People in the News for June 26, 1997

Thursday, June 26, 1997 | 11:48 a.m.

Dress for excess, baby! That's our motto here at People in the News, so when Princess Diana's dresses went up for auction in New York Wednesday, naturally we were there, ready to put the office doughnut fund to a better use. Alas, the piece we wanted -- a midnight-blue velvet number Di wore for a dance with John Travolta at the Reagan White House -- was the night's big draw, selling for a whopping $222,500. Our doughnut fund: $222,499! Another crushing disappointment. The auction was a success, however; 79 of Diana's rags rang up $3.2 million in riches for several AIDS and cancer charities. "We are thrilled with the results. It was more than we expected to raise," said auction honcho Charles Hindlip. Some highlights: A one-sleeved, floor-length silk dress embroidered with glass beads and crystals, which went for $75,100; the sexy black dress Diana wore after Prince Charles admitted his infidelities -- known as the "Up Yours" dress -- sold for $74,000. Diana's most famous gown -- her wedding dress -- remained in the closet. Meanwhile, the London Mirror reports this shocking breach of auction etiquette: Hindlip "placed his hand on Princess Diana's bottom." Cheeky! "My role was like a rugby forward trying to make space through a scrum of people," he explained. "I was trying to protect her." You know, a little rear-guard action.

Speed limit

Perhaps, as "60 Minutes" man Morley Safer drove speedily through Cornwall, N.Y., that fateful day in April, he was thinking of himself as a rugby forward making space through a scrum of slower vehicles. Police, however, thought of him as just another grumpy TV journalist doing 87 in a 65 mph zone, and ticketed him thusly. When it came time to mail in his fine, Safer must have slipped into his "Up Yours" dress: At the top of the fine-payment form, just before the town court's name, he scrawled "The idiots at ..." It seems he disagreed with the ticket. The Cornwall justice is mulling contempt charges.

Temper, temper

Raquel Welch has apparently been fitted for an Up Yours dress. The curvy actress debuts tonight as Julie Andrews' replacement in Broadway's "Victor/ Victoria," but it's reportedly a less than smooth transition. Welch is doing a high diva routine, throwing tantrums and makeup supplies. Like an angry Morley Safer, she heaved a mirror across her dressing room, cutting a hairdresser's hand. "She got upset," Welch's publicist explained helpfully. Peeved by a new costume, she used a large pair of shears to whack it in half. Unhappy at seeing an understudy in a chorus line, she stopped a rehearsal. It was enough to make one nostalgic for Liza Minnelli, who subbed for Andrews a few months ago -- she only feuded with co-star Tony Roberts. As Welch left the stage after a recent rehearsal, a whispered chant went up among the cast: "We want Liza! We want Liza!" A more pressing question: How much for that sheared costume? We still have a doughnut fund to blow, after all.

Compiled by Scott Dickensheets