It's A Girl !..but not a Princess yet

Not long ago we chided a Sydney columnist for gushing that Royalty, in the form of horse loving Zara Phillips, had attended the Magic Millions on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Zara is a commoner as are all children born to those with Royal titles unless HM The Queen confers titles upon them.
Of course Her Maj usually does as a matter of course unless the parents decide otherwise as in Zara's case where her parents HH Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips decided to turn down the offer.
While a colonial writer and even a New York paper (as out pic shows) may be forgiven for making a common mistake, it's unacceptable for British newspapers who have also elevated the Duchess & Duke of Cambridge's newly born daughter to Princess status when, in reality she is a commoner at this stage. Talk about slack fact checking!.
Nothing is guaranteed in the world of Royalty where they ( and their handlers / courtiers) more than anyone judge the mood of the general public.
 Kate and William may just decide to accept no title for the new bub,
Time will tell but I'm sure she's a little princess in their eyes.


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Fairfax Fail : The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have both failed in the fact checking
department. Are we being pedantic?. I think not as this indicates how journalists these days fail to do the most basic fact checking.
Calling the new baby a "princess" is simply wrong until the Monarch confers a title upon her.
In fact she will not even strictly be a 'royal' unless she is given a peerage as well which is why her parents were created the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge which is also why her grandfather Prince Phillip was created the Duke of Edinburgh before he married the Queen so that she would not be marrying a commoner.
Last month with such sloppy fact-checking we had 2 large publishers killing of Australian actress Nell Campbell on the claim she was comedienne Tracey Ullman's mother.
# Even Whispers is less than perfect. We did forget that the recently born and now (created by the Monarch of Great Britain) Her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte of Cambridge was a Lady from the word go. Being the daughter of a Duke & Duchess she is entitled to that title.
Critics again have attacked me for being pedantic which is nonsense. British titles are a powerful legal entity crafted over centuries of law making. The new Royal Princess could one day also be the Queen of Australia. We aren't a Republic yet (if ever) and it's sad that major media outlets in this country can display such ignorance. What other mistakes are they making?
It's remarkable that newspapers that lived and breathed the late princess Diana have ignored the fact that she felt the cruelest blow to her after divorcing the future King, Prince Charles was losing her Royal status.

exclusive : Sharon Sargeant Special

She can usually be found shopping in the smart boutiques of Double Bay, perhaps having a coffee at the Cosmo or lunching at the uber smart Ottos. All within a cooee's distance from her Darling Point apartment (a Ferrari is parked in the underground garage).

The Shuttle encountered her 2 years ago at the Finger Wharf in Woolloomooloo, with the British Rugby team in tow (captain Mike Tyndall & wife Zara Phillips were elsewhere that day), escorting them to a gin palace where a bunch of scantily clad girls awaited to join the lads on a harbour cruise. The Shuttle's subsequent report was picked up by British newspapers and a scandal ensured.

 We are talking about Sydney's Sharon Sargeant and now a wad of new pics have landed on our desk, sent by a tourist visiting something called Adultcon in Las Vegas armed with a Box Brownie : here they are for your perusal  to brighten up a quiet Easter.
Sharon's a good Catholic gel so say 3 Hail Mary's before viewing :

Sharon Sargeant with the English Rugby team

Shock Nude Photo of Prince Harry- and he's a Hunk!

Two outrageous snaps of the Royals-the hunky abs of HRH Prince Harry and Mike Tyndall, husband of HRH Princess Anne's daughter Zara Phillips having it off with that blond in New Zealand.

They are of course pics from the brilliant photographer Alison Jackson who has a new book on Royal look-a-likes available here and at her website. Go to Alison's website for more fun.

The Royal, her fiancee, the Love Boat and the footballer

Sharon Sargeant

The Social Shuttle attended a small lunch at the uber chic Otto's on  Woolloomooloo Wharf on Wednesday and over a few glasses of Bollinger watched a small tableaux unfold before us . At the next restaurant Mantra a long table of English footballers had assembled for a lively lunch.

Much food and fines wines were consumed by the hearty lads and soon an arrival caught our eye. Sharon Sargeant, former fiancee of the noted private eye about town Frank Monte and  recently outed as the  boss of the upmarket RedVelvet Escorts and Model Agency, walked brusquely down the wharf in a smart military style outfit to greet the footie players. Business cards were exchanged, happy snaps taken and mobile phones were running hot. Something was afoot.

Soon a gleaming gin palace glided into the wharf and by co-incidence moored next to the spanking new $8M vessel, Ghost owned by the clever young 'accountant to the stars' Anthony Bell who guides the financial affairs of most of the top local movie stars. Bell keeps Ghost permanently docked at Woolloomooloo with a staff of 3 in order to hold informal business meetings with clients like Russell Crowe who lives at the end of the wharf in a  2 story  penthouse.

sailing  into destiny

The Shuttle party finished lunch and ambled over to Ghost where we were to join a small party for an afternoon harbour cruise in honour of the  visiting  Chancellor of the  St John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem, Dr John Talbot and wife Esme.

Mike & Zara

As we departed on Ghost the British footballers were now onboard the other vessel and several cheerful young lasses appeared from below, 2 in very fetching skimpy outfits-one in a g-string. We were close enough to exchange 'ahoys' and away we all sailed on our respective tours. Ringing in our ears were the parting words of one of the young ladies aboard the football express.." a happy ending is promised to all..." . What could she have meant ?.

The Royal?. Staying in the same party as our footie visitors at the Hotel Intercontinental, are Zara Phillips and her fiancee MikeTindall . While her mum Princess Anne has been doing Ascot, Zara has attended all the English team's matches in Australia, completely unnoticed. She wasn't aboard the Love Boat.

Will Royal watering hole feature in new TV drama?

Sharon in Las Vegas

Following our exclusive set of photographs supplied from our Las Vegas operative showing the fiancee of private investigator Frank Monte, the buxom Sharon Sargeant dancing with a US porn star at an adult industry convention, the 2 have split within days of the snaps being featured in a double page spread in the Daily Telegraph. The following day the editor of the Tele's Sydney Confidential, Annette Sharp  revealed that Sargeant was the marketing manager of an escort agency Red Velvet Models

Whilst the escort business is entirely legal, Monte has issued an announcement that because of his high profile in the investigation business both here and the USA, he didn't feel he could be associated with an escort business as his mainly corporate clientele demand complete discretion.

Frank Monte interviewed by Larry King

The pair have now split with Sargeant moving out of Monte's Potts Point Ikon apartment to stay with a girlfriend in Mosman. Monte has said the affair is on hold until Sargeant divests herself of her business and seeks alternative employment. Today Monte flew out to Los Angeles.

                                
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Next Tuesday the new program Australian Druglords premiers on Channel Nine and already many of the residents of Sydney's exclusive Eastern Suburbs are trembling with fear.

The first show concentrates on the cocaine dealer Richard Buttrose who was arrested in 2009 and sentenced to 16 years this March.

Buttrose is the nephew of high profile TV and publishing identity Ita Buttrose and came from a well off Vaucluse family and attended the elite Cranbrook school. He would drink at the Woollahra pub, the Lord Dudley, a favourite of several of Britain's younger royal family members including Prince Harry and Peter and Zara Phillips. When in town the young royals stay with James Erskine the boss of Sports & Entertainment Ltd who look after a host of personalities like Michael Parkinson, Shane Warne and tennis ace Todd Woodbridge, Erskine is an old friend of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips.

Richard Buttrose

Buttrose would wait at the Lord Dudley for clients to call on his mobile phone and then arrange to meet them directly across the road in a parking lot to do his drug deals. When police stopped him in his Mercedes shortly after a deal, they found 300 names in a little black book, thought to be clients and 6 kilos of cocaine. Later searching his several properties they found nearly $1.3M in cash.

The Druglords film will show police footage of the arrest and the search of his house and it's claimed, at least 6 names who may have been his customers. They are said to include a politician and lawyers.

In fear of his life from drug suppliers said to be connected to the Russian Mafia, Buttrose is serving his time in protective custody.

                                 

Fear and loathing in Prince Harry's favourite drinking haunt

Richard Buttrose

With the leaked news that the NSW police have set up the covert Strike Force Harbour to investigate clients of the millionaire drug dealer Richard Buttrose, trembling has been felt afar and phones are running hot throughout Sydney's well heeled eastern suburbs as news that his 'little black book' in the form of a mobile phone containing client's phone numbers is being examined.

Buttrose, the nephew of TV and publishing identity Ita Buttrose was arrested in a sting operation when he sold cocaine to an undercover officer in a bowling club cark park near the Lord Dudley Hotel in ritzy Woollahra in 2009. When his car was pulled over by police shortly after he was found in possession of bags of cocaine. Matters took a turn for the worse when detectives raided a Paddington apartment rented by Buttrose and found another 6 grams of the drug and $1.3M in cash hidden beneath floorboards.

It was common knowledge that Buttrose was "the man" who offered a steady supply of cocaine at all hours.

The Lord Dudley was Richard's local boozer and a favourite of society swells and rich youngsters and a regular drinking spot of Prince Harry and his royal cousins Peter and Zara Phillips who stay at the Vaucluse house of James Erskine, a friend of Princess Anne and a business partner of British theatre mogul Sir Cameron Mackintosh.

Buttrose had been under investigation since 2008 but now detectives are probing his customer's identities that rumours say include film stars, musicians, a leading lawyer and a prominent member of Parliament although as owner of several popular restaurants there could be a perfectly innocent reason for anyone's phone number to be in Buttrose's phone.

Most who heard of Buttrose's activities thought it was just a matter of time before he was busted. He was encroaching on turf usually dominated by Middle Eastern and biker gangs and a newly emerging Russian mafia that has begun to proliferate in QLD's Surfer's Paradise. One tale tells of Buttrose being flown into Surfers by private jet to supply a group of Russian "entrepreneurs" eyeing the place as a potential investment town. Tales are flying thick and fast and it's difficult to tell what is fact and fantasy. We may never know the real tale because as Butttrose has pleaded guilty, there won't be a lengthy trial.

Along with Buttrose, 32 year old Nathan Lea, an heir to the Darrel Lea chocolate empire was also arrested and pleaded guilty to a low level possession charge, receiving a six month suspended sentence.

Buttrose has been singing like a canary in a bid to lessen what could be a long jail sentence. The National Crime Commission has confiscated $2.2M in assets from him. His lawyer Martin Luitingh told the court last Friday that his client's life was in danger both in jail and when he finally emerges and this should be taken into account when he is sentenced. The judge seems to buying none of this and has pointed to the amount of money Buttrose had made from his crimes.

Richard's father was the well liked investment advisor and banker Will Buttrose who appeared regularly on TV and radio giving money advice. He died of cancer in 2005. His aunt Ita was a close friend of Kerry Packer and editor of both the Sunday Telegraph newspaper and Australia's largest selling magazine the Women's Weekly before she retired to concentrate on raising funds for AID's research. An uncle was the public relations manager for the NSW police.

None of the Buttrose family are talking to the media but sister Lizzie, the close friend  of the late billionaire Dick Pratt's mistress Shari-Lea Hitchcock is said to be distraught at her brother's plight as she is particularly close to him. Richard Buttrose pleaded guilty to 2 supply charges and will be sentenced later this month.

Meanwhile, the drug trade continues unabated as the vacuum is filled almost overnight.

a soap saga

As per usual tSS beat other media sources to the arrest of Home and Away star Todd Lasance on alleged cocaine posession charges.

         Kit and Kaboodle, the uber smart Kings Cross club was also where that other Home and Away star Jodi Gordon had spent the night before she was found in the early hours cowering beside a bed at the Rushcutter's Bay home of an alleged bike club member. The chic apartment is a few doors from the Sydney home of former British chat show host Michael Parkinson. Gordon was in a confused state and told police that earlier in the night she had used cocaine.

               Gordon's 2 year affair with Channel 7 boss and heir of the Stokes billions, Ryan Stokes, ended shortly after the incident but tSS can report the pair have been seeing each other in secret in the past 2 months.

               Another tSS source tells us that there could be more drama for some celebrities and a prominent businessman as investigators sift through information provided by Richard Buttrose, the high profile Eastern Suburbs social figure and nephew of TV identity Ita Buttrose.

.               Buttrose was arrested in February this year after a police sting at the favourite Sydney drinking hole of royals Prince Harry and Princess Anne's daughter  Zara Phillips, the Lord Dudley pub in Woolhaha. Buttrose was released on bail only to be re-arrested after police raided an apartment he owned and found over one million dollars in cash there and a stash of cocaine police claimed was worth $3M. Buttrose pleaded guilty to the supply charges and is believed to have given exstensive information to police about the names found in his mobile phone.

            It's said the tremors of fear that ran through Sydney society over his arrest have put many on edge but despite police claims they had smashed the city's major coke supply source, the Kit and Kaboodle raid shows the easy access to the drug in dozens of nightclubs around the town.

           Ironically, Lasance's soapie character is an anti-drug campaigner and he was just about to travel to Hollywood following the successful of Avatar star and friend Sam Worthington.