Queen bestows honor on Camilla
Queen Elizabeth II has appointed the Duchess of Cornwall to the highest female rank in the Royal Victorian Order, Buckingham Palace said Monday.
The announcement that Camilla has been made a Dame Grand Cross comes on the day of her seventh wedding anniversary with Prince Charles, the queen’s son.
Awards under the Royal Victorian Order, which was founded in 1896 by Queen Victoria, are given by the queen to people who have served her or the monarchy in a personal way. They are bestowed independently of the prime minister’s office.
Once vilified as the old flame who poisoned Charles’ first marriage to Princess Diana, Camilla has become an integral member of the royal family since she married the prince on April 9, 2005 – eight years after Diana’s death.
Since the couple’s civil ceremony at the Guildhall in Windsor, the British public has warmed to Camilla and the 64-year-old has carried out hundreds of royal engagements and taken on a wide range of patronages.
Chase, ‘Community’ creator feud
It’s still an unanswered question whether or not NBC’s “Community” will be back for a fourth season. But as of this week, it’s an even bigger unanswered question whether Chevy Chase will be back on the show even if it does return.
Based on Chase’s feelings about show creator Dan Harmon in a voicemail posted on various websites last week, it’s apparent that there’s not a lot of hugs going around.
On the voicemail, posted on TMZ, Chase lets loose with a string of not-safe-for-NBC language describing his talent and his script as “an abomination, and your writing is getting worse and worse.”
According to reports, the phone call stemmed from an incident at the show’s third season wrap party in which Harmon reportedly dressed Chase down in front of the cast, crew and the actor’s wife and daughter.
“I don’t get talked to like that in front of anybody, certainly not in front of my wife and daughter,” Chase said.
Things had been looking up for the comedy series, which has long struggled with low ratings. It returned in March to the highest ratings of the third season after an intense campaign by fans to keep the show going.
The birthday bunch
Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner is 86. Naturalist Jim Fowler (“Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom”) is 80. Actress Michael Learned (“The Waltons”) is 73. Actor Dennis Quaid is 58. Actress Cynthia Nixon is 46. Actress Keshia Knight Pulliam (“The Cosby Show”) is 33. Actor Jay Baruchel (“Knocked Up,” “Tropic Thunder”) is 30. Actress Kristen Stewart is 22. Actress Elle Fanning is 14.