Going Big at Operation Bigs

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle paid a visit to Camp Pendleton, the U.S. Marines base near San Diego, ahead of Veterans Day.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stopped by Operation Bigs, a mentoring program tailor-made for children of military families, according to the couple’s Archewell foundation.

Meghan wore a $1,490 Carolina Herrera cardigan embroidered with poppies for the occasion, while Harry was sporting a real poppy in his jacket lapel buttonhole in honor of the U.K.’s Remembrance Day, which also took place last weekend.

They also opened a new Navy Seal training facility for the West Coast Warrior Fitness Program.

Harry, 39, served in the British Army for 10 years, including two tours of duty in Afghanistan.

The Cost of Living

The nation’s top 10 most expensive zip codes have been revealed and, of course, our Eden by the Beach features prominently.

Homes in the Hamptons on Long Island and the Bay Area sell for more than eight million dollars, with Atherton, a tiara’s toss from San Francisco, and Sagaponack, where I used to stay at a friend’s beach house between the homes of the late Jaws actor Roy Scheider and magazine magnate Peter Brant, taking the first two spots on Property Shark’s annual rankings.

Santa Barbara, including our rarefied enclave, comes in at number four after Fisher Island in Miami Beach, Florida, with a median sale price of $5M.

We first gained a top 10 spot in 2021 when Santa Barbara ranked 7th with a median sale price of $4.1 million.

Beverly Hills ranked fifth with $4.8 million.

The Holiday Buzz

Montecito actress Gwyneth Paltrow, like fellow resident Oprah Winfrey, has just released her much anticipated Christmas gift guide on her Goop website, which includes a private island escape, a $1,925 Hermès doghouse, a pair of $5,000 Chanel roller skates, and even a 24-carat gold vibrator for $15,000.

There are many Goop present ideas to choose from on The Ridiculous but Awesome guide for discerning recipients including a week-long airship luxury cruise to the North Pole, and a $50,000 stay at a solar-power safari camp.

The Inez gold G-spot vibrator promises an “impressive powerful rumbling motor.”

Great expectations…

Case Settled

Local warbler Katy Perry can go ahead with the purchase of a $15 million estate in Montecito after a judge ruled that painkillers did not prevent the founder of 1-800-Flowers from being able to make the deal for the 8.9-acre East Valley Road property.

The high-profile fight over the 11-bedroom home pit the “I Kissed a Girl” singer against Carl Westcott, a former private equity manager and army member in the 101st Airborne, who claimed he didn’t want to sell his home and wasn’t of sound mind when he made the deal.

Judge Joseph Lipner, who oversaw a non-jury trial in Los Angeles last month, said in his tentative judgment there was no “credible evidence” that Westcott, 83, was unable to make the deal in 2020.

“The contract Westcott negotiated and signed yielded a $3.75 million gross profit,” Lipner said in his decision. “Moreover, Westcott entered into contracts shortly before and shortly after the contract at issue here. Westcott has not attempted to rescind any of these other contracts for lack of capacity.”

Lipner ordered the sale take place and scheduled a February hearing to determine whether additional charges are appropriate.

Perry, 39, is seeking $1.4 million to cover what she could have earned renting out the property had the sale proceeded as planned.

In the Banned Band

Montecito actor Steve Martin has hit back at a Florida school district that banned his book Shopgirl from libraries because it features “sexual content.”

Martin, 78, wrote an Instagram response saying he’s “so proud” his novella was one of more than 300 books to be pulled by the Collier County Public School district last week.

“Now people who want to read it will have to buy a copy!” He joked, while garnering 30,000 likes and thousands of comments on social media.

Shopgirl was published in 2000 and then made into a movie starring Martin alongside Claire Danes.

It tells the story of a department store employee who meets a wealthy businessman with the pair embracing an unconventional love affair as she struggles with a relationship with a man her own age.

Martin’s book was banned thanks to a new Florida law that has also seen other authors such as Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, and Toni Morrison having their work censored.

At least Steve is in very good company…

Sightings

Montecito rocker Adam Levine and wife Behati Prinsloo at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York… Gwyneth Paltrow at the Council of Fashion Designers of America gala in Manhattan… Oscar winner Kevin Costner noshing at Tre Lune.

Pip! Pip!