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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Despite Her Public Image, Di Really Is A Royal Pain

Compiled By Staff Writer Dan Web

It’s fairly clear that, despite the genial public face she puts on, Princess Diana can be hard on the hired help.

Take Jenni Rivett, for example. Rivett has quit as the princess’ personal trainer, citing Diana’s mercurial nature.

“Diana is looking the best she has ever done now,” Rivett told the London Sunday Mirror. “She is really fit and is more than pleased with the results. But it has been awful at times.”

Di denied there was any acrimony in the parting, calling Rivett “a close personal friend” and calling the Mirror’s charges “completely untrue.”

But Rivett persisted. “Everyone thinks Diana is a fairy tale princess but she is really something quite different,” she said. “Her temper and mood swings are incredible.”

Loose talk

Bette Midler on whether her movies “First Wives Club” and “That Old Feeling” tap “into a current middle-age crisis” (as reported by the Associated Press): “Honey, it’s too early in the day to compare and contrast. I want multiple-choice questions.”

He wasn’t exactly humble in the Bronx

Jackie Chan turns 43 today.

He couldn’t sleep, and he wanted her to tuck him in

Seems Fran (“The Nanny”) Drescher is trying to put one over on her fans. The 39-year-old star supposedly has reunited with her husband of 18 years, Peter Marc Jacobson. But the tabloid Star is running pictures of Drescher apparently spending the night with former assistant Robbie Schwartz, 26.

Neeson would seem to be at the head of Lucas’ list

Despite intense secrecy, Daily Variety is reporting that Liam Neeson is first in line among the actors being considered for George Lucas’ new “Star Wars” series. Neeson would star as a master Jedi knight.

The stage leaves in five minutes, Lesley, be on it

Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but not on Broadway. Tempestuous Lesley Ann Warren, away from the stage for 30 years, is having such a difficult time learning her role for the musical “Dream” that the rest of the cast has dubbed her “Warren Peace.”

Remember, the phrase is ‘Calling’ Philip Morris…

Word from a Caracas, Venezuela, soundstage is that you can look at Antonio Banderas but don’t even dream of touching him. In town to do a Philip Morris cigarette ad, Banderas is said to be under the protective control of his newest wife, Melanie Griffith. The no-touch rule applies to Banderas’ seductive co-star, Venezuelan beauty Emma Rabbe.

Ellen and Jerry sittin’ in a tree…

Jerry Falwell can call sitcom star Ellen Degeneres whatever he wants. She’s heard it all before. “Really, he called me that? Ellen DeGenerate?” the 39-year-old comic said. “I’ve been getting that since the fourth grade.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by staff Writer Dan Webster