Everybody Calm Down, Fergie Is Staying Put

Sarah Ferguson is not deserting England for Switzerland.

Contrary to reports, the Duchess of York tell us through her spokesman that she’s staying put at Sunninghill Park, the home she shares with her ex-husband, Prince Andrew. Their daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, “will attend a nearby school,” says Fergie rep Howard Rubenstein.

Weighing on her mind may have been a scandal at the exclusive Swiss boarding school that Beatrice was set to attend. The school’s principal had been arrested after allegations that two children were molested.

Meanwhile, the duchess has made out like a bandit off an ill-starred dot-com venture. Ferguson collected a cool $750,000 for promoting World Online, an Amsterdam-based Internet service provider. The company’s share value recently collapsed after a disappointing public offering and a management shakeup.

Loose talk

“I play Mark Wahlberg’s girlfriend, which was the best job on the set,” says Diane Lane, 35, who remained on dry land during the filming of the disaster flick “The Perfect Storm”. “I would hear all the horror stories about filming on water … .

And all I had to do was make out with Mark for eight hours.

It’s great work if you can get it.”

Lowe takes leading role in breast-cancer fight

Rob Lowe, who lost both his grandmother and great-grandmother to breast cancer, has joined the ranks of men at the forefront of breast cancer awareness by signing a special contract with Lee jeans. “The West Wing” star will be the celebrity spokesman for Lee National Denim Day, which has raised more than $16.5 million for the cause. This year the event will be held Oct. 6, when participating companies and other organizations allow employees to wear denim in exchange for a $5 contribution to a cancer-research foundation.

And she’d still drive Dudley Moore crazy

Bo Derek can still fit into that swimsuit she wore in “10.” All the same, she worried that, at 43, she was a “little too old” to take it off again for the camera. But photographer Herb Ritts works his magic in August’s Vanity Fair. And who cares how much air-brushing was involved?

You just knew Busta musta had a trick

Rapper Busta Rhymes took a musical approach to memorizing his lines for “Shaft”, the hit update of the 1971 detective flick. “I applied the same method I use to remember songs,” says Rhymes, 28, who just released his fourth album, Anarchy. “I record all of my lines to a track, like it’s a rap. I say it to a beat. And then I ride around in my car all day and listen to my movie part. He plays Samuel L. Jackson’s sidekick in the film.

The birthday bunch

Former British Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath is 84. Actor-singer Ed Ames is 73. Actor Brian Dennehy is 62. Author Dean Koontz is 55. R&B singer Debbie Sledge (Sister Sledge) is 46. Actress-rock singer Courtney Love is 36. Actor Fred Savage is 24.