeland.
"She won us over by speaking Dutch to start with," said Marc van der Linden, chief editor at the Netherlands' Royalty magazine.
Maxima started learning the language before her relationship with Willem-Alexander was public knowledge. By the time she first spoke publicly following the announcement of their engagement she dazzled the nation with her nearly flawless Dutch.
Kate Middleton, who is now the duchess of Cambridge and will likely one day be called a princess, does not have a language barrier to overcome. But she did win fans in Wales when she sang the Welsh national anthem after dedicating a new lifeboat.
Maxima is so popular in the Netherlands that an exhibition is opening this month at the former royal palace Het Loo in the central city of Apeldoorn to mark her first 10 years in the country.
The couple's relationship blossomed after they met in 1999 at a festival in the Spanish city of Seville while Maxima was a New York banker. The Crown Prince, now 44, introduced himself simply as Alexander and did not exactly make a lasting impression.
By the time they had their first date three weeks later in New York, "I'd forgotten what he looked like," Maxima once said.
Johan Ter Molen, curator of the Maxima exhibition, says Kate Middleton would do well to pay a visit to get a glimpse of how her life will be turned on its head.
"The biggest change for both of them is that they come from a relatively protected environment into the limelight and will never be able to leave it," he said. "It is a sort of glass cage you step into and remain for the rest of your life."
So far, Maxima has appeared to handle the intense scrutiny with ease. Even calling her future husband and the country's next king "a bit dumb" during her first press conference 10 years ago worked in her favor.
"The fact that she said it in fluent Dutch with a sense of humor won a lot of people over," said Van der Linden.
But like most every aspect of her life as a princess, even that seemingly throwaway line was stage managed by Royal House advisers, said Van der Linden.
"Originally the crown prince was supposed to say it himself, but for the effect they decided Maxima would do it," he said.
The comment deftly defused a storm of protest that erupted when Willem-Alexander made remarks defending Maxima's father, Jorge Zorreguieta, despite his position as a cabinet minister in Argentina's military dictatorship during the country's "dirty war" of the late 1970s and early '80s, when the regime killed or kidnapped thousands of suspected dissidents.
While no one accused Zorreguieta of being party to the abuses, the Dutch government, with Maxima's reluctant consent, sent an elder statesman to Argentina to inform him he would be unwelcome at the wedding.
Maxima shares her down-to-earth appeal with princesses in Denmark and Sweden, where those Scandinavian royal houses mirror their egalitarian societies. Sweden's Princess Victoria married her gym instructor last year and Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik wed Australian real estate agent Mary Donaldson four years after meeting her in a Sydney bar during the 2000 Olympic Games.
Norway's future queen, the former Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby, was a single mother when she wed Crown Prince Haakon. The father of her son was once convicted of drug offenses, and Princess Mette-Marit gave a tearful apology to the nation for her earlier freewheeling days.
Royal watchers believe it is the spontaneous, unchoreographed moments in Maxima's life as a princess that have endeared her most to her adopted country of 16 million: Tears coursing down her face at her wedding, her wide-eyed horror as she watched from an open-topped bus when a crazed loner plowed his car into a crowd watching a royal parade, or jumping up and down and cheering as Dutch speedskaters compete at Winter Olympics.
Her popularity has even rubbed off a bit on her husband, who has struggled to win the affection of future subjects.
"Maxima has temperament. She dances, she sings, she gives the royal family a certain joie de vivre," said Van der Linden. "Willem-Alexander was regarded as dull and stiff. With Maxima next to him he gets more color."
Goodness that Princess Eugenie is so down with it! Who'd have thunk a real live princess would wear the very same Topshop outfit as a lowly reality TV star, albeit with a lovely lilty Cranberryesque voice?
Who does it for you? Diana, princess with the X factor or Eugenie, princess with the massive country pile and the big gnashers?
Princess of the style wars - Eugenie wins
Where to go nextBack to Star StylePrevious storyKate Middleton vs. Rose McGowan - who wore it best?
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