Security Concerns

Prince Harry has suffered a major defeat in the British courts and now faces a hefty $620,000 legal bill.

The Riven Rock resident sought a judicial review over a Home Office decision that he should not be allowed to pay U.K. police for his personal protection.

The Duke of Sussex, 38, was stripped of police protection when he and his former actress wife Meghan Markle stepped down as working royals and moved to the U.S. in 2020.

Now a top judge has declared the Home Office acted rationally when it rejected the offer from King Charles III’s youngest son to pay for his own security.

Justice Martin Chamberlain rejected Harry’s second challenge to the government ruling, saying “a limited number” of highly trained officers “should not be made available for payment, particularly as bodyguards for VIPs.”

It came after Metropolitan Police chiefs told the court their officers were not “guards for hire” by the rich and famous, claiming allowing Harry to pay for protection officers, particularly armed ones, would set an “unacceptable precedent.”

This comes a week after the alleged 70 miles per hour paparazzi chase in Manhattan, which the prince’s PR people described as “near catastrophic,” which was completely debunked in a NYPD report of the incident.

Leaving the Show?

The rumor mill is churning that Santa Barbara warbler Katy Perry is planning to quit her $25 million a year judgeship on the hit ABC TV show American Idol, where she has appeared for the past six years alongside Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan.

According to London’s Daily Mail, the former Dos Pueblos High student, 38, has faced a slew of controversy and scandal this season, and has grown tired of dealing with the backlash from reviewers. The breaking point came when she was booed for dishing out criticism to contestants.

Although Katy has faced criticism in the past, this season has been particularly tough on her following remarks that erupted into a mom-shaming scandal that prompted some contestants to quit.

“Katy feels like the producers threw her under the bus,” according to one source. “She feels like her comments could have been removed.

“Getting booed recently really upset her. She was trying to stay in her lane, do her job, and go home. She went into it thinking she was going to foster young talent. For her good intentions to be misconstrued is not what she wanted.”

Senate Considerations?

Could former TV talk show titan Oprah Winfrey be having political aspirations?

The longtime resident of our rarefied enclave is being touted as a possible replacement for longtime senator Dianne Feinstein in the event the 89-year-old lawmaker retires before the end of her term next year.

Feinstein, who has just returned to Washington after a ten-week bout of shingles, has pledged to retire at the end of her current term.

The Associated Press reports that several names have been thrown into the mix should the California Democrat step aside early. One of them is reportedly Oprah, 69.

Stay tuned…

Gifts That Keep on Giving

Montecito actress Gwyneth Paltrow has some controversial recommendations for Father’s Day presents.

The 50-year-old Oscar winner not only suggests a $64,000 per person trip to the Arctic Circle as a possible gift, but also a male sex toy!

The Iron Man star first launched her lifestyle brand Goop in 2008, with suggestions becoming more extroverted over the years.

A $219 hands-free prostate stimulator from the brand Hugo that delivers “satisfactory vibrations to the perineum” is one of the more unusual gifts, with more mundane items including a $790 wine carrier by Metier and a $17 jar of cocktail cherries.

Gwynnie is leaving us shaken and stirred…

The Grief Period

Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus has revealed how she dealt with the “grief period” that overcame the Montecito resident after the end of her iconic sitcom Seinfeld.

Julia, 62, who now stars in the new movie comedy You Hurt My Feelings, is featured on the latest cover of People magazine and recounts the difficulties she had saying goodbye to Seinfeld after its controversial season finale.

“The ending of that show was so sad because we all loved each other so much,” she admits. “There was definitely a grief period when the show ended that was both real and felt.”

Julia, who went on to equally successful roles in Veep and The New Adventures of Old Christine, adds: “I do remember wanting and thinking that I need to keep working. I wanted to keep working. I wanted to keep doing this thing called acting, which I’ve been able to do, which is great.”

A delightful lady….

Bridges Back to Health

Montecito actor Jeff Bridges says his health is “mostly back” after his cancerous tumor shrank to “the size of a marble.”

The 73-year-old Oscar winner, in an interview with AARP: The Magazine, reveals the mass in his stomach when he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in March 2020 originally measured a whopping nine by
12 inches.

After utilizing multiple types of therapy, as well as working with a trainer to film the second season of his FX show The Old Man and walking his daughter down the aisle at her 2021 wedding, the tumor has almost disappeared.

Bridges says meditation and positive thinking have been “absolutely essential” in keeping him alive and getting up to face every day.

Good news indeed….

Tina Turner Remembered

On a personal note, I remember the Queen of Rock n’ Roll Tina Turner, who has died at her home in Switzerland at the age of 83.

We first met by chance in London when I was attending a performance of Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre with the original cast of Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman in 1986. It was the hottest ticket in town, so I was surprised to be sitting next to an empty seat.

As the lights dimmed for the show to start Turner whisked into the row to sit by my side. A charming encounter.

I last saw her perform at New York’s Radio City Music Hall with the support act of singer Chris Isaak in 1993 during her What’s Love? Tour giving an energized performance in vertiginous heels, a barely there dress, and a trademark wig.

An amazing half century of highs and lows. From a troubled violent marriage with Ike Turner to the peak of the rock stratosphere in 1984 with the release of her album Private Dancer, which sold five million copies and garnered her three Grammy awards.

From adversity to mega stardom as a worldwide phenomenon selling an astounding 180 million albums. An extraordinary trajectory, an extraordinary woman.

Sightings

Jim Cramer of CNBC’s Squawk Box at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara… TV host Jane Lynch noshing at Tre Lune… Oprah Winfrey at the Louis Vuitton cruise show in Italy.

Pip! Pip!