PRINCE ED BLOWS IN

Blimey!

Britain’s Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, hit town this weekend flying the flag of his mum, Queen Elizabeth–who is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee, 60 years on the throne.

Prince Edward, the youngest of the Queen’s four children, is the uncle-in-law of Kate Middleton, who married the heir to the British throne, Prince William – who will soon celebrate their first wedding anniversary.

∞Blarney! A party to introduce the Prince to notable Chicagoans included Top Cop Garry McCarthy and Ald. Ed Burke, another Irish American – who noted:

“The Prince is too young to remember when his aunt, Princess Margaret, ruffled the fathers of the Chicago Irish by referring to the Irish as ‘pigs,’ ” (following the death of her uncle, Lord Mountbatten, who was killed IRA), Burke said.

Prince Edward is the only one of the Queen’s children never to give her a minute’s anguish, contrary to princes Charles and Andrew and Princess Anne.

∞The upshot: “It created such a stir, former Mayor Jane Byrne, who had attended the party when the incendiary remark was made, tried to calm the Irish masses by stating Princess Margaret “liked Irish jigs.”

∞The backshot: As Mayor Byrne’s press secretary, Sneed remembers only so well watching Jane take the bullet out of Margaret’s gun.

A Newt Note…

$$$$$ GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, who claims he is officially exiting the race next week, is costing the taxpayers money.

∞To wit: Gingrich has a Secret Service detail protecting him – and will do so until he formally steps down. If the federal protection costs $40,000 plus a day – he could have saved taxpayers nearly $250,000. Never mind.

Mais Oui!

Sipping expensive French wine at Kiki’s Bistro with writer/painter Tom O’Gorman: Count Francois Xavier Saint-Exupery, the nephew of famous writer/legendary French aviator, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author of “The Little Prince.” Now how often does something like that happen in Chicago?

Pigskin pulaver….

Bearing it all: So what did Boise State defensive end Shea McClellin, a farm boy, have to say to the press after the Chicago Bears signed him up in Thursday’s First round of the NFL draft? He may be from the country, “but I’m really a city boy. I like cities.”

There ya go.

Quippin’ with Pippen…

The red zone: Legendary Bulls basketballer Scottie Pippen ran into Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez breakfasting at Wishbone eatery Friday – and saw red.

∞Translation: Alvarez, a huge sports fan, who was wearing her favorite red suit, turned into a Pippen tweet accompanid by a photo of the duo–to plug the Chicago Bulls “See Red” campaign, which encourages fans to support the team by wearing red at all home playoff games.

∞ “She’s got her RED on!,” Pippen tweeted.

∞“I’m just glad I pulled the red suit out of the closet this morning,” said Alvarez.

KimKan Flim Flam?

Kim Kardashian’s former husband-for-a-moment, Kris Humphries, who intends for his divorce action to expose his wife’s real vs. reel lifestyle, not only wants to know if singer Kanye West was the third person in their relationship – but what happened to a $325,000 wedding gift given to them by a wealthy Malaysian businessman who attended their wedding.

∞Translation: He doesn’t believe Kim factored it in her the charitable donation she made for the amount of their wedding gifts, acoording to Radar Online.

The McCann Case….

Leaving nothing to chance: The disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine McCann, whose kidnapping in 2007 drew headlines around the world resulting in an unfair initial focus on her parents – not only resulted in news of a recent British/Portuguese inquiry into her whereabouts – but now comes word Madeleine’s parents, who have never given up their search for their daughter, even had a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI – who blessed her photograph.

Chest Fest….

$$$$$President Barack Obama has held approximately one fund-raiser every three days since he began his re-election campaign last April!

∞The Stats: Obama has held 124 fundraisers; more than twice as many re-election fund-raising events than President George W. Bush did in his entire 2004 re-election campaign (57), according to Mark Knoller of CBS News, unofficial keeper of presidential statistics.

Abbey Blab….

Aunt Blabby here: Now comes word via the secret snitch in Downton Abbey, the location of the hit Brit PBS series that unhappy sister, Lady Edith Crawley – who had been a very bad girl until she became a good girl helping injured WW1 soldiers – is getting married in the upcoming third series. Put that in your English tea and drink it.

The Eraser Set….

There was an elephant in the room, but it wasn’t the one pinioned in the middle of the main floor of the Field Museum Thursday night.

∞Translation: It was the literacy problem of many Chicago children. And the battle to end it was given high praise by Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard to the “By The Hand Club’s Literacy Campaign” aimed at putting books in the hands of all Chicago school kids.

Sneedlings….

The Birthday book: Saturday birthdays: Ann-Margret, 71; Jay Leno, 62; Penelope Cruz, 38; Jessica Alba, 31; Les Coney, ageless. …Sunday birthdays: Jonathan Toews, 24; Andre Agassi, 42; Carnie Wilson, 44; Jerry Seinfeld, 58; Kate Mulgrew, 57; Daniel Day-Lewis, 55; Michelle Pfeiffer, 54; Uma Thurman, 42. … MONDAY birthdays: Chet Coppock, ageless; Jerry Mickelson, 61; Burt Young, 72; Ann Kavanaugh, priceless; Willie Nelson, 79; Gary Collins, 74; Perry King, 64.