Poor Cartier. Described by Britain`s King Edward VII as ”the king of jewelers,” Cartier of France has been booted royally. Seems that Queen Elizabeth, no longer a regular customer, has withdrawn the royal warrant. Now Cartier must stop using the profitable stamp-”By Appointment of HM Queen.”
JACKIE BRACES FOR A PUNCH Speaking of queens . . . ”A Woman Named Jackie,” an unauthorized biography of Jacqueline Onassis by C. David Heymann, is gearing up for May distribution in secretive fashion. According to often-accurate gossip columnist Liz Smith, booksellers are peeking at a 20-page outline, but publisher Lyle Stuart is nixing requests for finished manuscripts and galleys. Whether that portends a slipshod hatchet or a genuinely illuminating ”book of the year”-as flacks promise-is anyone`s guess. Heymann says he obtained secret government files. Smith wonders whether that includes material from FBI spies, who were ordered by chief down-and-dirty snoop J. Edgar Hoover to keep files on the former first lady`s personal behavior as late as 1967-four years after she became a widow.
A WYOMING SNOW . . . FLAKE It takes all kinds. From the land of the jack-alope comes a somewhat true story of a poisonous ”snow snake.” But Eric Johnson almost died before telling it. Johnson showed up at a hospital in Rock Springs suffering from a snake bite-on his lip. He said it happened outdoors, when he picked up a snake in the snow. Cops, understandably skeptical, indeed found slithering shapes in the snow. But after Johnson-by now sliding into critical condition-was told he would die if the snake remained unidentified, a new tale uncoiled: The culprit was friend Shawn MacDonald`s pet Pygmy rattlesnake; they added slither marks in the snow to bolster their story. ”I guess what had happened, they were playing around with the snake and he said he was going to kiss it good night, and it kissed him first,” said Police Officer Don Holthaus, theorizing the two teens invented the story to protect the rattler from destruction. The good news: Johnson is out of danger now, although he may seek a hole in which to hide until embarrassment wears off.
MCCARTNEY: THERE`S MORE Paul McCartney, in a British broadcast to the Soviet Union on Thursday, revealed that at least two Beatles songs have never been released. ”There`s a good one that John (Lennon) sings, `Leave My Kitten Alone,` which hasn`t been released yet,” McCartney said in a 55-minute BBC phone-in program. He added later that he would be open to a live show in the Soviet Union, including a rendition of the Beatles` ”Back in the USSR.” ”I`d love to come to Russia. It`s something I`ve always wanted to do,” McCartney said. ”If they are going to open up with glasnost, the least we can do is be friendly back.”
CHALLENGER WIDOW ENGAGED June wedding bells will ring for June Scobee, 46, widow of Challenger space shuttle Pilot Dick Scobee. She`s engaged to Army Lt. Gen. Don Rodgers, commander of the Global Army Information Systems Command (huh?) at Ft. Huachuca, Ariz. The two met last Easter at a sunrise service at Arlington National Cemetery, where Scobee had gone to visit her late husband`s grave. Rodgers, 54, is a widower. They`re to marry June 3.
KELLY MCGILLIS WEDS Wedding bells rang secretly for actress Kelly McGillis (”Witness,”
”The Accused,” ”Top Gun”). McGillis, 31, and California yacht broker Fred Tillman were married New Year`s Eve on Tillman`s yacht off Miami as she was filming ”Cat Chaser” with Peter Weller.