A Royal Book Party, Minus Its Subject: The Saudi Prince
Thursday, October 19, 2006; Page C03
The invitation was gold-embossed, the setting the magnificent Great Hall at the Library of Congress, and the hors d'oeuvres and wine flowed freely. Celebrity publisher Judith Regan made a rare appearance in Washington to flack her new tome ("It's better than any James Bond novel"). And Nelson Mandela sent accolades.
Quite an unusual rollout for a first-time author, William Simpson , who decided five years ago he could write a book about this guy he went to school with. Still, Tuesday's book party for "The Prince: The Secret Story of the World's Most Intriguing Royal, Prince Bandar bin Sultan " lacked a certain something -- namely, the charismatic title character.
  "Prince" author William Simpson and Roberta Flack. (Daniel Cima) |
Bandar is best known as the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, a position he held from 1983 to 2005. Other books have questioned the Saudi envoy's extraordinary influence on U.S. foreign policy and friendship with the Bush family. This one portrays him as a charming and pragmatic diplomat; Margaret Thatcher and Mandela both wrote forewords.
"They call him Bandar Bush," noted Simpson. Bandar didn't formally contribute to the unauthorized bio, but cooperated with Simpson, a classmate at England's Royal Air Force College in the '60s. "I simply had to use his name and doors would fly open," said Simpson, who interviewed George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, James Baker, Henry Kissinger and Colin Powell , among others. The reach of the man and the petrodollar oligarchy he represented is outlined in the book: Bandar advised Nancy Reagan on Cabinet appointments, hid defense contracts from Congress, secretly bought Chinese missiles, got the Soviets to withdraw from Afghanistan, brokered deals in the Gulf War.
Bandar, now the Saudi government's point man on the war on terror, was, alas, a no-show at the party. Unfortunately, most of his famous friends missed it as well, except for singer Roberta Flack, whom he often hired to perform. She's quoted in the book saying, "He is a hot number -- very sensual, very sexy. He can't help it; he was born a hunk." (What? You expected anything unflattering?)
State of Disagreement, the Readers' Version
Boy, did our Style colleagues ever step into it yesterday with their attempt to humorously compare Northern Virginia with the Rest of Virginia. (Sample: "In RoVa, they like freshly killed venison. In NoVa, they like Alfred, Lord Tennyson.") RoVa readers bombarded our Web site with rage and indignation -- and some sharp comebacks wittier than the original item:
· "I can't believe the editors of this paper would allow a bashing, hateful, article to be written. The staff, which in NoVA means the working group and in RoVA means a big wuppin stick, should be fired, or wupped . . . You ignorant bunch of holier than thou attitude yahoos, btw I don't mean the web page. Stick that in your Starbucks and drink it."
· "In NoVa they have MS13, in RoVa they have Aunt Emmas apple pie. In NoVa they have the beltway, in the RoVa they have a good day. In NoVa they have the WaPo, in the RoVa they love America. In NoVa you need a nanny, in RoVa you just need love."
· "Just about what I would expect from people willing to sit in traffic for hours every day to drive 10 miles to and from work."
Only a few suburbanites objected ("the stereotyping of NoVa residents as snobs, elitists, quiche eaters, girly men"). And only one enjoyed the list enough to add to it: "In NoVA lox is a tasty treat, in RoVA it's what they put on their campers."
HEY, ISN'T THAT . . . ?
· Chief Justice John Roberts and extended family picking up pumpkins at a fall festival at Butler's Orchard in Germantown Saturday. The jurist wore a baseball cap from Pepperdine (Trivia: Who teaches law there? Right. Ken Starr ). The playful toddler by his side in the sandwich line (who kept doing the accidental are-you-my-mom grab of strangers' pant legs) was his little nephew Timmy , though, not his live-wire son Jack .
LOVE, ETC.
· Leaking: Heather Mills is "shocked" that those nasty allegations about soon-to-be-ex Sir Paul McCartney got out, but detailed extracts from her divorce deposition printed in yesterday's Daily Mail contend the ex-Beatle was abusive during their four-year marriage. Her lawyer called the documents "highly confidential" and would not confirm their authenticity; his said the musician will "vigorously" defend himself in court.
