People: Honey butter, salt gifts fit for the queen
What does the woman who has everything get as gifts?
A list of official gifts received by Queen Elizabeth II from world leaders and dignitaries during 2015 features jewelry, ornaments and some more unusual choices – including homemade honey butter from Michelle Obama, and a marzipan model from the German president.
Buckingham Palace said Wednesday the U.S. first lady offered a gift box of lemon verbena tea, a candle, two small pots of honey and a jar of honey butter from the White House kitchen garden during her June visit to Britain. She also gave the queen a Tiffany & Co. silver “honeycomb and bee bud vase.”
The governor of the British Virgin Islands presented “a bag of salt,” which stood out from a long list of traditional items like animal figurines, paintings and books. German President Joachim Gauck offered a marzipan model of the Brandenburg Gate, while Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a book of stamps, a woodcarving of a peach, and two CDs of music featuring his wife, a well-known folk singer.
Prince Charles received baby items like booties, a wooden rattle and tiny clothes for his grandchildren Prince George and Princess Charlotte during his official visits last year.
All official presents to royals are recorded every year. They can eat any food, use any gifts, donate items to charities, display them in royal properties or put them in storage. Gifts must not be sold or exchanged.
Despite falls, NBC chief says Fallon fit
Jimmy Fallon’s series of falls have raised some concern among NBC executives, but the network entertainment chief said Wednesday that the late-night comic is “in better shape than he’s ever been.”
The “Tonight” show host hurt himself in falls three times within five months last year, the most serious in June requiring delicate hand surgery after he caught his ring finger on a countertop. Fallon, 41, chipped a tooth in a fall while getting medication for his hand and bloodied his other hand in October after falling while holding a bottle at a Harvard University appearance.
“We are always worried about his safety and his health and, yeah, there have been conversations about that,” said NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt.
Asked about published reports that Fallon parties too hard, Greenblatt said “he doesn’t have a drinking problem that any of us know about. He goes out and he has fun and he’s had some accidents. Aside from that, I think he’s in better shape than he’s ever been.”
The birthday bunch
Blues singer Clarence Carter is 80. Singer Jack Jones is 78. Actress Faye Dunaway is 75. Actress Holland Taylor is 73. Actor Carl Weathers is 68. Actress Emily Watson is 49. Rapper LL Cool J is 48. Actor Jason Bateman is 47. Musician Dave Grohl is 47.