Maria Carraciola

June 04, 2010

Everyone’s waiting on Prince William. Rumors are swirling that this was the last week the royal spent as a single man. William has been dating Kate “Wait-y Katie” Middleton since 2003 and previously said he was waiting until he was 28 or 30 to get married. A previous report said the royal family blacked out dates in the first week of June for the big announcement—which would be Britain’s biggest engagement-related news since Prince Charles and Diana. For all those who can’t wait, a British supermarket chain is already selling commemorative mugs hailing the engagement. Hold off on buying one for poor Kate should the engagement come later than expected.

While his brother steals the romantic spotlight, Prince Harry just wants to stay low-key and hang out with the ponies. For the second consecutive year, Harry will come to New York for the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic later this month. Not interested in equines? Harry’s competing against the ruggedly handsome Argentine polo player Nacho Figueras, so there will be plenty of eye candy to go around.

Fergie came, she saw, she conquered Oprah. Or did she? Reactions are mixed following the Duchess of York’s strange appearance on the talk show, during which she dubbed herself “Little Sarah” and admitted to drinking before making a deal to sell access to her ex-husband. Some saw her third-person confessional as a way to absolve herself of blame for the embarrassing scandal. We saw it as just another stop along the long, wild ride that’s been Fergie’s time in the spotlight.

Al and Tipper Gore are finito. The high-powered couple dropped a surprising bomb—they’re separating after 40 years of marriage—to their friends via email earlier this week. Then the guessing game started—he’s cheating? She’s cheating? They’re both cheating?! Not so, says their close (and chatty) friend Sally Quinn. The Washington Post journo thinks the Gores “grew apart” after their interests diverged. She also hinted that maybe Tipper was tired of being a backseat wife. It’s surprising Sally’s speaking out about a family that’s not her own—she was savaged in a July Vanity Fair profile that detailed her fractured relationship with the family of her husband, Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee.

Sonja Morgan has been a breath of less-crazy fresh air on this season of Real Housewives of New York, but she still can’t escape controversy. The ex-wife of J.P. Morgan heir John Morgan was charged with a DWI in Southampton during the three-day weekend. Let’s hope the cameras weren’t there to catch her. Jennifer Gilbert, a New York party planner and the other less-shrill addition to the cast this year, is talking before the finale about why she barely got any screen time. Turns out…she wasn’t crazy enough. “I found in a lot of situations if you didn’t scream the loudest or say the meanest thing you weren’t heard,” she said. Bravo says it doesn’t know if she’ll return for the next installment, which means bye-bye Jennifer. We hardly knew you.

Miley Cyrus is proving she’s good at something besides giving lap dances to fortysomething gay men. The 17-year-old donned ripped fishnets and gave a wild performance at Britain’s Got Talent Thursday night, the “highlight” of which was a fake lesbian kiss with one of her female backup dancers. Slow down Miley, you have at least another decade to go before you can catch up with Britney.

In less Sapphic-related news, Fabiola Beracasa is hearing wedding bells. The social butterfly and daughter of Veronica Hearst is finally settling down with longtime boyfriend, money manager Jason Beckman and the couple is said to be “very happy.” Expect a lavish wedding.

Ah, the lifestyles of rich and famous four-year-olds. Gwen Stefani threw an extravagant birthday party totaling $15,000 for her son Kingston. Kate Beckinsale and David and Victoria Beckham came to the birthday party and ate the (presumably very expensive) burgers, hot dogs, and french fries.

To celebrate Marina Abramovic‘s final week of exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, Givenchy threw a star-studded bash attended by Christina Ricci and Christina Ricci’s under-cleavage. Courtney Love was also there and unexpectedly on her best behavior alongside James Franco, Andre Balazs, and Bjork.

On a final, sad note, Golden Girl‘s original cougar Rue McClanahan passed away on Thursday at the age of 76. Betty White, the last of the Girls left, said Rue’s death “hurts more than I ever thought it would.” No one will judge you for hunkering down with a stack of DVDs to salute Blanche. We miss her already.