Welcome to The Group Chat with Lucy Manly, where Australia’s most trusted society insider shares the hottest gossip BEFORE it makes the news.
Party princess’ white Christmas
The arrival of Norway’s so-called ‘party princess’, Ingrid Alexandra, at the University of Sydney has certainly added a royal twist to college life.
Pap photos show the 21-year-old gamely embracing student rituals at a Christmas-themed boat party earlier this week as she embarks on a three-year Bachelor of Arts.
While Ingrid is reportedly committed to her studies, word is there’s a running joke on campus that her arts degree is really a ‘husband-finding course’.
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While Norway’s Princess Ingrid Alexandra (centre) is reportedly committed to her studies, there’s a running joke on campus that her arts degree is really a ‘husband-finding course’
Fellow St Andrew’s College students have quietly taken to running interference. Locally dubbed Ingrid’s ‘paparazzi posse’, they are intent on shielding her from the global media
If that’s her ulterior motive, I wish her luck. Sadly, it didn’t work out that way for me.
Having a real-life royal as a university peer is, unsurprisingly, somewhat distracting, if not entirely unwelcome.
I’m told her fellow St Andrew’s College students have quietly taken to running interference. Locally dubbed Ingrid’s ‘paparazzi posse’, they are intent on shielding her from the global media after news broke that she was frequenting Newtown – one of Sydney’s last true party districts after the lockout laws kneecapped Kings Cross.
In their most brazen – and impressive – act to date, a gaggle of sympathetic students surrounded a paparazzo’s car after he was seen tailing the young royal.
Their efforts weren’t entirely successful: not long after, photos emerged of Ingrid returning from a local pub with her name tag on display – hardly a covert operation.
Later, police were called to the Holey Moley mini-golf-themed bar in Darlinghurst, after a well-known paparazzo reportedly followed her Uber.
I do not suggest the photographer did anything illegal.
It wasn’t the first time police had been called to protect Her Royal Highness from pesky Sydney snappers, with both the university and St Andrew’s College requesting assistance to deal with the media interest.
Her Royal Highness and her college mates were whisked to the Marlborough Hotel (pictured)
Now, despite expectations that Ingrid would blend in like any other international student, glimpses of – dare I say – royal treatment are starting to emerge.
On Monday, two white BMWs – the same model used by the Governor-General’s office and strikingly similar to those favoured by King Frederik and Queen Mary on official visits – were dispatched to collect the petite princess after a five-hour boat party on Sydney Harbour.
Dubbed ‘Winter in July’, the party saw Ingrid snapped in attire more suited to the Arctic than a bright Australian winter’s day. Later, she and her college mates were whisked to the Marlborough Hotel – better known as the Marly – where the Norwegian royal was spotted generously buying rounds for her new friends at the bar.
From there, the revelry moved to the Coopers Hotel, with students leaving at closing time looking rather worse for wear. It’s unclear whether Ingrid was still part of the fray or if she’d called it a night earlier.
This crash course in campus social life is all part of O Week, the rite of passage designed to forge bonds before the hard work begins.
Harper’s bizarre
Every time a new issue of Harper’s BAZAAR hits the shelves, my phone starts blowing up like clockwork – and I’m here for it.
Since the title went in its much-hyped ‘bold new direction’ under the Switzer family, disgruntled insiders love nothing more than dissecting every page, looking for the latest clanger.
They never have to look far.
This month’s cover story, a glossy 19-page spread on homegrown star Isla Fisher, has raised eyebrows not for what was written, but for what wasn’t.
Fashion media bitches are chortling over another clanger from the ‘bold, new’ Harper’s BAZAAR. The latest stuff-up? Putting actress Isla Fisher on the cover and failing to get a proper line about her divorce from Sacha Baron Cohen
Maureen Jordan runs a financial and publishing business with her husband Peter Switzer and son Alex. She holds the lofty title of publisher of Harper’s Bazaar Australia
Fresh from finalising her divorce from ex-husband Sacha Baron Cohen, Fisher gave what BAZAAR billed as an ‘exclusive’ interview. Yet the high-profile split barely rated a mention and was buried in the fourth paragraph.
‘Another weak story from Harper’s,’ sniffed one fashion insider. ‘They scored an exclusive with Isla and then buried the lede.’
‘They could have led with it – but then it wouldn’t be BAZAAR under Switzer, would it?’ echoed another.
Fisher’s photo shoot is also copping flak – not for being too risqué, but for looking ‘more LinkedIn than high-fashion editorial’, in the words of one media gossip.
The images are ‘corporate, not couture… a pale shadow of the high-fashion dreamscapes that once cemented BAZAAR’s reputation’.
Switzer, best known for its finance business, took over the Australian rights to Harper’s BAZAAR in 2021. Maureen Jordan and husband Peter Switzer now helm the brand, with their son Alex heading up the publishing side.
‘They’re not journalists or editors – they’re accountants,’ a former staffer once said.
And if reaction to the August issue is any indication, the fashion crowd still isn’t buying the Switzers’ vision for BAZAAR.
Socialites head west
Eastern suburbs types tend to break out in hives if they go beyond Edgecliff Station.
Still, slowly but surely, word is getting around that the gentrified inner west is a safe space for those who consider Totti’s to be a ‘cheap eat’.
Case in point – the newest socialite hotspot: Harriet’s Bar at the Montague Hotel. Or The Monty, if you’re in the know.
Mitchell and Harriet Waugh, the brains behind Woollahra’s Bistro Moncur and Paddington’s Royal Hotel, have opened a new hotspot… in Marrickville
Long-suffering Vaucluse renovators Terry Biviano and Anthony ‘The Count’ Minichiello attended the launch
It’s the brainchild of publican power couple Mitchell and Harriet Waugh, the duo behind Woollahra’s Bistro Moncur and Paddington’s Royal Hotel. Their latest frontier? Marrickville – our PM’s stomping ground.
Last Sunday’s raucous soft-launch drew a glossy guest list, including ‘It’ girls Deborah Symond O’Neil and Poppy Tzaneros, charity stalwart Maree Andrews, and long-suffering Vaucluse renovators Terry Biviano and Anthony Minichiello.
If Instagram is to be believed, the night delivered live music, endless cocktails, and tabletop dancing.
‘It’s nice to support friends,’ shrugged one social doyenne, cocktail in hand. ‘But schlepping to Marrickville? Definitely one and done.’
