THE corridors of Australia House in London are buzzing with gossip about the former PMJohn Howard and his rumoured induction this year into the Most Noble Order of the Garter, an English order of chivalry.
PS can reveal that following the death ofSir Edmund Hillary, a vacancy has become available in the order, with chatter from London suggesting it could be Howard who ends up with the gong. The Knights of the Garter are hand-picked by theQueen, who has sole responsibility and authority when it comes to who gets gonged.
"There is often speculation about the order but we cannot comment at this time," a Buckingham Palace spokesman told PS yesterday. "Recipients of the order, if there are any nominated this year, will not be revealed until St George's Day on April 23, with an induction ceremony held in June at Windsor Castle."
The Order of the Garter is the oldest order of knighthood in continuous existence and the pinnacle of the British honours system. There is a maximum of 24 knights at any one time, with the former governor-generalSir Ninian Stephen the only Australian on the list at present.
If Howard is selected he will join an exclusive club that includes the former British prime ministersBaroness Thatcher andSir John Major.Winston Churchill was also a member.
Howard would also get to wear the order's somewhat spectacular regalia, consisting of a blue garter, a gold-encrusted collar and velvet robes, topped off by a hat festooned with heron and ostrich feathers.
Gale is lassoed for film
AT THE bottom of modelMegan Gale's bras and knickers drawer is a pair of red, white and blue satin tights the glamazon is itching to get into. Not to mention hurling about the matching golden lasso.
Cast to play Wonder Woman inGeorge Miller's mega-budget blockbusterJustice League of America to be shot in Sydney this year, Gale told PS she was grateful for the US writers' strike, which had postponed production. "We were due to go into production in February, which freaked me out a bit … the strike has given me more time to prepare."
On Tuesday night Gale, 32, makes her last Sydney catwalk appearance for David Jones in front of 600 VIPs. Despite a few mixed emotions about taking her "last walk", Gale is firmly focused on Wonder Woman, with intensive sessions with acting coaches, a ruthless fitness regime that has increased her usual exercise workout ten-fold and trying to master a completely new accent: Hollywood Amazonian.
Gale added working with Miller was "such a privilege. I'm in awe of the man."
Bingle back to school for a spit and polish
BEHIND every great man is … an impeccably groomed lady with spotless manners, minding her Ps and Qs, who knows the difference between a steak knife and a Splade.
And in a few weeks timeLara Bingle will be one of them, having enrolled in an intensive grooming, etiquette and manners course with an expert in the area, Anna McPherson.
PS understands Bingle is being encouraged by her boyfriend, the Test cricketerMichael Clarke, to do the course, which has been specially created for WAGS (wives and girlfriends of sportsmen) by McPherson, the founder of the Good Manners school.
McPherson would not be drawn on Bingle's course when quizzed by PS.
However, while there will be no books being balanced on Bingle's famous head, her course is expected to include strict instruction on how to get out of a car without pulling off a "Britney", demystifying the black arts of deportment, correct make-up application, how to dress appropriately for events and how to behave at the myriad events she must attend on Clarke's arm.
As PS first revealed back in December (regurgitated in the Sunday papers last weekend), Clarke and Bingle have been eyeing off engagement rings together, which makes the timing for such a course perfect if she is planning a walk down the aisle any time soon.
As one insider confidently explained, "she just needs a bit of polishing".
Good Manners's boss, McPherson, is well known within the sports industry for teaching boofy athletes everything from how to correctly hold one's champagne glass (always by the stem, apparently) to engaging in witty cocktail party banter.
Model makes swimsuit splash in NY
SHE partied with the rest of Bondi's beautiful people, including the Aussie modelGemma Ward, at Icebergs on New Year's Day. Now the Sydney modelJessica Gomes is taking a chomp out of the Big Apple.
Next week the annualSports Illustrated "swimsuit issue" hits newsstands across the US, and in it Gomes will be pouting in a skimpy assortment of Lycra confections along with some of the world's hottest models, includingBar Rafaeli,Selita Ebanks andMarisa Miller.
When asked in New York this week if the other models were friendly to work with, Gomes's face froze, before she told reporters: "I think, sometimes, I'm too friendly, because I'm Australian," she said after a pause. "I think that may have been it."
Signed to the Sydney agency Priscillas, Gomes's stablemateAlice Burdeu, winner of last year'sAustralia's Next Top Model television show, is also making a splash in Manhattan, featuring on the catwalks of New York Fashion Week for theProenza Schouler show.
CATTLE CLASS
Good to see Channel Nine saving pennies where it can, withDavid Gyngell, the popular boss brought back to rescue the network, recently spotted on a Sydney to Melbourne flight sitting in … economy. And this was on the same day that theHerald revealed Nine had dropped from first to third position behind Seven and Ten in the critical advertising revenue market share figures.
While Gyngell has been busy with the ever changing talent pool at Nine followingRay Martin's decision to leave the network after 30 years, it is interesting to note the return ofChristine Spiteri as the network's US correspondent. Late last year Spiteri lodged a complaint to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission after alleging Nine sacked her for deciding to take maternity leave. She was informed her contract would not be renewed. Nine's news chief,John Westacott, allegedly told her: "With a surname like Spiteri you should try SBS."
A Nine spokeswoman told PS Spiteri was simply fulfilling her contract, which expires in April.
SEASON OF LOVE
It appearsDeborah Hutton, 46, really did enjoy some "summer loving" from solicitorNicholas Hogan, 35. However, the romance came to an end several weeks ago, which is in line with Hogan's comment to PS last week that the pair now have nothing more than a platonic relationship.
Sources say Hutton, who is in Shanghai with her mother, is looking "smoking hot" and while she remains friends with Hogan, is eager to get back to dating "Sydney's most eligible men … definitely men".
NATURE'S CALL OF DUTY
Witnesses reportCate Blanchett and her entourage got into a spot of bother in the women's toilet queue at the recent Screen Actors Guild Awards in Hollywood. A spy claimed: "Cate's people ushered her through saying, 'She's seven months' pregnant and needs to skip the line,' which makes sense, but this one woman started yelling: 'The pregnant woman can come through, but why do we have to let all of you skip the line?"' According to New York'sDaily News , one of the four women with Blanchett screamed back : "We have to go with her wherever she goes - which means the bathroom!". The disgruntled woman shot back: "That's ridiculous - she can pee on her own!"
UNTIMELY CASHING IN
It was only a matter of time but even PS is a little uneasy at the speed with which John Blake Publishing is planning to launch a biography on the lateHeath Ledger. Due to hit bookshelves on April 21, the book is titledHeath Ledger: His Beautiful Life and Mysterious Death and is written byJohn McShane.
The promotional material has no shame, claiming the book "looks at all facets of Ledger's life; from the A-List celebrity, the private family man and the mysterious circumstances surrounding his tragic death."
What next? A movie?
BAG LADIES
It is something of a tradition for socialites on Sydney's cocktail circuit to take home a "gift bag" from their hosts at the end of a night of air kissing and champagne guzzling. On Wednesday night, however, a swag of Sydney's keenest party girls gave a whole new meaning to the term "bag ladies" when they descended on the opening of the Coach boutique in the QVB. It was amusing to see the likes of the modelMichelle Walsh, Foxtel's most fabulous fembot,Sophie Falkiner, and the television starsToni Pearen andNatalie Bassingthwaighte (she managed to get two) squealing with delight as they compared their gift-handbag hauls outside the store under the somewhat anxious gaze of their hosts.