Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Tattle: Kate-William drawing a royal crowd

CAN SOMEONE explain to Tattle about this royal wedding thing? Seriously, what's the big deal? A former empire experiencing its own economic woes is about to spend a small fortune on horse-led carriages, bodyguards, balls and flower arrangements so an heir to the throne can marry his girlfriend.

CAN SOMEONE explain to Tattle about this royal wedding thing?

Seriously, what's the big deal?

A former empire experiencing its own economic woes is about to spend a small fortune on horse-led carriages, bodyguards, balls and flower arrangements so an heir to the throne can marry his girlfriend.

We sort of get why people in London care - traffic is going to be a nightmare (and it already is a nightmare) - but why do people care here in the Colonies?

Is it the pageantry? The romance? The crazy hats?

What is it about so-called royals that has commoners so fascinated?

Maybe Tattle is just cranky because we didn't get an invite. The good news, however, is now we don't have to worry about a gift. How do you give a couple money when the groom's grandmother is on the money?

Let these fabulous and famous folks, who were invited, worry about it.

Among the foreign royals expected to be in attendance for the nuptials are Belgium's Crown Prince Philippe and his wife, Princess Mathilde; Denmark's Queen Margrethe; Norway's King Harald and Queen Sonja; Serbia's Crown Prince Alexander and his wife, Crown Princess Katherine (10 Tattle points if you knew Serbia had a royal family); Spain's Queen Sofia, Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia; Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria and her husband, Prince Daniel; and The Netherlands' Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, Princess Maxima, Prince Philipp zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg and his wife, Princess Saskia.

How'd you like to get stuck at that table? Just remembering the names . . .

It's probably a lot better than being stuck with the politicians and diplomats. Expected to attend from that group are British Prime Minister David Cameron, British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, British Labor Party leader Ed Miliband, British Virgin Islands Prime Minister Ralph T. O'Neal, American Ambassador Louis Susman, Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and Gov. Gen. Arthur Foulkes, German Ambassador Georg Boomgaarden, Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor, Jamaican Gov. Gen. Patrick Allen and Polish Ambassador Barbara Tuge-Ereciska.

No plus-ones?

A relatively short list of celebrities includes David and Victoria Beckham and Elton John and his partner, David Furnish.

Religious figures include Britain's chief rabbi, Jonathan Sacks (to lead the wedding hora), and Venerable Bogoda Seelawimala, director of the London Buddhist Vihara monastery.

Also, all 27 members of Prince William's search-and-rescue unit, C Flight 22, have been invited along with their partners.

There's no mention of the bride's guests, although we're assuming her friends and family will get a small table somewhere near the kitchen.

Tattbits

 * A 25-room Long Island mansion that some believe inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald's portrayal of lavish lifestyles in The Great Gatsby is being torn down, the latest in a long line of estates disappearing from what's known as the Gold Coast - soon to be remembered only from the helicopter shots on USA's "Royal Pains."

The estate known as "Land's End" (not to be confused with the mail-order outerwear business) sits on a 13-acre lot on Long Island Sound. The 24,000-square- foot home is being torn down to accommodate five $10 million custom homes.

Or, as they're known on the Gold Coast, low-income housing.

* Penn alum Jennifer Egan

won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction yesterday for her novel "A Visit from the Goon Squad."

The book was honored for its "bighearted curiosity about cultural change at warp speed."

And for getting the word "goon" into the title.

* Brad Pitt told the

London Sun that one of the lowest points of his life was being dumped by ex-fiancee Jill Schoelen.

Back in 1989, Brad was a poor, struggling actor when Jill, an actress, pleaded with him to come to Hungary to visit her.

"I got there, went straight to the set where she was filming and that night we went out to dinner," he said. "She told me that she had fallen in love with the director of the film."

(Look up the definition of "cold" in the dictionary.)

"I spent my night in Budapest, sitting on a bench, smoking, with just a local bum to talk with who couldn't speak English," Brad added. "These are the days and nights you remember when you have success. I returned to America absolutely broke. This is why recognition does not bother me too much."

* "Glee" star Matthew

Morrison told Billy Bush that he recently had the "worst night ever" when he returned home to find rodent feces all over his floor and a large rat chillin' in his bed.

Matthew said a chase ensued and eventually he caught the rat and threw him in a "far away trash can."

Not creepy enough? Matthew said he went to bed after that - slept in the same bed where he just caught the rat.

Dude, please say you changed the sheets.

Later, "I get up, run over and turn the light on," he added, "and this big guy is on my nightstand and he jumps on my bed. And he's looking at me like, 'What are you doing on my bed?' He's looking at me like I'm the a-hole."

That second rat - assuming he wasn't the same rat who just missed the high thread-count - got Matthew to check into a hotel. Now he wants to put the place up for sale.

Note: Hire an exterminator

before the open house.

* As if there weren't enough

awards shows, on April 30, Animal Planet will premiere the Humane Society's 25th Anniversary Genesis Awards, which the channel calls "the Oscar night for animals!" At least the speeches will be short.

BANGShowbiz.com and Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

Email gensleh@phillynews.com