Local Children to Attend School

Prince Harry and former actress wife Meghan Markle are eyeing entering their two children, Archie and Lilibet, at a local private school, I can exclusively reveal.

The Riven Rock twosome were spotted inspecting an institution’s campus last week, bringing them one-step closer to a decision.

School fees in our area range from $6,000 to $50,000+ for older grades, with most of the institutions having 100 percent of students going on to attend four-year colleges.

Ellen Joining Duncan Partners in Ex-Pierre Lafond Space?

Could former TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres be entering the restaurant business, having been a serial real estate flipper for years?

DeGeneres was spotted with hedge fund titan Graham Duncan, who has taken over the former Pierre Lafond bistro space in the upper village, in photos in the London Daily Mail, for whom I used to scribe in the 1970s.

Yale graduate Duncan, 48, as I revealed here, has taken over the space under the name East Valley Kitchen LLC.

Wendy Foster, Lafond’s widow, tells me Duncan, co-founder of East Rock Capital, hopes to open the eatery, which closed in July 2021 and has been empty since then, in March or April.

An Uplifting Summit

Prince Harry is going to be a guest speaker at an “intensive two-day summit” in San Francisco next month.

The Riven Rock resident will attend the event, with tickets costing $995, in his role as chief impact officer for BetterUp.

The summit, Uplift, is being billed as an event where business executives “can connect with industry icons, renowned researchers, and world-class coaches to share experiences, ideas, and inspiration needed to move their businesses forward.”

The Duke of Sussex, 38, is billed as “a husband, father, humanitarian, military veteran, mental wellness advocate, and environmentalist.”

Off to a New Horizon

Could Carpinteria actor Kevin Costner be leaving his hit Paramount Network TV show Yellowstone?

The Oscar-winner reportedly wanted to limit his filming time to just one week shooting the second half of the fifth season as he works on his own passion project.

Costner, who just won a Golden Globe for his role on the show, is now directing and starring in his own Western epic, Horizon, which he co-wrote with Jon Baird with Sienna Miller, Luke Wilson, and Sam Worthington among the cast.

It has been picked up by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema.

But, according to Deadline, network executives declined Costner’s offer and are instead moving forward with a spin-off series starring Matthew McConaughey.

Stay tuned…

Undergarments in Different Pools

Santa Barbara warbler Katy Perry’s British actor fiancé Orlando Bloom has stripped down to his underwear for a revealing new magazine shoot.

The 46-year-old Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean star is on the cover of Flaunt and talks about his relationship with the former Dos Pueblos High student.

“We’re in these very different pools,” he admitted. “Her pool is not a pool that I necessarily understand, and I think my pool is not a pool that she necessarily understands.

“Sometimes they are really, really, really challenging. I won’t lie. We definitely battle with our emotions and creativity.”

But he added: “I think we’re both aware of how blessed we are to have uniquely connected in a way that we did at the time that we did, and there’s definitely never a dull moment.”

Mountain Nomenclature

Carpinteria actor Ashton Kutcher wanted to name a mountain after his actress wife Mila Kunis.

The Your Place or Mine star told British TV host James Corden that while exploring the South Pole, he climbed a remote mountain no one had ever ascended before.

“We climbed the mountain, we got to the top and the guide said, ‘You’re the first person that has ever climbed this mountain. You get to name it.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay it’s Mount Mila’ and he was like ‘No, no, no. It’s bad luck to name it after another person,’ so I didn’t do that.”

Instead, Kutcher, 45, decided to name the peak after the Russian word for “awesome.”

Raquel Welch Remembered

On a personal note, I remember actress and legendary 1960s and ’70s sex symbol Raquel Welch, who died at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 82.

I got to know her well when she was married to her third husband, French TV and film producer Andre Weinfeld, for 10 years from 1980 to 1990 and they were leasing singer Barry Manilow’s Central Park West penthouse in Manhattan.

We would often eat at the Eurofluff hangout Le Relais, where she would frequently irritate the waiters, always ordering food that wasn’t on the menu.

The tony twosome invited me to a number of parties they hosted at Manilow’s aerie. I last saw her at a bash at the Beverly Hills Hotel thrown by publisher Jason Binn, owner of Hamptons, Ocean Drive, and Palm Beach magazines.

Welch’s career was indeed a Fantastic Voyage from her days as a San Diego beauty queen to international stardom, a Golden Globe award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Sightings

Actress-game show host Jane Lynch perusing the shelves at Homer Montecito on CVR…Warbler Katy Perry frolicking on the beach in Oahu, Hawaii…Singer Lady Gaga at the Rosewood Miramar.

Pip! Pip!