Will the Shuttle Prove Lucky for Collette Dinnigan & Kate Middleton?

In 1979 the Shuttle's resident psychic adviser Mandy Miami was looking for a new British designer to showcase at the New York nite spot she was managing-the Mudd Club. She chose an up and coming young couple David and Elizabeth Emanuel for her British Invasion Fashion Show that scored the Emanuels a front page story in the prestige Woman's Wear Daily.



The Emanuel wedding dress

 And she predicted an amazing success for the 2 designers and that one shining moment was in store for them very soon- one of their designs  "will be seen throughout the entire world like no other has ever before".

In 1981 Princess Diana wed HRH Prince Charles in a now famous Emanuel wedding dress, watched on live TV by billions of people around the world.



Miranda Kerr in Collette Dinnigan



On Tuesday evening the Shuttle attended the opening of Collette Dinnigan's new Woollahra boutique. The news had just broken of the engagement of Kate Middleton and Prince William. Collette is one of Kate's favourite designers and Kate is a regular at her London store. Today Ms Dinnigan fielded phone calls from media outlets around the world asking for her advice on Kate's wedding dress.

In Vogue UK she is running at odds 16/1 along with Alice Temperley another favourite, that the future Queen will wear one of her designs on her wedding day.

However the chances of Kate choosing a non-British wedding dress designer are pretty slim. The British media would rip her to shreds if she wore a foreign design-even a colonial one. But Collette does a nice line in beautiful Christening gowns for that inevitable Royal baby that will be with us in a year or so !

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Society maven Marie Sutton , the woman who managed to gazump the entire world by getting Princess Diana to attend the Victor Chang dinner in Sydney in 1995 as her last official charity function tells the Shuttle her phone began ringing at 5am this morning and hasn't stopped.

"They're calling from all over the world" she says "radio stations and newspapers in London and America. I even had a TV station in South Africa wanting to send a film crew to interview me".

"There's not much I can tell them" she says. " I've never met Kate and last spoke to William on the telephone 3 years ago".

In the meantime she is busy filling a table for the Black & White Committee charity lunch at the Four Seasons Hotel on the 30th November.

The special guest is John Rendall of 'Christian The Lion' fame. He's  just returned from hosting a safari in Kenya and will be giving a talk at the lunch on life in an antique shop on the Kings Road, Chelsea with the lion cub he purchased at Harrods in the 1970s.

And there's a slide show. The pictures were recently exhibited at the prestige Saatchi Gallery in London.

To purchase tickets to the Black & White lunch contact them on (02) 9327 5698 or email susan.diver@rbs.org.au.

Ask to sit on Marie's table and she'll tell you all about Princess Diana !

For those who have forgotten about the Christian saga-here is the youtube video that went viral worldwide. Get the Kleenex out.....

exclusive : Prince William Shops for Household Goods

As our  pic shows HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton have been snapped shopping for a new kettle.

Not quite-this picture is just one of the brilliant series by photographer Alison Jackson who is a genuis with her Royal and celebrity look-a-likes. Check out her photos and videos on her website here.

Below-the Shuttle's favourite vid- Camilla pursued by police.

Collette Dinnigan Opens New Boutique



Lee Furlong & Shane Watson



Queen Street, Woollahra has now taken on the mantle as Sydney's uber shopping area with designer Collette Dinnigan, still the toast of Paris, opening a new boutique in one of the few remaining and much coveted stores available.

 For the past 3 years the tree lined boulevard has been going through a transformation from the city's premier antique centre to the smartest fashion precinct in town.

Sipping on Moet and nibbling Chinese style canapes at last night's opening bash- Kerrie Anne Kennerley, Peter Weiss, actress Pia Miranda, TV host Kylie Speer and cricketer Shane Watson. They're all confirmed Collette fans.



Collette & models



Missing in  action were Dinnigan's close friends Sarah and Lachlan Murdoch. Murdoch is busy with his takeover of the TEN TV network along with James Packer.

Gowings Mansion Sale

A house just listed for sale perfectly illustrates the changing fortunes of Sydney suburbs and in particular, the Inner West.

100 years ago the burbs surrounding the central district were strictly either working class ghettos like Paddington and Darlinghurst (with it's sly grog shops and bordellos) or close by areas filled with the mansions of the gentry. Places like Summer Hill and Petersham with their ornate 2 or 3 storey extravagant Victorian houses with servant's quarters and yards for horses and buggies.

All that changed over the decades during which Paddington has become the suburb of choice of stockbrokers and such with nary  a tiny convict built terraced house to be found for under a million dollars. While much of the Inner West  mansions were broken up into boarding houses over the decades, the area has now once again become highly desirable due to it's closeness to the centre of Sydney.

The wonderful Italianate mansion Lyndhurst of the Gowings  family in Petersham is a classic example. The Gowings emigrated from the UK in the late 1890's and established a department store empire. Now it's on the market with a price tag of over $3M expected at auction. Details at Ray White Real Estate, Newtown.

Tracey Emin's Dud Dinner Party

It was billed as the dinner party of the social season for art connoisseurs. A chance to meet and sup with the

enfant terrible and leading light of the YBAs ( Young British Artists) Tracey Emin at just $750 a snip.

Sadly it wasn't to be. There were 5 takers in all. The dinner was cancelled due to 'lack of interest'.

Art consultant Amanda Love was to host the bash at her Woollahra home where she is also showing Emin's latest works. The art show, along with the cancelled dinner is to raise money to benefit the collection of contemporary Australian art at the Art Gallery of NSW.

Emin has been in town for a fortnight now and her art is for sale but you have to go through Ms Love to purchase a work. Or know the right people who know Ms Love and wangle and invitation and you will be granted the rare privilege of being able to purchase a Emin art piece.

 Tracey Emin swept to prominence in 1999 when she was nominated for Turner Prize after exhibiting My Bed which was apparently her own unmade bed surrounded by condoms and blood stained underwear.

My Bed

Her wikipedia entry says she was "raped at the  age of 13 . In a "loosely autobiographical" film to be made of this event she only asked, in true documentary fashion, that "The extras will all come from Margate and I'll hire a church hall there to hold auditions. I'll ask each of the girls: 'What is it you really hate about your mum?'."

It's no surprise that Elton John and George Michael are collectors of her work.
Tracey, who returns to the UK early next week has given 2 talks-at the NSW Art Gallery and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Others who may wish to view her works will have to track down Mizz Love's house and press their noses up against her living room window.,

Oh How Times Have Changed

When a few hundred people marched up Oxford Street Sydney for the first Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras in the late 70s, a few dozen coppers stormed into them and started bundling screaming protesters away in Paddy wagons.

Now the cops march in the parade along with representatives from all walks of life.

This weekend sees a range of parties on the Golden Mile to support  the Lifesavers With Pride -the gay and straight  bronzed Aussies that are on every beach this summer protecting beach goers.

The Mouth to Mouth party at the Underground Bar of The Oxford Hotel stars DJs Dan Murphy, Alex Taylor and Jimmy Dee.

Doors open at 9pm, and don’t miss the night’s special show starring drag diva Joyce Maynge and the sexy lifesaving crew themselves.

$10 donations at the door support Lifesavers with Pride.

See you there, and remember to swim between the flags this summer – where the lifesavers can see you!

Here are the Lifesavers With Pride marching in the 2010 Mardi Gras earlier this year :

exclusive : Golden Tonsils Comeback !

The powder blue Rolls Royce Drop head Coupe  blasted it's horn yesterday as the Shuttle waited for a ferry at the Rose Bay marina. The driver gave a cheery wave.

It was retired radio legend John Laws heading for Catalina Restaurant. Accompanying him was his long time manager John Fordham.

On Melbourne Cup Day at Otto's Ristorante on the Cowper Street Wharf where Laws usually lunches-it's just a short drive in the golf cart he keeps at the end of the pier where he lives in one of the two sumptuous penthouses, next door to Russell Crowe- I asked him if he was planning to return to radio.



Laws with Kerrie Packer



"No-one has offered me a job !" he replied.

Yesterday afternoon Fordham's office confirmed that Laws will be back in 2011 at 2SM when the 3 year non-competition clause in the retirement contract he signed with 2UE runs out in December.



Fordham & Laws



And he'll be taking his gold mic with him. Laws loves gold. Everything he has is gold-his spectacles, sunglasses, rings, cuff links, the dials and buttons on the Roller-even the spurs on his riding boots.



John will back in the morning slot that was his domain up against 2GB's Ray Hadley who dominates the time slot. And he will syndicated to 90 stations nationwide on the network owned by Bill Caralis.



Laws never made any secret of his contempt for former stablemate Alan Jones who he called "the parrot". Jones eventually bought 2GB with partner John Singleton and Laws is bound to take exceptional delight in attacking the 2GB ratings. Will all those truckers and working mums and dads return to Laws ?. Time will tell.



In the meantime the one-time highest paid radio star in the world will be taking his 'princess' Caroline off in early December to spend Christmas in his usual haunt-a leisurely Mediterranean cruise followed by 2 weeks at the Gritti Palace in Venice.

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One man who will welcome John Law's return to the airwaves is budding Upper House MP Frank Monte who was a regular on his radio show when Laws would interview Monte while the gumshoe was in New York.

Today Monte's election website went up : http://www.electfrankmonte.com/ with the logo - Reliable Mature Honest Independent. I fight 4 your rights & protection.

With some of his policies that are very anti-Lord Mayor Clover Moore he should find himself welcome on Alan Jones show as well given Jones intense dislike for Sydney's dog collar wearing mayor and state MP.

The Shuttle gave up reading Monte's extensive list of media mentions-it's quite amazing. No wonder he is referred to as "the world's most famous private eye".

There is also a package of bumper stickers to buy. It looks the PI has learnt a few tricks during his time in the USA and picked up some electioneering tips there. With the current ruling state Labor Party on the nose with voters and the Opposition Liberal/Coalition Party not exactly exciting the electorate, a hand full of independents like Monte may well hold a balance of power after the March 2011 ballot, just as they do at a Federal level.

Hamish & Andy interview Hillary Clinton

Match of The Day





Getting up close and personal at last night's Pure Blonde beer launch at The Ivy was owner Justin Hemmes and Natalie Imbruglia. A rumour has been going around for a week now that the two were an item and the body language said it all.

Any snapper who neared the pair were soon shooed away-you can do that when you own the place and just about every other smart Sydney nightspot. No-one wants to run foul of Justin.

The couple spent about 40 minutes at the launch before retiring upstairs to Ivy's Italian eatery Uccello along with a small entourage.

John Malkovich for Casanova role in Sydney

Actor John Malkovich will be the star attraction at the 2011  Sydney Festival in The Giacomo Variations, portraying Casanova to the tune of Mozart at the Opera House.

Opening night on January 8th draws up to 250,000 to the Domain and the central business district for the numerous free star acts which this year include Emmy Lou Harris and her Red Dirt Boys and hip hop group Arrested Development .

Los Angeles rock legends Los Lobos will play at Summer Sounds in the Domain on January 15, and the actor John Bell joins the Sydney Symphony and Sydney Philharmonic Choirs for the Symphony in the Domain: Midsummer Shakespeare on January 22 along with Kneehigh Theatre's rendition of The Red Shoes at the Seymour Centre and the singer Paul Kelly over four nights at the City Recital Hall.



Emmy Lou Harris



Over 1000 local and international artists will descend on the city in January to deliver more than 300 free and ticketed performances. Music, dance, film and theatre all feature heavily in the program.

Director Lindy Hume said at the launch today :
"the festival was a celebration of Sydney itself. It would be contemporary, diverse and ambitious, but also ''welcoming, whimsical and slightly eccentric''.''It's for the entire community to just get out there and really live life large,''

Deep Thoughts with Georgia May Jagger in Melbourne

Most people think their parents are daggy. Did you?

Georgia May Jagger :

I totally did and I still think that! People say all the time, 'Your dad is so cool,' but I'm like, 'But they're my parents and they cringe me out all the time.' For me, they are not super-cool because, like, mum is really obsessed with, like, nerdy stuff. She loves her chicken farming, she even reads books about chickens and raising chickens and I always poke fun at her about that. My dad is actually a bit of a history buff.

I always cringe when my parents are on the dance floor. . .

Yes, it's pretty funny when dad gets on the dance floor because he has got such a, like, I don't know how to describe his moves but let's just say he doesn't go unnoticed, you know what I mean?

News Corp a Step Behind the Shuttle



Americain

 4 days after the Shuttle reported that restaurants on the Finger Wharf at Woolloomooloo had been raided by police on Melbourne Cup day, the Sunday Telegraph has caught up to speed.

In a piece titled The A-listers, the bookies and the cops, a reporter repeats the tale of how bookmakers working the wharf were busted by the Gaming Squad and told they would be arrested along with punters if they didn't cease gambling.

The SP bookies were made to return all their takings and informed punters they would have to walk half a mile to a local betting shop to place a wager.



 One punter who missed the action but not the betting was marketing executive Sharon Sargeant (left) who was lunching with ex-fiancee Frank Monte at Ottos Ristorante alongside ex-radio Golden Tonsils John Laws and his wife 'Princess' Caroline Laws.

Sharon was powdering her nose when the coppers struck and the bookies fled. Sargeant had placed a wager but never saw her $500 again.

 Even worse, the bet she placed was on Americain , the American horse that romped in first in the Cup ridden by a French jockey. Her potential winnings that vanished with a bookie-around $6000 !

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Notts Ave, Bondi



The Notts Avenue , Bondi Beach house gifted to Kate Fischer when she and billionaire James Packer split has been passed in  at auction after it failed to reach the $8M asking price.




The Packer compound in Bellevue Hill

 

With a prime position overlooking the sweep of the beach, Kate sold the house for $2.8M in 2000 to the New York based Lochtenberg family. .

Kate has forged a new life in Los Angeles where she has converted to Judaism and goes by the name T'ziporah Malka bat Israel.



James & wife Erica



Across the road in Campbell Avenue James still lives with wife Erica

and his burgeoning family in the 3 story apartment he built in 2002

But plans are well underway for the $30M mansion he is building in Bellevue Hill where he purchased 2 houses to knock down

And in country Scone at the Elleston property he inherited from father Kerrie all manner of refurbishments are underway from a new pool to a resurfaced polo field.