Ever since Duchess Kate and Prince William got married, we’ve been gifted with daily paparazzi photos of Pippa Middleton, Kate’s younger sister. Some of the daily candids have not been Pippa’s fault – photographers know where she lives, and they wait for her to walk to work. But Pippa also plays it up at times, and you can tell that she enjoys her new-found celebrity. Everybody says that Pippa gets that from her mother, Carole, who is reportedly very outgoing and vivacious. Carole (and Michael, Kate and Pippa’s dad) have barely been seen since the wedding, much to their credit. I like how low-key they’ve been. But last night, Carole and Michael came to London for a gala performance of Venezuela Viva.

Carole looks great, right? She’s updated her look over the past year, gotten a better haircut and maybe some Botox too. But the legs! Pippa and Kate just got their “good legs” gene from their mom, and they should thank their lucky stars every damn day. I wish I had the “good legs” gene. Anyway, Carole wore Catherine Walker for the gala, and she just looks great. I think Carole might be my favorite Middleton – when you think about it, she’s a momager just like so many Hollywood moms, only Carole was trying to get her daughter the ring, not a Hollywood career.

By the way, The Mail had a great story on how Carole and The Queen are now BFFs (not really, but close enough). It’s very pish-posh, but you can read the whole thing here. Apparently, the Queen “has let it be known” that she thinks Carole and Michael have behaved “impeccably” and the Queen is responsible for inviting Carole and Michael to several royal events, public and private. Apparently, Carole reminds the Queen of her own mother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Fabulous.

And here are some photos of Pippa over the past few days. Flannel, Pippa? Really?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Waity and the Queen! ZOMG! WAITY AND THE QUEEN. I’m so excited, I can’t even make fun of this. I was going to start in about the Queen’s look of befuddlement (“Who is this tragically slender girl, and why is she speaking in my presence?”), but really, the Queen and Duchess Kate look kind of cute together. The Queen and Duchess Catherine (otherwise known as Liz n’ Waity) officially viewed Kate’s wedding dress, which went on display in Buckingham Palace today and is expected to draw tens of thousands of visitors while on its limited 10-week display.

Did you know that Kate’s Sarah Burton (for McQueen) wedding gown cost $400,000 to make? Jay-sus. The dress exhibit includes both the Queen’s Cartier “Halo” tiara (which she lent Kate for the wedding) and Kate’s wedding shoes – Waity wears a size 6 8 (?) shoe (in American sizing). Supposedly, everyone is already talking about how absolutely tiny the dress is, specifically how incredibly little Kate’s waist was on her wedding day, and continues to be now. To read more about the dress and the exhibit, go here.

My favorite part? According to sources, the Queen described the exhibit as “CREEPY”. LOL.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II has reportedly described as “creepy” a new exhibition featuring the wedding dress worn by the former Kate Middleton when she married Prince William in April.

The Alexander McQueen dress is being exhibited on a headless mannequin in the ballroom at Buckingham Palace, with the tiara and veil that the now Duchess of Cambridge wore, suspended above it.

During a private tour with her new granddaughter-in-law before the exhibition opens to the public on Saturday, the queen was heard to say “horrible” and “horrid” as she stood in front of the dress.

“It’s made to look very creepy,” said the monarch, while Catherine responded that it had a “3D effect”, according to a reporter from Britain’s Press Association news agency who was there.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “This was part of a private conversation between the Queen and the Duchess of Cambridge and we do not comment on private conversations”.

The dress, designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, is made of ivory and white satin-gazar (stiffened organza) and will be on display as part of the summer exhibition at the palace, which runs until October 3.

Hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected to flock to see the gown following huge interest in the April 29 wedding at Westminster Abbey, which was watched by an estimated two billion people worldwide.

[From France 24]

The Queen is not amused by the general macabre spookiness of viewing a wedding dress. We (the royal “we”) think that is horrid, horrible, and absolutely tragic! I love that the Queen was pissed off by the way the dress was being displayed. You know she “had words” with somebody. OFF TO THE TOWER.

Is this the first time the Queen and Kate have ever been (relatively) alone with each other? I get the feeling that it is, and that every other time Kate has been around the Queen, William is there too.

UPDATE: Another fun bit with the Queen. She and Kate were walking through the state rooms of Buckingham Palace and the Queen was overheard saying, “You’ve seen this already, so… you don’t really want to see it again, do you?” Royal translation: “You’re boring the piss out of me, my feet hurt and I’d really rather spend time with the corgis than you.”

UPDATE: Damn, you bitches are going crazy about her shoe size. I got the “size 6″ figure from this source. They might be wrong – apparently, the shoes are stamped 5 1/2 in European sizes. What is that in American sizing?

Photos courtesy of Fame.

Okay, this one video has made me fall in love with David Beckham. He was recently on Craig Ferguson’s show, and he was so, so lovely. His voice didn’t even bug me! I think his voice seems to be getting deeper, honestly. He seemed very relaxed and sweet… sigh, he’s my lover now. First, here are some quotes where David is talking about how much he loves Queen Elizabeth! For. Real.

He is one of the most famous men in Britain and David Beckham has revealed that even the Queen takes an interest in his personal life. The footballer has told how Her Majesty asked after his wife Victoria when he met her at a state dinner in London last week.

Beckham, 36, was speaking to the Queen at the dinner attended by Barack Obama when she inquired about his pregnant wife. The footballer said: ‘Funnily enough she knew I was having a baby in six weeks. It shocked me that she knew. I love the Queen.’

The LA Galaxy player made the revelation during an appearance on a U.S. talk show hosted by Scottish-born comedian Craig Ferguson.

Beckham also spoke about Prince William and Harry and said: ‘We have seen them grow up into real men and go through so much in such a short space of time.’

The footballer also spoke about his love of tattoos, revealing that he would let his sons go under the needle when they had reached a certain age.

But he said he wouldn’t allow the daughter his wife Victoria, 37, is expecting later this summer to get a tattoo.

He said: ‘I’m not sure I would let her get tattoos but the boys I couldn’t really argue with.’

He added: ‘While I love them personally, I’m not sure they’re going to look great when I’m 75.’

[From The Mail]

He does say that he did not cry during the royal wedding, but it seems like he was getting a little bit choked up while talking about how much he likes “the boys” so maybe he did cry. Can I just say? I finally get it. I get why women drop like flies around him. I get why it’s so easy for him to screw around. The man melts panties. Here’s the video of the interview. Around 8:30 mark is when David starts talking about the dinner:

Photos courtesy of Fame.

I saw this video about an hour ago, and it has made my day. It is ridiculous!! You put Pres. Obama in England, amongst the royal family, and he turns into a Bush-style gaffe machine. Okay, here’s the set-up: The Obamas are in the midst of an official state visit to England, and England has pulled out all of the stops for them. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh (and the prime minister and his wife) set up meetings and photo ops throughout the day yesterday, including the one with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Will and Kate). Last night, the Queen hosted a major state dinner for the Obamas. Like with every state dinner, the visiting head of state is required to give a toast to his host, in this case, the Queen. What the president is NOT supposed to do is shout his toast OVER “God Save the Queen”. That would be like the Queen belching through “The Star-Spangled Banner”. So, here’s the video… I’ve already watched it five times and I laugh every time. The look that the Queen shoots the president is HILARIOUS.

The Queen is not amused. And she can turn presidents into humbled schoolboys with just an icy royal glare. CB and I were debating this – I find it hilarious, she kind of feels bad for Obama. It’s true that there’s a massive amount of protocol that goes along with these state visits, and it’s very easy for any leader to make a gaffe, and besides that, what does it hurt the Queen to have her royal protocols shaken up a bit? I do think Obama had the decency to be genuinely embarrassed, so there’s that. But he’s still the dude who shouted his toast OVER “God Save the Queen”. Which is hilarious.

In addition to this gaffe, look at how President Obama signed the Buckingham Palace guest book (courtesy of Gawker):

2008?!!?!? I feel bad when I write “2010” still.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Queen Elizabeth II arrived at the Royal wedding in a bright yellow dress suit by Angela Carey. She was accompanied by her husband, The Duke of Edinburgh. Her Majesty looked quite striking in a simple hat with a yellow rose, a stacked string of pearls and a brooch. She also wore sensible flats low heels and was seen with her glasses on during the ceremony. I really love this look for her, which is bold in color but traditional and simply cut in style. It’s very similar to her past looks.

I’m sure we’ll hear more about the significance behind the Queen’s jewelry choice as the day goes on, but for now all eyes are on lovely Kate on her wedding day.

While I think it’s pretty dumb to wear fur at this point, I also think it’s kind of mean to pick on poor Queen Elizabeth II. QEII wore some kind of (fox?) fur hat on Christmas day, plus a coat with a matching fur trim. And now PETA and various British animal rights groups are all up in arms. QEII is really old, though – my point being that she probably still thinks she’s living in a time when fur trimmings are considered the height of fashion. Plus, it’s really cold. What is she supposed to wear to church, polar fleece? Eh. Here’s more from The Daily Mail:

The Queen and the Duchess of Cornwall came under fire from animal rights campaigners ­yesterday after they both wore fur hats on Christmas Day. The Russian-style hats they wore to attend a church service in ­Sandringham with other members of the Royal Family were made from fur from different types of fox, claimed experts.

Andrew Tyler, director of Animal Aid, said: ‘This strikes me as an ostentatious display of cruelty. To parade fur in 2010 says something unpleasant about the person wearing it.’

The Cossack-style hat worn by Camilla was made from ‘vintage fur’, by designer milliner Philip Treacy, using a piece of fur which had previously belonged to the duchess’s mother.

A spokesman for the Queen said she could not confirm if Her Majesty’s cream-coloured hat and matching coat trim were made from real fur but experts said they were convinced it was. Many fashion designers continue to use fur in their collections, and campaigners have expressed fears that it has come back into style. They have called on celebrities and members of the Royal Family to ‘set a good example’ by ­choosing not to wear animal pelts.

The Queen has worn fur in the past and her official robes for State occasions are trimmed with ermine, the winter coat of the stoat.

Camilla faced anger from animal rights organisations last year, when she wore fur twice during an official visit to Canada. First she wore a grey rabbit stole when she visited Newfoundland, together with a hat trimmed with fake fur. She then donned a calf-length cape lined with grey fox fur. Both pieces were said to have been ‘refashioned’ from vintage fur that had belonged to her grandmother, Sonia Cubitt, Baroness Ashcombe, whose mother, Alice Keppel, was a mistress of Edward VII.

The ethical question of ‘recycling’ vintage fur has split opinion, but Mr Tyler said: ‘It doesn’t matter when the animal was killed, it’s a body part and a product of cruelty.’

In 2000 Prince Edward’s wife Sophie apologised after she was seen wearing a fox fur hat. The Countess of Wessex said her decision to wear the hat on a skiing holiday in St Moritz, Switzerland, was ‘an error of judgment’.

Legislation to ban fur farming in Britain was passed that same year following a lengthy campaign ­highlighting the physical and ­psychological distress suffered by animals in some fur farms.

However, it remains legal to import fur and in China, now the world’s leading fur exporter, millions of animals who are killed for their fur are often skinned alive, according to the campaign group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

A Peta spokesman said: ‘Britain is a nation of animal lovers and more than 90 per cent of Britons refuse to wear fur. We hope that Her Majesty will choose to wear something more humane in future, that better reflects the values of the British people.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Should the Queen “set a good example”? Sure. They’re doing great things with faux fur (I have a faux snow leopard hoodie that the Queen can borrow!), and it would be cool to see the Queen embrace faux fur. Also – we have no proof that she’s wearing real fur, you know? Sure, it looks like real fur, and it probably is. But I await the Queen’s official statement, I’m just saying.

On Thursday, Kate Middleton was invited to an official royal engagement… with Her Majesty, The Queen! Kate and Prince William attended a pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace, where the entire royal family was in attendance, and I’m sure they gnawed on the official royal biscuits (real biscuits, not “the royal jewels”). People Magazine has a photo of Will and Kate in the back of a car, either coming or going from the lunch. Kate looks thrilled. Probably because she won in the end, and it didn’t matter than the Queen thought that she should get a job or find some direction other than being at Will’s beck-and-call. Kate probably looked at Her Majesty and thought “Ha! All I had to do was wait around for nine years. Sucker.”

Talk about an important lunch date! Punctuating a model month as a royal bride-to-be, Kate Middleton joined her fiancé for a special pre-Christmas lunch with Queen Elizabeth Thursday.

She and Prince William were driven the short hop from St. James’s Palace to Buckingham Palace for the annual event that takes place before the Queen heads off for her seasonal holiday.

The newly engaged couple rode in a car with some protection officers that traveled behind Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. Inside the palace, Kate, 28, mingled with a daunting array of royals, as all of the Queen’s children were in attendance, along with most of her grandchildren. And while she was a guest at the 2008 wedding of the Queen’s eldest grandchild, Peter Phillips, this is thought to be the first time she has had a lunch with the entire family at the palace.

Kate and William left about two and a half hours later – and this time, she was sandwiched between William and his brother Prince Harry in the back seat of an official SUV.

“It’s a momentous day for her,” royals author Judy Wade tells PEOPLE. “She must have met more than 40 members of the royal family and that must have been an ordeal for her to meet so many family members.”

“When she left, Kate was looking supremely happy. She was smiling broadly,” an observer says.

“She was beaming,” adds another source watching at the palace gates.

As for the couple’s holiday plans, William will be working on Christmas Day so he will not be with the Queen and family at Sandringham House in Norfolk, England. It remains to be seen if Kate will join him in North Wales or spend the day with her own family.

[From People]

There are very few members of the royal family that I would like to share a meal with. Prince Harry, obviously, although I would prefer to eat my lunch off of his ginger-furred naked body. I’d also like to meet and eat with Prince Andrew, just because he seems like he’d be a hoot. Let’s see… who else? You know Anne is probably a royal bitch, and pretty boring. Edward is funky. The Duke of Edinburgh? Ew. And the other assorted royals… blah. So I’d really only want to meet the Queen, Andy and Harry. I should invite them ’round for lunch at my house!

Photos courtesy of WENN.

You know how I was kind of making fun of Us Weekly’s Kate Middleton story this week? Well, my bad. It’s actually a really good piece for those of us who love royal gossip and junk. The cover story is very lengthy, so I’m just going to do the highlights:

*Kate will have an entourage from here on out: She used to be able to take a bus or a cab with just her sister, but now she has an entourage. “Now, she has a full entourage in tow,” Katie Nicholl tells Us. “The enormity of what she’s in is finally sinking in.” She’s losing some freedom and independence, but that is “the price she’ll pay for falling in love with the future king.”

*Kate in “encouraged” to have a voice, unlike Princess Diana: “If Kate was to voice something to William or an aide, it would not be ignored. She in encouraged to speak up,” says a senior palace source. “The palace has learned from the past with Diana.”

*The senior palace source also says: “William is determined for this to be the beginning of a new royal family with new ways of doing things. He wants his marriage to last.”

*Since the engagement announcement, Kate has been staying at Clarence House, not Buckingham Palace. Clarence House is the residence of the Prince of Wales (and former residence of the Queen Mum). She has weekly meetings with the royal wedding planners, and she seems to be a “good planner.”

*Her parents are finding it hard to cope with the fact that there’s an armed police car at the end of their driveway.

*Williams is still going to make Kate cook for him and do all of the housework: “they don’t plan on having butlers or valets and Kate will still cook and host dinner parties.” That is, there are no plans for any of that when they are in Wales, for William’s training. While Kate is in London, she’s got a full staff at her disposal.

*Kate plans to make her younger (wild) sister Pippa her lady-in-waiting. Katie Nicholl defined a lady in waiting as: “The Queen has between 3 and 10. She trusts them to help her select outfits, wait in the car with her, pick out her favorite posies and help with her crossword. It’s a rare intimacy. It’s unpaid.”

*Kate and William did a an engagement photo shoot with Mario Testino (“the same acclaimed star photographer who took iconic pictures of Princess Diana shortly before her death.”) It was a “top secret session.” A St. James spokesperson confirmed that the photoshoot took place “privately with Prince William.”

*In the nine years of dating, Kate has “lost her puppy fat.” Since she began dating the future King eight years ago, Middleton has transformed from “a university student into a woman,” Simone Simmons, a close pal of the late Princess Diana, tells Us. “I call it that she lost her puppy fat!”

*Workouts: While in London, Middleton works out regularly at the Clarence House gym — and gets beautified at Richard Ward Hair and Metrospa in the British city’s Sloane Square.

*On curtsying: “When a nonblood royal is with a royal spouse, they take on their spouse’s elevated rank,” according to the mag. If Kate sees Camilla and Charles, Kate has to curtsy, but if Charles is not around and Kate is with William, Camilla has to curtsy. And none of the low debutante dip curtsying! It should be “just a bob down, about 10 centimeters.” And! Kate has to walk a step behind Prince William (just like Prince Philip has to walk behind the Queen.)

*On grooming: “Kate is always perfectly manicured, and she will have blow-dries before she goes out,” says Katie Nicholl, royal watcher and author of William and Harry: Behind the Palace Walls. She adds that Middleton and William, also 28, likely got their teeth whitened in advance of their engagement announcement.

*The Queen has deigned to take an interest in Kate. Nicholl says: “Their relationship is fascinating.” Kate will likely have weekly meetings with the Queen, where she will be encouraged to listen, not talk.

*Once married, Kate and William will likely be given their own apartment in Kensington Palace – maybe even Princess Diana’s old apartment. Creepy.

[From Us Weekly, print and online editions, with an additional transcript from Jezebel]

See? It’s epic. I know most you don’t care, but I can’t get enough. I think very, very, VERY soon we’re going to start seeing bits and pieces of the “real” Kate – the one who isn’t content to just be an “army wife” ignored and alone, without even a bustling staff to do everything for her. My guess is that Kate is going to be spending a great deal of the engagement in London, theoretically to “plan the wedding” but really because she enjoys the staff.

One last thing – HuffPo reports that Kate and Will have to have a “therapy” session with some Church of England priest. Prince William’s spokesperson says: “It’s customary for a priest to meet with the couple before their wedding.” They will discuss how to deal with marital problems, parenthood, etc.

This may not be of any interest, but we’ve been doing a lot of royal coverage lately, and I found this piece of news fascinating. Buckingham Palace released their account information to the general public a few days ago. You see, the Queen and her family (minus Prince Charles – I’ll get to him in a minute) are funded by the British taxpayers, and the taxpayers like to know just how much they’re spending on the Queen’s corgis, hats and whatever Prince Edward needs to get him through the night. This year’s total expenditures: £38.2 million (roughly $58 million) for fiscal year 2009-2010. Sounds like a lot, right? It was actually a 7.9% drop, which was accounted for by some royal belt-tightening, as well as the Queen deigning to pull some £6.5 million from her own private account. It still sounds like a lot though – until you do some figuring and realize that when all is said and done, the royals cost each and every single British citizen 94 cents. Less than a dollar per citizen for the royal family! That’s kind of a bargain.

The Queen and the Royal Family cost the taxpayer 62p per person last year – a drop of 7p, Buckingham Palace accounts showed. The total cost of keeping the monarchy decreased by £3.3 million (7.9 per cent) to £38.2 million during the 2009-10 financial year.

A spokesman said the fall equated to a drop in real terms of 12.2 per cent and was mainly due to a reduction in commercial charter flights and a refund of lease rentals from the Queen’s helicopter, which was replaced last year.

Palace accounts also showed that the Queen dipped into a reserve fund to boost her Civil List by £6.5 million in 2009. This is the highest amount ever drawn from the reserve, which comes from surplus Civil List money accumulated in the 1990s.

Sir Alan Reid, Keeper of the Privy Purse, said: “The Royal Household is acutely aware of the difficult economic climate and took early action to reduce its Civil List expenditure by 2.5 per cent in real terms in 2009. We are implementing a headcount freeze and reviewing every vacancy to see if we can avoid replacement. Property services funding will be reduced by £0.5 million this year.”

“Work will continue on assessing the condition of the Estate, but it is acknowledged that the necessary cuts in public expenditure will have an impact on the backlog of essential maintenance which it is hoped can be addressed in the longer term. In the meantime, the Household is continuing to pursue opportunities to reduce costs and generate income from the Estate’s assets, including commercial lettings and management charges.”

The total cost of the Queen’s Civil List – which pays for the running of the Royal Household including staff salaries – was £14.2 million in 2009, up £300,000. It was made up of £7.9 million from the Government and £6.5 million from the reserve.

If the Queen continues drawing on the reserve at the current rate, she is expected to run out of funds by the start of 2012 – the year of her Diamond Jubilee. The current deal for the Civil List – which gives the Queen £7.9 million a year – was agreed by then prime minister Sir John Major in 1990.

It had been thought the Queen would request an increase but Chancellor George Osborne announced as part of his Budget last month that it will remain frozen at £7.9 million for the coming year. Mr Osborne said the Queen had given her full agreement to the decision to freeze the sum. He added that “a new means of consolidated support” would be proposed at a later date.

[From The Telegraph]

Oh, I was going to mention Prince Charles – he doesn’t get any money from the “the taxpayers” – at least, not for his general upkeep. Charles has his own income from the Duke of Cornwall estate (it’s one of his titles). Through that, he owns extensive property and farms and rentals and his own line of organic food. The Duchy of Cornwall brings in millions of dollars, for real. Now, one thing that I don’t believe is figured into all of this accounting is security – I think there’s a secondary accounting chart for the guards and detectives and personal security various royals get. And that gets very expensive.

I would totally give a dollar to have a little queen. I want my dollar to go towards hats. Or corgis. Or jewel polish. I’ll let the Queen decide!

Queen Elizabeth on July 5, 2010 (in Canada) & June 19, 2010 (with the Duke, in England). Credit: WENN.

Two of my favorite people in the world were in the same room together, and one of them was drunk! So says Hugh Grant (the drunk one), who told Access Hollywood a fabulous little story about the Queen. Apparently, he had a few and decided to ask Her Majesty about her true feelings on the paparazzi, and whether she ever felt like giving a photographer a good smack. Her reaction? “No, I don’t and don’t tell Harry.” Ha! To be fair to the Queen, it’s not like she gets photographed coming out some hip club in the middle of the night (although, how cool would that be?). Prince Harry’s relationship to the paparazzi is entirely different than the Queen’s. The Queen is not only protected 24 hours a day by lots of armed guards, she doesn’t really go to places where the hot celebrities are.

In “Did You Hear About The Morgans?,” the normally well-dressed Hugh Grant strips down to a very uncharacteristic shorts and T-shirt look. Hugh shows off some toned legs and fit forearms in his new film, and Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush found out how the heartthrob got them in shape.

“I have a wonderful Swedish girl, she’s a model, who takes me to the park, thrice a week,” Hugh told Billy of his workout routine.

Hugh said his toned frame is the result of a blood pumping workout.

”[She] throws sticks for me like a dog and makes me pick up heavy things and it has made me a bit butcher than I used to be,” he explained.

While workouts get the Brit revved up, it’s something else entirely that gets his blood boiling – the paparazzi. In fact, Hugh revealed he once badmouthed the snappers during a chat with Britain’s Queen.

“I was introduced to The Queen. She was charming and I said — I was a bit drunk – I said, ‘Do you ever get annoyed by paparazzi? Do you ever get tempted to whack them with your bag?’” he revealed. “And she said (in a Queen-style voice), ‘No I don’t and don’t tell Harry.’ Because of course, her grandson, Harry, feels the same way as I do about paps and often gives them a whack.”

Hugh expressed sympathy with the Royal Family, who are increasing paparazzi targets, due in part to the love lives of The Queen’s grandsons, William and Harry.

“They’ve certainly made the life of her family a bit of a misery,” Hugh said of the paps Royal Family focus. “She’s just got tough about it recently because one of her homes out in Kent, they put their long lenses over the walls and take pictures.They’re really just trying to get Prince William and [his longtime girlfriend], Kate Middleton.”

As for his own troubles with the paparazzi, Hugh made light of some of the things he’s done in the past when he’s found photographers in places he didn’t quite expect.

“Well our understanding is that I hit them, I kick them and then I get arrested. It’s happened twice in the last two years. That works quite well,” he told Billy sarcastically.

[From Access Hollywood]

I always thought Hugh was a monarchist, bless his heart. He probably gets weepy for the Queen’s Christmas address, and ten bucks says he’s had at least one sex dream about Her Majesty. Ah, Hugh. I’d love to get drunk with him. I imagine it would involve a lot of prank phone calls, celebrity impressions and breast fondling. I’m totally game for that.

Speaking of Hugh and drinking, over the weekend he told another funny story about one liquor-soaked night in which he ended up buying a famous Andy Warhol painting on a whim:

Hugh Grant has confessed he was drunk when he bought a painting of Elizabeth Taylor that later made him an £11million profit.

The actor was lauded as an art connoisseur when he bought the work by Andy Warhol for £2million. And he was praised as a master of timing when he sold it six years later for £13million. But the star has now admitted that his windfall had little to do with an eye for art.

Grant, 49, had been on a two-day drinking spree when he ordered an assistant to bid for the painting at an auction in New York. He said: ‘And to my horror, she did, and even worse, got it.’

He added: ‘It all began with drink. I’d been having a drunken dinner with my father the night before, and I said, “We ought to go see my brother Jamie. You know, the Concorde’s amazing. And he said, “I hear it is.” So I bought him a Concorde ticket and we went. We had lunch, drank a lot of beer. And I was thinking about some stuff in the Sotheby’s auction and I saw the Liz Taylor. I slightly regret selling it now, even though it made me rich.’

The actor admitted not all of his drunken gestures were as well rewarded. Far from enjoying the supersonic trip to New York, his father was unimpressed. Grant said: ‘Halfway across the Atlantic, he’s saying, “Well, it’s all very nice, but frankly I prefer Air Kuwait” – his usual way of getting to New York.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Now I really want to get drunk with him! He buys art and chats with the Queen when he’s wasted! He’s so classy! And it sounds like he gets a lot of his spunk from his dad, too.

Hugh Grant (and Sarah Jessica Parker) at the New York premiere of ‘Did You Hear About the Morgans?’ on December 14, 2009.