Before we forget, Doubles, the private club in the Sherry Netherland that is celebrating its 30th anniversary, threw a smashing Spring Bling party which was chaired by Heather Sargent, Mark Gilbertson, Alatia Bradley, Mary Van Pelt, and Claudia Overstrom. And what did they wear for the Spring Bling? Dress code and attire? Spring Colors that covered the fashion rainbow. Big turnout, big rainbow.

The committee members included Blakely and Trey Griggs, Eva and Brenan Dillon, Tatiana Papanicolaou, Victoria and Robert Lindgren, Alexia Hamm Ryan, Blair and Fazle Hussain, Isabel Tonelli, Christina and Anthony Addison, Ferran and Robert Brown, Guy Van Pelt, Burwell and Chip Schorr, Mark Bryant, B.J. and Jack Casey, Martin Hale, Paige and Trip Hardy, Melanie Seymour Holland, Barbara and Chris Janien, Tim Taft, Grace and Sanford Kaybor, Joanie Stringer, Cindy and Steve Ketchum, Jennifer Powers, Stephanie and Jim Loeffler, Storm Nickerson, Simone and Chris Mailman, Mimi and John Moulton, Nicole and George Perry, Betsy and Rob Pitts, Katie and James Roddy and Victoria and Jon Rotenstreich. And among the major Spring Bling --Amy Hoadley, Lise Arliss, Nancy Sambuco, Laura Ballentine, Jennifer Oken, Lesli Brown, Susan Moore, Jennier Cacioppo, Kandis Koustenis, Karen Lorraine, Lela Rose, and Tracy Bross

And let’s not forget the dancing queens and their knights: Amanda Hearst and Luigi Tadini, Geoffrey Bradfield, Leslie and Andrew Heaney, Georgina Schaeffer, Lisa and Philip Gorrivan, Christine Schott, Peter and Marie-Regina Sotos, Melissa Berkelhammer, Carole and Bruce Harting, Howard Belin, Heather and Thomas Leeds, Jonathan Wehle, David and Lisa Laukitis, Bryan Colwell, John and Paige Rustuin, Steve Farrelly, Jane and Alex Jackson, John Sargent, Annabelle and Gregory Fowlkes, Holly Hunt, Martha and John Glass, Evelyn Tompkins, Christina and Douglas Kepple, Alf Naman, Lisa and Greg Schwartz, Laura Wells, Wibby and Kent Sevener, Lisa Bytner, Rose and James Eliopoulos, Alex Miral, Barbara and Edgar Harty, Kristina Campton, Janet and Peter Ley, R. P. Beuerlein, Sherry and Michael Pryor, Mark London, Gerry and Stephanie Willinger, Gayle Turk, Elizabeth and Tim Nayhew, Karen Hanes John Dalsheim, Emily Leonard, Orestes Varviotis, Christina Ambrosino, Michael O’Neal, Chirstina Melchionni, Gregg Renfrew, Susan Burke, Hunter Hulshizer, Judson O’Hair, Suzannah Smith and Marc Biron. I told you it was a big crowd.

Last Saturday night scores of Southamptonites braved the bumper-to-bumper and went to a screening of “The Devil Wears Prada” at the local cinema. Peggy Siegal, the movie industry’s mostest hostest, has arranged 16 screenings of this film which I have not seen yet but which everyone says is wonderful. They say even Anna Wintour whose presence on the planet (and specifically in the offices of Conde Nast) inspired the role played by Meryl Streep, liked it. Haha and all that. Everybody liked it.

Anyway, after this screening of “The Devil Wears Prada,” the fanciest of the crowd (or at least a hefty number of them) repaired to Savannah, the Southampton restaurant, for a dinner where they could eat, drink and be merry recalling how much fun it was to watch the flick.

Last Friday night, the Friends of the High Line held their 6th annual Summer Benefit. New Yorkers prominent in the fields of art and architecture, entertainment, government, business and civic groups gathered to honor Kevin Bacon, Diane von Furstenberg and City Councilwoman Christine Quinn as three leaders who have been instrumental in the success of the High Line. The funds raised at this evening’s event benefited the organization that advocated the reuse of the High Line elevated rail structure as a public open space.

Among the prominent ones were Andre Balazs (who was the event vice-chair), Amanda Burden, chairman of the New York City Planning Commission, Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, event co-chair, FHL board member and force of nature, Barry Diller, another event co-chair who is related to one of the honorees, Chris Heinz, an event vice-chair, Gifford Miller, a vice-chair of the event, who held the same position in the New York City Council that Christine Quinn holds today; Joelle and Jonathan Resnick, Ambassador Carl Spielvogel. State Attorney GeneralEliot Spitzer, who is also running for Governor was the award presenter. Also: Bronson Van Wyck, another vice-chair; Joshua David and Robert Hammond, co-founders of the Friends of the High Line; Jeff Blau, David Wine, Bruce Beal, Vishaan Chakrabarti, Susan M. deFranca, all of the Related Companies which developed the Caledonia, the first residential condominium on the High Line.

Wait, there’s more: Charles Bendit, Phil Aarons, Christopher Meloni, Spike Lee, Tiki Barber, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, Candace Bushnell, James Corner, who did the High Line landscaping; Boykin Curry, Joan Davidson, Elizabeth Diller (High Line archtect), Gillian Hearst-Shaw, Celerie Kemble, Fernanda Niven, Sessa von Richtofen Johnson, Ricardo Scofidio, Barbara and Donald Tober, Deborah Needleman, Donald Newhouse, Meredith Melling Burke, Stephen Starr, David Rabin, Jacob Weisberg and Charlie Rose. Plus many many more. All at the Cipriani Wall Street.

A very good night it was.

They’re not talking about it in the posher clubs or restaurants in London but the press isn’t letting this one slip through without notice. The office of Charles, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne has just released a 56 glossy booklet about his annual expenditures and achievements.

For example, the 16 charities he supports raised more than 110 million pounds ($205 million US) last year. The Prince’s own income from the land and commercial interests of the duchy that is the legacy of the princes of Wales went up a bit this year because of prosperous business and the prosperous business of raising rents. This came to 14 million pounds (or a little more than $26 million US – approximately the same amount as Diana’s divorce settlement). Prince Charles paid income tax on that amounting to approximately 3.3 million pounds (or approx. $6.2 million US) leaving him with 20 million to play around with.

Many are congratulating the Prince for revealing these figures although others are not so praising. Steven Glover, in the Daily Mail points out that the Prince’s tax rate is really only 23% -- a lot less than the average white collar worker pays. He also points out that this rate was arrived at through deductions like his staff salaries of 4.5 million pounds (almost $8.5 million US). The Prince is known to have pissed off not a few with his private staff of 22 human souls which is said to be considered excessive even by his ma, the Queen. He also deducted the $77,000 he spends annual maintaining his famous gardens, claiming that they are primarily used for entertaining members of the public (including many of the very rich supporters of his charities).

In this same glossy booklet, the Prince makes note of some of the sacrifices he has made in the name of economy and the environment. For example, he has given up polo, greatly influenced by his “wish not to contribute to increased carbon emissions by traveling to and from polo games by helicopter” oh dear oh dear. Mr. Glover in the Mail suggested the Prince’s aching (and aging) back might have a little to do with the decision too. But anyway…

Also in his bid to conserve, the Prince has seen to it that bricks are placed in the cisterns (the backs of the toilets) at Highgrove and Clarence House (his residences in country and in town), so that water will be saved when flushing (22 in staff, the prince, the duchess, the boys, the guests; that a major savings). Royal water is also conserved by being re-cycled in a natural sewage system. This is very good too; we all should, royal or not.

Prince Charles also takes pride in pointing out that his duchess, Camilla of Cornwall only cost two thousand pounds last year. Costs the public that is. Charles, presumably paid for the rest. Or maybe Camilla really is the royal version of a cheap date. She certainly was never very fancy before she married him.

Mr. Glover in the Mail isn’t so sure, but we’ll leave it at that. What he is sure about is that Prince Charles also receives 2 million pounds from the public purse (or about $3.75 million US) a year to pay for upkeep of Clarence House and for official travel. Furthermore after the Queen Mother died, Clarence House was refurbished for Charles and Camilla to the tune of 6 million pounds (or more than 11 million bucks US) .

And furthermore according to this report, uh-uh-uh, the environmentally-conscious Man Who Would Be King says he’s got an old Aston Martin, his only car, given to him by his ma, the Queen back when he was fresh and flirty. Although what he does not say is that he also leases a $300,000 Aston Martin and an Audi A8 quattro and three others that Camilla and Prince William use. Nor does he point out that he’s always jumping on planes and choppers even, again according to Mr. Glover, taking a helicopter from Highgrove to the Cheltenham Gold Cup which was only a short drive from the house. So much for his giving up polo to fight global warming, no?

Anyway, the whole point is poor Charles is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. And damned if he doesn’t do as he wishes and spends as he wants. His great-great-grandpappy, Bertie, the then Prince of Wales, more than a century ago, cost a hell of a lot more back when he was waiting for his ma to pop off so that he could be king. And it turned out to be a long long wait. He barely made it (he was sixty when she died). Now Bertie really lived like a king. Even when he was just a prince. And oh (or oy) if his mama didn’t just about have apoplexy over him and his wanton ways. Charles is a relative pussycat, in comparison. And a frugal one too, depending on how you slice it (reality, that is). Meow ...

Meanwhile, I got off the track thinking of what it must be like to live like a king. Here in New York, I can tell you a little about what it’s like to live like an urban princess. For example. A casual lunch was held to preview and shop the Hanley Collecton on the roofdeck of Cornelia Day Resort. The collection which launched in Palm Beach in Feb was available for sale to many New York editors, buyers and socialites for the very first time at this healthful luncheon. And, 10% of the proceeds went to the Boy's Club of New York.

The event was hosted by Hilary Geary Ross, Jill Fairchild Melhado, Annie Churchill, Emilia Fanjula Pfeiffler, and Minnie Mortimer. Not a few found their way to purchase some pieces of the collection. Just to help the Boys Club, of course. Among them: Celerie Kemble, Emilia Fanjul, Asia Baker, Amy Fine Collins, and Sara Ayres.

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