LONDON – Less than two months before a fairytale wedding anticipated by much of the world, Britain’s royal family finds itself fighting an inconvenient distraction: revelations that Prince Andrew, the queen’s second son, is friends with a convicted sex offender, was photographed with a teenage prostitute, and has been accused of ties to Moammar Gadhafi’s Libyan regime.
The Duke of York also hosted the son of the Tunisian dictator shortly before a popular uprising drove him from power — and the buildup of embarrassment has sparked calls that he be stripped of his role as special U.K. trade representative.
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Buckingham Palace is in damage control mode as it tries to keep the public’s focus on the April 29 wedding between Prince William and tabloid favorite Kate Middleton, his college sweetheart.
The latest revelations in the British media have centered on Andrew’s friendship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and claims that Andrew also had close ties to Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, one of the Libyan leader’s sons.
Photos recently published in the British media show Andrew strolling in a park with Epstein — the New York billionaire jailed for soliciting underage prostitutes in Florida.
And most recently, a photograph emerged showing Andrew with his arm around the waist of the teenage prostitute at the center of that case.
Michael says he deserved jail sentence
LONDON – George Michael says he deserved to spend a month in jail last year for crashing his Range Rover while under the influence of drugs.
The former Wham! singer says it was karma — that after repeatedly breaking the law, he felt that he had “a bill to pay.” That made accepting his punishment easier, Michael said, according to excerpts from an interview released by BBC radio Sunday.
Michael received an eight-week sentence for crashing his car into a London photo shop in July while high on prescription drugs and marijuana.
Miley Cyrus lampoons Justin Bieber on SNL
NEW YORK – Miley Cyrus has met her “Saturday Night Live” impression while lampooning a fellow teen pop star herself.
Cyrus hosted “SNL” on Saturday night, leading to an inevitable face-off between the 18-year-old singer and cast member Vanessa Bayer’s parody. But Cyrus appeared on Bayer’s “The Miley Cyrus Show” not as herself, but as 17-year-old Justin Bieber.
Cyrus played Bieber as too hip to use Bayer’s enthusiastic “pretty cool” catch phrase.
In other sketches, Cyrus also played Fergie and Lindsay Lohan. Her Lohan impression occurred during a sketch with cast members portraying Charlie Sheen as the host of a TV show called “Duh! Winning!” with Lohan, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and fashion designer John Galliano as guests.
Dress designer denies report
LONDON – A leading British newspaper reported Sunday that Sarah Burton, creative director of the Alexander McQueen fashion house, has been chosen to design Kate Middleton’s wedding gown. But both Burton and the company’s chief executive deny the claim.
The Sunday Times story said Burton has received the plum assignment, then quotes her and McQueen CEO Jonathan Akeroyd saying this is not the case. Both flatly denied the McQueen house is involved.
The paper did not name any sources, suggesting the information had reached the newspaper after Akeroyd told a colleague about receiving the royal gig.
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