OCers were among the VIPs who met with royal couple Prince William and Kate during their visit to L.A., including Allergan CEO and British Empire Commander David Pyott and Anglophile and co-chair of the House U.S.-U.K. caucus John Campbell. “We did not wear our kilts, although we did talk about them,” Campbell said. They and their spouses were hosted by British consul-general Dame Barbara Hay; same for Blizzard Entertainment chief Mike Morhaime and UCI Chancellor Michael Drake …
The auto industry is abuzz with news that Leonardo DiCaprio will get the first production Fisker Karma later this month. The actor heads a list of 3,000 buyers for the much-anticipated hybrid that also includes former vice president Al Gore and Gen. Colin Powell, according to Irvine-based Fisker Automotive founder and CEO Henrik Fisker. Base price for the luxury sports sedan is $95,900 …
Well-traveled Def Leppard guitarist-vocalist Phil Collen, a Laguna Hills resident for 20 years, told PBS SoCal’s Ann Pulice that OC is “my favorite place in the world.” But the topless troubadour is gone much of the time, still touring and recording. Def Leppard recently released its first live album, “Mirrorball,” while Manraze, Collen’s alt-rock collaboration with the Sex Pistols’ Paul Cook and Girl’s Simon Laffy, is putting out a CD, “Punkfunkrootsrock” …
New Miss California, Carlsbad’s Noelle Freeman, has OC ties. She’s a Chapman U grad and former Lincoln Club intern. She’ll compete in the Miss America pageant next January, and she’s slated for “Inside OC” this week …
The OC Forum’s Tuesday lunch with local Congressmen has been canceled. Something about budget business back in Washington …
Baseball great Harmon Killebrew hit a home run off the field, too, as matchmaker in OC billionaire George Argyros’ 1981 purchase of the Seattle Mariners. Here’s the story, recounted by the Seattle Times’ Larry Stone after Killebrew’s recent death and fleshed out for the Insider by Argyros: Golf buddies Argyros and Killebrew were paired in a Sun Valley, Idaho, tournament. The retired “Killer” told Argyros the Mariners’ ownership, led by entertainer Danny Kaye, wanted to sell the team and pitched him on buying it. When the deal closed, Kaye’s group paid Killebrew a 1% finder’s fee of $125,000—$10,000 more, the Insider notes, than he ever earned in a season of ball …
EE RR emcees the City of Hope’s Spirit of Life Gala honoring public affairs super-consultant Gary Hunt (California Strategies) Sept. 17 at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel. Former Hewlett-Packard boss (and GOP Senate candidate) Carly Fiorina, a cancer survivor, is the featured speaker. More info at www.cityofhope.org/cia.
