LONDON – They’re good enough for the former Kate Middleton, but apparently not good enough for her husband’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.

Fascinators — the delicate, whimsical pieces of headwear favored by the young and posh in Britain and beyond — have been banned from the royal enclosure at Royal Ascot, one of the most exclusive events in Britain’s social calendar.

Organizers said Wednesday that those hoping to rub shoulders with the queen at the horse racing meet would have to stick to hats, no fascinators.

It’s the latest in a series of rules aimed at tightening the dress code at Ascot, where organizers have tried to push back against the proliferation of provocative outfits, outrageous accessories and revealing tops.

Other rules introduced or reinforced Wednesday include the requirement that women at the royal enclosure wear dresses that fall below the knee and that the men accompanying them must wear a top hat (gray or black).

The queen can wear whatever she wants, but the guidelines affect the royal enclosure, which usually includes a few hundred invited guests, not just the royal family.

Some of the rules fall in line with organizers’ attempts to roll back the nouveau-riche nightclub look, but fascinators are favored by the highest reaches of the upper-crust. Kate Middleton, now known as the Duchess of Cambridge, is a fan. So, too, are princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and other fashion-forward royals.

Nick Smith, Ascot’s head of communication, acknowledged that “there is an argument that some fascinators are formal.”

“But the very fact that there is that argument” was reason enough to ban them from the royal enclosure — where the queen gathers with the cream of British aristocracy to watch the races.

Wahlberg apologizes for comments about 9/11

NEW YORK – Actor Mark Wahlberg has apologized for asserting that he would have stopped terrorists from flying an airliner into New York’s World Trade Center on Sept. 11 if he had been on the plane.

The star of the film “Contraband” issued his apology Wednesday after comments he made to Men’s Journal drew criticism.

He told an interviewer in the February issue that had he been on American Airlines Flight 11 with his children “it wouldn’t have went down like it did.” Terrorists flew the plane with 92 people aboard into the north tower on Sept. 11, 2001.

In his apology, Wahlberg said to speculate was “ridiculous to begin with.”

He said that to suggest he “would have done anything differently than the passengers on that plane was irresponsible.”

Deen pledges donation to diabetes group

NEW YORK – Celebrity chef Paula Deen on Wednesday pledged a portion of her earnings from an endorsement deal with a diabetes drugmaker to the American Diabetes Association.

The queen of Southern cooking disclosed Tuesday that she’s had Type 2 diabetes for three years while promoting high-fat, high-sugar recipes on her Food Network TV shows. .

In a segment of ABC’s food chat show “The Chew” that aired Wednesday, Deen said she and her two sons, Bobby and Jamie, are “in a position” to “set aside a certain percentage (of the Novo Nordisk money) and we’re donating that back to the ADA.”Gay marriage play attracts top starsLOS ANGELES – A star-studded group will help George Clooney perform in the Los Angeles premiere of the gay marriage play “8.”

The groups Broadway Impact and American Foundation for Equal Rights say Jamie Lee Curtis, Martin Sheen, Yeardley Smith, George Takei, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and others will also perform.

The play is based on the trial transcript and interviews from 2010’s court fight over California’s gay marriage ban, Proposition 8. It will be performed as a reading at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre for one night only, March 3.