By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts
Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Bigger than Queen Elizabeth II! Bigger than Brangelina! It's been 28 years since a pope visited Washington, so celeb spotters are already scouting tickets and primo corners to see Pope Benedict XVI next spring. Will he hang out at the Ritz and Cafe Milano like the other A-listers? The early scoop on Papa Ratzi's (his affectionate nickname among Italians) three-day trip:

• There's no Air Pope One -- the Holy Father arrives April 15 on a commercial jet owned by Italy's Alitalia and lent to the pope for the trip. And yes, he's bringing the Popemobile.

• He'll stay at the Apostolic Nunciature -- the residence of Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Vatican's ambassador to the United States -- on Massachusetts Avenue NW, just across the street from Dick Cheney's house at the Naval Observatory.

• Tune up the pianos -- the pope likes to practice 10 minutes a day on the ivories.

• He celebrates his 81st birthday on April 16, the same day he drops by the White House for a chat with the president and Laura Bush. (Perfect present for a pope? Pssst -- he adores cats and has an extensive collection of porcelain kitty plates.)

• Favorite drink? Fanta orange soda.

• Fashion plate! The papal loafers are red leather, sunglasses Serengeti (same as Val Kilmer's) and his iPod Nano filled with Vatican Radio programming.

• First-ever trip to Washington, and first U.S. visit since becoming pope. Way cool if he brings his crew to Ben's Chili Bowl.

• Paris Hilton defending drunken elephants? Too good to be true. Yesterday's wires blazed with reports that the hotel heiress was speaking up for rampaging Indian elephants. Part of the story is real: Last month, six wild elephants drank rice beer in a rural village, went berserk and electrocuted themselves. But Hilton? Not true -- last night her rep told the Associated Press she never said anything about the partying pachyderms.

• Boy George was charged with false imprisonment yesterday in London, according to British police. The pop singer, whose real name is George O'Dowd, is alleged to have chained a 28-year-old Norwegian man to the wall of his London home in April.

Sellers: Duncan and Adelaide Whitaker

Final listing price: $3,995,000

Details: After a year on the market -- and a $750K price drop -- the eight-bedroom house where Richard Nixon and family spent part of his vice presidency ('57 to '61) is finally under contract to "a lovely young family," according to agent Meg Crowlie. The 9,000-square-foot Tudor-style mansion in Wesley Heights was built for large-scale entertaining, with sprawling living and dining rooms and butler's pantry. Back in the day, the Nixons picked it up for a mere $75,000.

You've probably found yourself thinking at some point, "My 500 cable channels just aren't providing me with enough political talk shows." Well, fear not: Veteran TV producer Tammy Haddad is taking her act to the Internet. Haddad -- the woman behind marquee yakfests like "Larry King Live" and "Hardball With Chris Matthews" and a fixture on D.C. power-broker rankings -- announced yesterday she's leaving MSNBC to start her own venture, Haddad Media.

First up: beefing up National Journal's broadcast and online partnerships, and a project with The Post's corporate cousin Newsweek, which she told us will develop "political video on demand" for junkies who otherwise must wait slavishly by the tube for, you know, Morton Kondracke. "It's going to change this election." Will she miss the rush of cable news? "All the 24-7 action of TV is coming to the Web," Haddad said. "It's going to be exactly the same as being in TV."