Mary At The Beach

She's become one of Europe's most talked about Royals-Princess Mary, the former Tasmanian real estate agent who one day will be Queen of Denmark

Mary will be attending Bondi Beach's popular Sculpture By The Sea on 20th November to present the award for the People's Choice.

The Bondi event, now in it's 15th year was honoured by  similar events in 2009 and 2011 in the bay city of Aarhus, Denmark with Mary a patron and both Mary and her husband Prince Frederick are said to be keen to see this year's event in Sydney. When he was visiting Sydney for the 2000 Olympics Frederick surfed daily at Bondi.

The couple are expected to bring their four children on the visit and the kids should, like all children visiting the Sculptures, love them. Here are just a few pics from the past few years of the inventive creations that are staged on Bondi, and throughout the cliff top walk  to Tamaramma Beach.

Justin Under Attack

While the compact Kings Cross club Beach Haus celebrated the opening of their Moet & Chandon bar (above) Australia's most successful night club entrepreneur Justin Hemmes has come under sustained attacks that bear all the hall marks of the infamous Australian "tall poppy syndrome".

Justin Hemmes

No-one has invested as much money as the young mogul in providing chic and luxurious premises for Sydney-siders to party in. To date an estimated $200M. Hemmes employs around 2000 staff and is regarded by those who work for him as a firm but fair and generous boss. There is a waiting list of hundreds of young hopefuls wishing to be employed by Justin's Merivale Group.

Starting with 2 hotels in the city, Hemmes bucked the trend and turned old style pubs into stylish and modern bars aided by his sister Bettina who is responsible for decorating all his premises.

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman partied at his Slip Inn while the Crown Prince of Denmark, Frederick met his future bride Mary Donaldson there during the 2000 Olympics.

When he opened the elegant Establishment in lower George Street in a beautiful colonial Georgian building he introduced the city to a style not seen before.

Huge marbled floored bars that become packed after office hours, an award winning restaurant Est run by top chef Peter Doyle (picking up '3 Hats' again last week at the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide launch) and a series of function rooms constantly in use with a nightclub Hemmesphere that became the place to relax for visiting international stars from Beyonce to Bono to actor Simon Callow.

In any other world class city Hemmes would probably be given a gold key to the city having almost solely revived central Sydney' dormant nightlife.

A party at the Ivy pool

Instead he has faced a raft of opposition from local police over exaggerated incidents that pale into insignificance when one considers he hosts tens of thousands of patrons every week.

Hemmes also came under the gaze of  Lord Mayor Clover Moore who donned a new hat as the head of the Anti-Fun Police and attempted to enforce strict drinking hours reminiscent of the dreaded 1950s "six o'clock swill" when pubs slammed their doors shut at 6pm each evening. Fortunately the outcry was deafening particularly as Hemmes had invested his family fortune in his city nightclubs

Hemmisphere

Three months ago Hemmes was held up at gunpoint in his recently purchased Surry Hill's pub . Outside a police car with 2 officers calmly watched as the armed raiders made their get away in a stolen BMW crashing into another car in the process.

A fortnight ago it is alleged his doormen bashed a patron in the cellar at Hemme's Ivy complex and mis-lead police whilst cleaners washed away bloodstains.

A few nights ago Hemmes distinctive black Rolls Royce Phantom was pulled over in Redfern and the driver was charged with drug possession. Yesterday a man claimed he had been assaulted by Hemmes at Ivy. Hemmes denies the charge and says CCTV footage backs him up.

Sydney once had the most corrupt police in the Southern hemisphere, routed out at great personal sacrifice by an imported British police commander who, for his efforts and success was forced from the country by a series of cowardly and false attacks from shock jocks and politicians.

It comes as no surprise Justin Hemmes has been spotted in New York City in recent months checking out premises. His talents would be snapped up in the USA. They would roll out the welcome mat.
It would serve the good burghers of Sydney right if they forced the man who has done more to brighten Sydney life to flee abroad to a city that would appreciate his talents.

Sophie Serafino-By Royal Appointment

Resting in Copenhagen after a triumphant appearance before HRH Prince Frederick and Princess Mary of Denmark on the weekend violinist Sophie Serafino has been telling her Facebook pals that she was "so starstruck" meeting the Royal pair that she "forgot to curtsy"

nice-a Peacock feathered lampshade !

Two weeks ago the Shuttle was privileged to attend a party at the Sydney Opera House for a preview of Sophie's new show that she has now taken on world tour. At the same time she showed off an amazing gold violin that has become part of her act.

Sophie sashayed her way into the Utzon Room and dramatically seized the gold violin from a plinth (while three nubile young ladies tried to prevent her) and launched into her exciting act. The act really has to be seen live-which the European audiences are now doing and lapping up.

Sophie also launched her new CD ‘The Gold Violin’ by cutting a 3 tiered gold lacquered cake.

In fact the Utzon Room room was filled with amazing if ostentatious gold objects that came from Sydney's most mysterious and unique shop Royalty Prussia in William Street, East Sydney. It has a gold encrusted coach in it's front window. Apparently our favourite Russian oligarch Rustam Tarikoa shops there.


Here's a small clip of Sophie performing at the Sydney Opera House :

Kelly & Belly Secretly Wed

Kelly & Belly

He looks after the finances of a host of celebrities like Russell Crowe and Elle McPherson and some of Australia's top business people. She is the gorgeous host of the travel show Getaway

Anthony Bell and Kelly Landry wed in secret in Queenstown , New Zealand 2 weeks ago.

On Friday evening they threw a bash at the exclusive Rose Bay water-side restaurant Catalina for 200 pals, amongst them actress Holly Brisley, TV host Larry Emdur , boxer Danny Green and society maven Marie Sutton.

Known as Kelly & Belly to friends, Anthony Bell's firm Bell Partners  regularly tops the list of the Business Review Weekly (BRW) magazine's most productive performing companies.

 He also owns the enormous gin palace Ghost which is often used for celebrity harbour cruises including by Bono last year and Prince Frederick & Princess Mary of Denmark.

The Queen of Denmark flies in !

the future King & Queen of Denmark

Well not quite, but she will be one day.

Mary Donaldson from Tasmania, now known as  Crown Princess Mary of Denmark slipped into Australia today and took the media by surprise. She's on a visit to see her family members in Hobart and is pregnant with twins.

By all accounts, Mary has become a hugely popular figure in Denmark amongst it's 5.5 million subjects and has revived the Royal Families fortunes. Amazingly  she is able to wander Hobart at ease and without the pomp and ceremony that goes with a Royal in her newly adopted country Denmark.

Having been fairly below the radar as far as European Royalty goes, Princess Mary has quietly crept up to become one of the world's most stylish women. In the September edition of Vanity Fair that has just hit the stands , she is named as one of the world's top ten dressed women. High praise indeed.

Mary Donaldson, working in a King Cross real estate agency swept Crown Prince Frederick off his feet when the two met in a Sydney pub during the 2000 Olympics. From that moment, the relationship was sealed and the 2 wed in a wonderfully toy town style wedding  in Copenhagen in 2004 , attended by the the crowned heads of Europe.

She is said to be adored by her mother-in-law Queen Margerite 11 who gave her son instant approval upon meeting Mary formally in 2001. 

The wedding, broadcast live throughout Europe and Australia was not without it's memorable moments, including when Mary's Scot's borne father apparently lunged for a sausage roll at the reception and sent the King Carl XV1 Gustaf of Sweden flying. Ever the gentleman, the Swedish King dusted himself off and fetched the kilted dad a drink..

Princess Mary has come a long way since we first met her at a promotional real estate party in her then office digs. A few weeks later when she was trying to assist us find accommodation in the area and the Shuttle spied a gorgeous apartment in Macleay Street Potts Point, Ms Donaldson's words still remain in our memory : "a bit out of your price range I think my dear "!

we spoke too soon : Hobart police have issued a warning to the huge contingent of  media who have congregated outside Princess Mary's Hobart sister's house, to keep their distance.
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Tweet Of  The Day prize goes again to Yoko Ono :
yokoono

 

"My mind was taking in the shimmering leaves of the trees outside the window."

Will the Duchess of York's Oz sister survive the scandal?

Footballer Mark Bosnich & Jane Ferguson

Much muttering amongst PR ranks this week whether the  public relations business of  Sarah, The Duchess of York's Sydney based sister Jane Ferguson will suffer over  the battering of her sister's merry quip that half a million  pounds will do nicely thanks, her tears of joy at the sight of $40,000 in cash and her sensible request for a spare fifty quid for the driver of her loaned Bentley.

Jane has a thriving Australian PR business looking after all manner of prestige clients from Peugeot cars to the famed English fabric designers Osborne & Little. She was also the go-between for the glossy Australian Woman's Day magazine that scored exclusive pics of Sarah's 50th birthday celebrations at the Lanesborough Hotel in London where HRH Prince Andrew obligingly posed for snaps with Sarah and their children. At a fee of $50,000 it was a steal with the pics on-sold world-wide for 6 times as much ( does Sarah just need a better agent ?).

Jane also co-hosted, along with Britain's favourite ex-Royal butler Paul Burrell the TV reality program Australian Princess , said to be inspired by the "fairy tale" romance during the 2000 Sydney Olympics of HRH Prince Frederick of Denmark and Tasmania's Mary Donaldson who was swept of her feet in a Sydney pub as Frederick purchased a round of drinks for the crowd with his platinum Amex card. In a few decades, our Mary will become the Queen of Denmark which is far more exciting than the job she had when we first met her -in a Kings Cross real estate agency flogging expensive over-priced apartments.

One of the guest judges on Australian Princess was  the  daughter-in-law  of an ex- Archbishop of Canterbury, Diana Fisher who started life as a BBC commentator before moving to Oz in 1964 with her husband Sir Humphrey Fisher. Diana  described her experience on Australian Princess as  the low point in a media career which has spanned 60 years that included covering the state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill. But she said it had to happen sometime.

In the introduction to Australian Princess ( which we are sure included at some stage London PR Liz Brewer and that darling of the aristocracy Lady Colin Campbell), Jane helpfully informed us that she had been "brought up around royalty !". Which is no lie, what with her dad, the late Major Ronnie Ferguson being the head of the stables at Windsor Castle . Whether she actually ever got into the big house is a mystery.

Before you scoff, we should point out that some historians  claim both Princess Diana and The Duchess of York (and Jane Ferguson) are distant, be it ever so remote, descendents of Georgina Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire and may well have far more aristocratic blood in their veins than the present occupants of Buck House who so cruelly threw them both out to the wolves.

We digress. Jane wasn't taking calls from the media last week as the ghastly News of The World sting video was broadcast worldwide . There had already been some sort of mix-up when her gorgeous daughter Ayshea  a cousin to Prince's William and Harry had inadvertently spoken out of turn, innocently to a media person, of her recent visits to the rellies in London and, as it is with that family, was banished for a certain cooling period (which could be decades) before being invited back to a family barbeque  at Windsor Castle.

It's claimed today in a Sunday tabloid  that  Jane Ferguson had been "disinvited" from a black-tie charity event last week that she had helped organise.
Absolute tosh. Jane had purposely stayed away knowing that the event  would be crawling with reptiles (like us) and had no wish to draw attention away from the very special cause. Sadly, it actually meant the charity was completely ignored. No Jane, no press.

Instead, she and 2009 Masterchef finalist Lucas Parsons were giving cooking lessons to a select few at the luxurious Point Piper home of American born designer Charlie Brown and her husband, the ex-Israeli paratrooper Danny Avidan.    

Will her clientele list suffer? Good grief no.
Each Sunday millions of viewers are devouring  the TV series Underbelly which is based upon the sordid underworld characters of Kings Cross (many still alive and operating) with one of the main stars often featured on these pages, the handsome John Ibrahim, nightclub owner and security consultant-although the police describe him as a "serious crime figure" -almost achieving hero status and who is on every guest list in town.

 At the same time Rupert Murdoch's beloved Daily Telegraph has hired our favourite ex-detective Roger Rogerson who admitted shooting a few people dead (all in the line of duty) and who was run out of the police force for corruption and jailed, as an expert commentator on the series and the interested can blog with him on Monday mornings where Roger will set you straight on who was a bigger crook than who.

Jane Ferguson, always charming, can look forward to a fabulous year with new clients battering down her door when the clamour dies down !

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In the next few days-a full report on the party to launch the autobiography of our favourite dominitrix Madame Lash which is being held at The Kirk, the former Presbyterian Church she purchased many years ago and where all manner of spooky events take place.

Gretel, as she is know to her friends  who was once featured on the TV show Eurotrash, also owns the rather splendid Florida House at Palm Beach where snootier residents have complained to the local council over 'renovations' she has in plan. They have no idea who they are dealing with !