LONDON – The eye-popping hat worn by Princess Beatrice at Britain’s royal wedding is to be auctioned to raise money for charity, Buckingham Palace said Thursday.

The famous creation — which some said looked like antlers — will be sold on eBay, with the proceeds going to the charities UNICEF and Children in Crisis.

The hat was the handiwork of Britain’s leading milliner, Philip Treacy, who designed many of the ladies’ hats worn at the April 29 nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton, now known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The unusual design of the beige hat has sparked a Facebook fan page called “Princess Beatrice’s ridiculous Royal Wedding hat,” and one computer-altered picture showed President Obama and his national security team all wearing the hat as they watched the commando raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan.

The sale was announced by Beatrice’s mother, Sarah Ferguson, on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Many have said the hat looked outlandish, but Treacy has defended it in comments to the British press, saying Beatrice looked “gorgeous.”

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Beatrice, 22, also defended it in a recent interview with Grazia magazine. She said it was “wonderful that it’s had such a reaction.”

She added: “It’s an incredible response to a hat, really. I’m glad it provoked so much conversation.”

UNICEF and Children in Crisis said in a statement on their website that they are looking forward to working with Beatrice to raise as much money as possible for children around the world.

The hat isn’t on eBay yet, but a “Princess Beatrice Style Royal Wedding Paper Costume Hat” is currently listed at $9.99.

Lehrer leaving ‘NewsHour’ anchor rotation

WASHINGTON – Starting June 6, Jim Lehrer will no longer be part of the regular daily anchor rotation on “PBS NewsHour.”

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The PBS veteran will continue to appear on many Friday broadcasts of the news program, moderating the weekly analysis of syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks. He also will remain involved in the editorial direction of the program.

In December 2009, the flagship news launched in 1975 as “The Robert MacNeil Report” and, more recently known as “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” was changed in name to “PBS NewsHour.”

Moore having surgery to remove brain tumor

NEW YORK – A representative for Mary Tyler Moore says the veteran sitcom star will have surgery to remove a brain tumor. Spokeswoman Alla Plotkin says Moore’s doctors recommended the elective procedure after monitoring the tumor for some time. Plotkin did not say when the surgery would take place.

It would remove a meningioma, a slow-growing tumor in the membranes that cover the brain. Meningiomas usually occur in older adults and are mostly benign.

Moore, 74, gained stardom as a modern suburban housewife on the 1960s comedy “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” then went on to headline her own series as a single woman pursuing a career.

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Gibson’s rants in question

LOS ANGELES – A series of Mel Gibson’s racist and sexist rants might not be used as evidence during an ongoing child custody dispute, an attorney for his ex-girlfriend told a judge Thursday.

The disclosure comes a week after Oksana Grigorieva’s attorney, Daniel Horowitz, told the court that his client was dropping her claims that Gibson physically abused her. That stems from a case over the custody and care of their infant daughter.

Horowitz’s comments came after Gibson attorney Stephen Kolodny complained that he had been trying to get access to the Russian musician’s laptop for nearly a year to find out more about the recordings.

Horowitz noted that Grigorieva is no longer seeking a domestic violence restraining order against Gibson and the rants were more important to those allegations than any other aspects of the case.

 


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