The Tale of Two Tough Birds: British wag Nigel Dempster reports that the Queen Mother is distressed over reports that there was a royal feud between her and the late Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. The Queen Mother wants it to be known she is not ”an ogre” and had nothing to do with Edward VIII`s abdication, which put her husband on the throne. She claims it was the duchess who wanted to create ”an imaginary hostility.” Meow. . . . Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is hanging tough on her decision to permit U.S. planes to depart from England on a bombing run to Libya. But she is concerned about the lack of American vacationers, who normally account for 25 percent of Great Britain`s tourism trade. ”One has as much chance of getting attacked by terrorists as getting hit by lightning,” says Iron Maggie.
POLITICS AS USUAL . . .
— Despite continuing speculation about a 1988 veep bid by U.S. Rep. Lynn Martin, INC. hears that what the Rockford Republican really, really wants is to run for the U.S. Senate in 1990. Lynn wants Democrat Paul Simon`s seat, folks.
— INC. hears U.S. Sen. Gary Hart (D., Colo.) has given Adlai Stevenson a little help in his fundraising efforts: his Illinois mailing list. It`s just a nice way of saying Hart expects some support for his 1988 presidential candidacy in return. P.S.: INC. is also told New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, Hart`s leading rival for the `88 Democratic presidential nomination, also has offered to help Stevenson.
— Former UN Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick has moved to the top of the 1988 GOP veep lists, according to pals of George Bush, Jack Kemp and other leading Republican presidential hopefuls. ”Bush would need to have someone like Jeane to get some macho on his ticket,” gloated a Kemp supporter.
THE POL MAUL . . .
Looks like U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt (D., Mo.) is touching all the right bases in Illinois in an effort to win the Dem presidential nomination. He has agreed to attend State Senate President Phil Rock`s Springfield fundraising bash Tuesday. The event will give Gephardt an outstanding chance to rub shoulders with some of the state`s top political people outside of the usually explosive Chicago political scene. . . . Look out Cook County GOP chairman Don Totten! Your battle to capture the two seats needed to gain control of the Illinois Senate is heating up. Buttons bearing ”Senate Democrats: Good for Illinois” will be popping up, and Rock plans to launch a campaign to retain Democratic control of the Senate.
THERE OUGHTA BE A LAW . . .
Donald Rumsfeld, the GOP presidential hopeful who just happens to be making ”casual visits” to New Hampshire and Iowa, took a swipe at lawyers during a recent Chicago speech. Quoth Rummy, the former chairman of G.D. Searle: ”I read an awful statistic that 27 1/2 percent of the lawyers that graduated last year didn`t get jobs. Not to worry, because the pharmaceutical industry has discovered that lawyers are every bit as good as white mice for laboratory testing. They found two advantages: There`s a hell of a lot more lawyers than there are white mice, and our scientists have a way of falling in love with their mice and don`t want to sacrifice them after the experiments. That would never happen with lawyers.”
STAR TRACKS . . .
James Brown and Patti LaBelle have been added to the entertainment lineup for the Rosemont Horizon`s June 18-27 ”Celebration `86.” . . . Two members of the cast of ”Top Gun” have reportedly held the position of Cher`s Main Squeeze: Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer. . . . Books signed by Bette Midler and Gypsy Rose Lee will be among the signed copies available at the May 31-June 8 Brandeis Used Book Sale at Edens Plaza. . . . Jermaine Jackson will hold court from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Sound Post, 25 Calendar Ct., La Grange. . . . Sally Hay Burton, the widow of Richard Burton, is going to work in Lausanne, Switzerland, as a liaison officer for the International Olympic Committee. She insisted on being paid minimum journalist union rates for her new job, to which she`ll commute from the Celigny home that she shared with Burton during their 13 months of marriage. . . . Dennis Weaver, formerly of
”Gunsmoke” and ”McCloud,” is back in a cowboy mode. He and James Coburn are co-hosting Tuesday`s ”Wildest West Show of the Stars” on CBS-TV.
INC.LINGS . . .
The weekend of June 13 should be interesting in Denver. That`s when the National Organization for Women and the National Right to Life Committee will hold meetings there–separately, of course. . . . Monday birthdays: Stevie Nicks, 38; Peggy Lee, 66; James Arness, 63; Brent Musburger, 47. . . . Billy Segal of That Steak Joynt knows that getting divorced can be a downer–so dinner is on the house if you come in with your divorce papers on the day you untie the knot. . . . There`ll be free pop, popcorn and peanuts for the first 500 people who show up Thursday at the 11:30 a.m. inauguration of Morrie Mages Sports Wall of Fame, at 620 N. LaSalle St.
WHAT A PARTY ANIMAL . . .
Illinois Secretary of State Jim Edgar doesn`t smoke or drink, but he got real adventurous recently and placed a bet on a horse at Sportsman`s Park. The horse finished last. Not to worry. Edgar bet only $2.
