England’s enemies should now face a new royal pain
Being the second son sometimes means that you have to try harder. Such seems to be the case with Prince Harry, second son of the future king of England, Prince Charles.
Prince Harry hopes to join the British Army, and plans to take the entrance exam at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, royal officials have announced.
Harry is third in line to the throne behind his older brother, Prince William, and his father.
The examinations given by the Regular Commissions Board, which govern who enters Sandhurst, consist of a three-day course of written, oral and physical tests. Prince Daddy… er, Charles served in the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy from 1969-76.
Of course, being a royal means that it’s not necessary to labor all that hard. The 19-year-old prince is spending the summer as a coach in Rugby Football and then “working” on his father’s farms.
Bloom is a real straight arrow
He may have played a wimpy Paris in “Troy,” but Orlando Bloom – better known as the archer elf Legolas in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy — is well on the way to becoming Britain’s sexiest actor. An Internet vote had Bloom atop the list with 35 percent, which put him ahead of such celeb actors as Sean Bean, Hugh Grant, Ewan McGregor and Jude Law, according to the Sky Movies Web site. Also, People Magazine has named him as one of “50 Hottest Bachelors,” including him in a group with the likes of Tom Cruise, Ben Affleck, Jake Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell and tennis star Andy Roddick.
Those are some big webbed feet to fill
Another 32 celebrities are set to have their stars planted on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Among the honorees, who made the cut from among “hundred of nominees,” are such diverse talents as movie stars Antonio Banderas and Julianne Moore, television stars Tom Brokaw and Soupy Sales, recording artists Carly Simon and Billy Joel, posthumous stars Redd Foxx and Freddie Prinze and Walt Disney comic performer … Donald Duck?
It’s more serious than, say, mere material things
Don’t question Madonna‘s devotion to Kabbalah, which has been described as “an esoteric offshoot to Judaism.” As she’ll admit on tonight’s edition of “20/20,” the 45-year-old performer has even taken the Hebrew name of Esther to show the depth of her faith. “I wanted to attach myself to the energy of a different name,” Madonna says, adding, “I’m a little bit irritated that people think that it’s like some celebrity band wagon that I’ve jumped on, or that, say, somebody like Demi (Moore) has jumped on. We don’t take it lightly.”
Jolie wants her own Rainbow Coalition
Seems Angelina Jolie is on her way to being her generation’s Mia Farrow. In announcing that she plans to seek a Russian orphan to adopt, Jolie said, “My dream is to have under one roof many different cultures and many different religions. I think that would make for amazing people.” In 2002, Jolie adopted a Cambodian boy, Maddox, who is now three. At last count, Farrow had adopted 14 children (one of whom died).
Chan wants to punch up his acting chops
As he enters his 50s, martial-arts star Jackie Chan wants to change his image. He wants to become, he says, “an actor who can fight — not an action star.” Chan thinks he can do his own stunts for the next five years, but he wants to work beyond that. “I want to change. I want to be like Robert De Niro. I want to be Dustin Hoffman,” he says. “Look at Clint Eastwood. They still can act.”
The birthday bunch
Paul McCartney is 62. Movie critic Roger Ebert is 62. Actress Linda Thorson (“The Avengers”) is 57. Isabella Rossellini is 52. Actress Carol Kane is 52. Singer Tom Bailey (the Thompson Twins) is 47. Singer Nathan Morris of Boyz II Men is 33. Country singer Blake Shelton is 28.