A Toned-Down Crowning

After being asked to leave their historic home, Frogmore Cottage, just a tiara’s toss from Windsor Castle, Prince Harry and his former actress wife Meghan Markle have been offered alternative accommodations at Buckingham Palace by his father, King Charles III.

The tony twosome moved into the 10-bedroom property, just a short distance from Queen Victoria’s magnificent mausoleum, in 2019 after it was given to them as wedding present by the late Queen Elizabeth, before leaving the U.K. one year later, after spending personal funds to totally renovate it.

In other royal news, KEYT-TV, the ABC affiliate, has asked me to provide my dulcet tones for commentary when Charles, who I got to know well when covering his polo playing exploits at Guards Club, Windsor, in the 1970s when I was royal correspondent on The Daily Mirror, is crowned at historic Westminster Abbey on May 6.

The pomp and pageantry of the occasion should be quite extraordinary with most of the crowned heads of Europe in attendance, but Charles, 74, has insisted on a much pared-down ceremony with just 2,000 guests. His mother’s coronation in 1953 had more than 8,000 and lasted four hours.

His Majesty wants the time reduced to just 60 minutes with guests allowed to wear lounge suits rather than heavy and expensive ceremonial robes.

Although Prince Harry, 38, has said he won’t pen a sequel to his blockbuster controversial tell-all Spare, which has become the fastest selling nonfiction book of all time, he may pen a bonus chapter to be included in the book’s paperback version.

“Readers are eager to know Harry and Meghan’s feelings about the royal backlash they have suffered after the airing of the Netflix documentary and the publication of Spare,” a royal insider tells the New York Post’s Page Six.

Manhattan publisher Penguin-Random House isn’t commenting.

Stay tuned…

‘Fore!’ Play

Actor Michael Douglas, who formerly resided in our rarefied enclave, has revealed his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones has invented a revealing forfeit when they play golf together.

The Oscar winner, 78, has been married to the Welsh actress for more than two decades, but says they keep things spicy when it comes to mundane activities such as playing a round or two.

“The rules are, I have to whip it out if I don’t get it past the ladies’ tee, which I manage most of the time,” he tells London’s Guardian.

“But there have been times when we’re playing alone, and I have to give her a little show because we are competitive. But only when I play with my wife.”

Thank goodness….

Sightings

Oscar nominee Colin Farrell shopping for gourmet chocolates at Twenty-Four Blackbirds… Oscar winner Jeff Bridges with actor Christopher Lloyd and director Guillermo del Toro lunching at Olio e Limone… Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow buying silver pieces at the Santa Barbara Antiques Show at the Earl Warren Showgrounds.

Pip! Pip!