The Princess is coming! The Princess is coming! INC. has learned that Princess Margaret, whose alleged ”Irish pigs” statement at a party made worldwide headlines the last time she hit town, is due back next month. Her royal nibs directed the royal scheduler to pen a Ravinia concert in her datebook: The Big Band Sounds from the ”Summer of `42.” The date: July 17. The talent: Tex Beneke and his orchestra, the Modernaires with Paula Kelly Jr., and singers Helen Forrest and Frankie Laine–all performing the music of Glenn Miller and Jimmy Dorsey. ”This could turn into the hottest event this summer,” the source said. No kidding. It`ll be Maggie`s first trip to Chicago since a gossip column proclaimed in 1979 that she had referred to the Irish as ”pigs” while talking to Mayor Jane Byrne about the IRA terrorists who had killed Prince Phillip`s uncle, Lord Mountbatten. (Byrne teasingly denied the story by claiming the princess had said ”Irish jigs,” and the party hostess where the event allegedly occurred denied the incident.) Ah, well. Let`s hope this visit to Chicago brings a smile to Maggie`s face.
A BIG SUIT . . .
Look for State Rep. Alan Greiman (D., Skokie) to send shock waves rolling through the insurance industry with an announcement that he will file an antitrust suit Monday against some of the nation`s biggest insurers. Greiman believes that a large part of the insurance crisis is due to the companies conspiring to set their own rates and decide who gets coverage and who does not–which should be a big no-no. No kidding.
COUNCIL WARS . . .
It might be a good idea for newly elected Ald. Luis Gutierrez (26th), who prefers a political image as a man of the people, to sell his BMW and rent a wreck. . . . INC. hears Ald. Joe Kotlarz (35th) plans to deluge the Chicago City Council with antiproperty tax petitions if and when Mayor Harold Washington reintroduces his property tax ordinance. . . . When Ald. Perry Hutchinson (9th) arrived at the city council meeting in a wheelchair Friday, after a torrent of criticism from the Washington bloc from having missed the last meeting, his aldermanic peers whispered: ”Perry`s finally on a roll!”
. . . The new power players: INC. hears Ald. Larry Bloom (5th) has become Washington`s chief strategy adviser in the Council Wars, and mayoral aide Brenda Gaines his top office foil. That`s how hizzoner`s aldermanic foes see things since the power tables were turned.
THE POL MAUL . . .
— So how come Mercedes Goodwin, who was severed from the Department of Health last month by budget cuts, was rehired? Did one of the mayor`s closest pals and fundraisers implore hizzoner to rehire her? Just asking.
— INC. hears that Streets and San chief Mattie Thompson`s chauffeur, who made a hefty sum of money in May, has been pulled out of the front seat of Thompson`s limo and put back on his regular job as a department lineman. It was nice work for a month, but the Teamsters didn`t like the job being filled by a nonunion member.
PARTY PLANNING TIPS . . .
Don`t invite ”La Cage aux Folles” producer Allan Carr and writer Lewis Lazare to the same party. Someone did last week–and found out it wasn`t such a great idea. Whoever invited Lazare to a luncheon honoring the producer obviously didn`t know that Carr wasn`t exactly enthralled with Lazare`s May 26 Crain`s Chicago Business story, titled ”AIDS fear spurs cautious pitch for
`La Cage.` ” The story said that ”disturbing headlines” and the ”horror of AIDS” prompted the musical`s New York advertising firm to downplay the gay relationship in the story line. Lazare showed up at the luncheon. He said his how-do-you-dos to Carr. Carr politely told him that he was not welcome. Lazare stayed anyway. No food was thrown. P.S.: Quite a few people have remarked on the subdued behavior of the usually volatile and often temperamental Carr during this visit. Said one observer of Thursday`s confrontation: ”Allan must be mellowing out. A few years ago, that would have been a major scene.”
MUSIC NOTES . . .
Prince`s not-yet-announced tour probably will bring him to Chicago late this summer. There`s not much chance that he`ll do one of those last-minute, soldout shows like he has done in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Detroit over the last few weeks. . . . INC. hears Rolling Stone Keith Richards is on his way to Chicago. Three possibilities: an appearance at the Blues Festival, an appearance at the National Association of Music Manufacturers get-together, or INC. heard wrong. . . . The feature on celebrity fathers in the new issue of People magazine includes a hilarious photo of rocker Ozzy Osbourne in a bubble bath with his daughters, 1-year-old Kelly and 2-year-old Aimee–and the bottom half of a carefully placed (or carelessly placed) doll.
THE DRUGSTORE . . .
”The Underground Empire: Where Crime and Governments Embrace” is a book that has generated ”some anxiety” within the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), according to a trade publication called the Drug Enforcement Report. The book details secret alliances between governments and criminal groups. The anxiety is caused by uncertainty over whether author James Mills had access to highly confidential DEA documents, case numbers and names of informants. The book recently was excerpted in Rolling Stone magazine. . . . Are drug transactions in some of the trendiest yuppie bars in Lincoln Park being watched? Say cheese.
INC.LINGS . . .
Humorist Jean Shepherd, in town Friday to host Culligan`s worldwide conference for distributors, told INC. he would be doing his annual show at Princeton University on Saturday and expected to see Brooke Shields in the front row, as she has been for three years. . . . Sunday birthdays: Boz Scaggs, 42; Audrey Meadows, 62; Robert Preston, 68; Alexis Smith, 65; Alex Van Halen, 36; James Darren, 50; Marty O`Connor, 63; Aaron Freeman, 30. . . . At Loyola University commencement ceremonies, Diana Madrzyk had two aldermen cheering her on–her dad, John Madrzyk (13th), and her boyfriend, Joe Kotlarz. . . . If catchy acceptance speeches are the key to winning more awards, look out for Sally Field. While picking up her ”Crystal Award” from Women in Film recently, Field conceded that when she first decided to go into film after success in TV, her business manager advised her she`d never make it. ”So,”
she said, ”I fired the sucker.”
