Here’s A Potential Royal Who Recognizes The Peril

Forget Princess Diana, let’s see what’s happening with Prince Edward and his companion Sophie Rhy-Jones.

Pushed to comment on whether they will ever get married, the 31-year-old publicist told Hello! magazine, “There’s no point in getting caught up in speculation. It’s purely fueled by people to produce a reaction.”

Well, yeah. And Rhys-Jones knows about public pressure. “Sometimes it isn’t easy if people are trying to push you toward something which you may not be ready for,” she said. “So it’s important to ignore what people are saying and for things to happen naturally.”

Which is hard when everyone is watching. As Rhys-Jones said of the media attention, “If you don’t want people to follow you around then you should stay out of the limelight.”

Loose talk

Beck on ex-Prince: “He kicks (rear end) and he’s completely fey at the same time. There’s something about that mixture, that cocktail, that I can relate to.”

Me? Are you singing happy birthday to me?

Robert DeNiro turns 54 today.

We’re sure he just wants to be their best friend

So, you don’t believe that Dodi al-Fayed, Princess Diana’s summer fling, has served time in the playboy racket? His ex-girlfriends include Britt Ekland, Wynona Ryder, Sharon Stone, Princess Stephanie of Monaco and Daryl Hannah. The good news, according to Brooke Shields, is “He doesn’t touch you unless invited to.”

We can’t resist telling you that ‘He’s baaaa-aaaackkk!’

Televangelist Jim Bakker is considering a comeback. “I would love to minister on television again because I enjoy doing it,” Bakker says. “I feel comfortable with television.”

She sheathes her sword in her poodle skirt

Stretching as a performer, Lucy Lawless, star of TV’s “Xena: Warrior Princess,” will join the cast of Broadway’s “Grease” on Sept. 2.

So, that leaves Chris Farley out as spokesperson

Jake Steinfeld, occasional actor and fitness instructor, says the chain of restaurants that he is co-financing with the likes of Richard Simmons, Jack LaLanne, Kathy Smith and Tamilee Webb will serve food with your best interests at heart. “But it’s not going to be wheat germ shakes,” Steinfeld says. “It’s clean food. By clean, I mean low-fat. We’re going to use the leanest meats, the best oils.”

And you should see how they serve the Donald Duck

If you’re in New York, try a little S&M with your crepes suzette. The restaurant La Nouvelle Justine features waiters dressed in vinyl shorts and dog collars who deliver checks clenched between their teeth. “It’s like Disney meets S&M,” said comedian Joan Rivers. “Our busboy didn’t bring the bread fast enough, so the maitre d’ spanked him.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by staff writer Dan Webster