London – Prince William turns 25 today and gained part of the inheritance left him by his mother, Princess Diana.
William, who is second in line to the throne, gains access to the interest and other income accrued on the $13 million he was left by his mother, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997.
William’s Clarence House office would not say what the prince planned to do with the money, estimated at $500,000 to $600,000 a year.
Harry, 22, William’s brother, will gain access to a similar amount when he turns 25. According to Diana’s will, the brothers gain access to the capital sum when they turn 30.
William and Harry are both second lieutenants in the British army, earning salaries of about $44,000 a year. They also receive money for accommodation and other expenses from their father, Prince Charles.
Now that he is 25, William also can marry without the consent of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II – but no royal nuptials are on the horizon. William and his long-term girlfriend, Kate Middleton, announced in April that they had split.
LOS ANGELES – It may have sounded like an endorsement, but Bob Barker‘s recent remarks about O’Donnell weren’t meant that way.
“The Price Is Right” host, who retired this month after 35 years with the show, told reporters last week at the Daytime Emmy Awards that he had “no doubt” that O’Donnell would make a fine host for the CBS game show.
But Barker told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he never meant to endorse any potential host and has no role in choosing his replacement.
“I have not been asked for my opinion, nor have I expressed one,” Barker said. “I think there are several candidates who could do the show, and Rosie is certainly one of them.”
CBS and FremantleMedia North America, which produces “The Price Is Right,” have yet to announce Barker’s successor. Among those reportedly in the running, besides O’Donnell, are Todd Newton of the E! network, Mark Steines of “Entertainment Tonight,” George Hamilton and John O’Hurley. O’Donnell said on her blog that she plans to meet with the “Price” representatives this week and that she “sure would” accept the job if offered.
CBS and FremantleMedia had no comment Wednesday. “The Price Is Right” is on hiatus until the new season starts in the fall.
LOS ANGELES – The city prosecutor who condemned Paris Hilton’s early release from jail as celebrity favoritism is now under fire for a case of special treatment closer to home – acknowledging his wife was wanted for arrest for nine years.
The disclosure, first reported by the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, is the latest in a mushrooming scandal that has engulfed City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, who ran for California attorney general last year but lost.
According to the Times, a warrant for his wife’s arrest was issued by a judge in 1998 after she failed to appear in court on charges of driving without insurance on a suspended license in an unregistered car.
Michelle Delgadillo, originally charged under her maiden name, was never detained in the nine intervening years, though the court order for her arrest remained valid until Wednesday.
Hours after the Times story broke, she appeared in court to plead no contest to a misdemeanor charge of driving without a license, and the warrant was canceled.
She was sentenced to 12 months on probation and fined $431, according to a spokesman for Delgadillo’s office.
The turn of events was especially embarrassing for Delgadillo because it came two weeks after he publicly chided Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca for releasing Hilton from jail early and placing her under house arrest for unspecified medical problems.
It was his office that prosecuted Hilton and pressed for a 45-day sentence, which a Times investigation later found was more time than most county inmates serve for similar offenses.
New York – When Larry Birkhead looks at his 9-month-old daughter, Dannielynn, he sees her mother, Anna Nicole Smith.
“She has long legs and chubby little toes exactly like Anna’s; it’s like a mirror image,” Birkhead tells OK! magazine in its latest issue. “It’s really incredible. And I think her lips are her mom’s lips; especially when she pouts. … She also gets what she wants exactly like her mom always did as soon as she’d pout.” Smith died in Florida in February. She was 39. The former Playboy Playmate gave birth to Dannielynn in September, a few days before the death of her son, Daniel, 20, in the Bahamas.
Howard K. Stern, her lawyer and companion, initially claimed to be Dannielynn’s father, but Smith’s ex-boyfriend Birkhead eventually showed he was the father.
The baby could inherit millions from the estate of Smith’s late husband, Texas oil tycoon J.
Howard Marshall II.
Birkhead plans to raise Dannielynn in Los Angeles, where he complains about the attention from the paparazzi.
Capt. Kirk is jealous of Mr. Spock. William Shatner, the stoic commander of the Starship Enterprise on “Star Trek,” is said to be furious with the producers of “Star Trek XI” because they offered Leonard Nimoy, Kirk’s lovable Vulcan sidekick, a cameo role but didn’t give him one. Shatner “is very upset,” an insider told the New York Post, “and has been lobbying for a role.” The film, to be directed by “Lost” producer and director J.J. Abrams, is to start shooting later this year. Shatner’s manager, Larry Thompson, said, “I don’t know that to be the case, so I can’t comment.”
