Royalty Gets Ready for Grace Foundation Gala

Co-chairs Barbara Grant and Della Koenig are making beaucoup progress on the Princess Grace Foundation-U.S.A. gala (Nov. 3 at the Beverly Wilshire) that will have Prince Rainier, Prince Albert and Princesses Caroline and Stephanie as its star attractions.

Earlier this week there was a progress report, proudly presented in the midst of a cocktail party (hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, Chuck Pick’s parking attendants, etc.) hosted by Hollywood Park’s Marjorie Everett at her home in Holmby Hills. The gala, it turns out, is now a weekend of social events, much as it was last year in Washington.

The special guests were foundation chairman Robert J. Hausman, who flew in from New York to announce the gala’s sponsors, and Pierre Cardin, the enterprising designer who has become a major benefactor. Cardin is not only donating a full week on his yacht, Maxim’s des Mers, which makes its maiden voyage around the Caribbean in December, but he also donated an additional $100,000 for the privilege of presenting his couture collection at the Beverly Hills Hotel on the afternoon of the gala. To show the collection, Cardin is bringing in the models who showed his collection in China at his Peking Maxim’s. “They’re spectacular,” said fashion doyenne Eleanor Lambert, who was at the cocktail party and hopes to return for the gala weekend of parties. “One of them is 6 feet tall.”

The benefit committee has already sold the week on Maxim’s des Mers to the Epicure Group for $120,000. Epicure runs spas in Europe and is opening its first hotel, The Grenville, in Los Angeles next month. An additional underwriter is the Erich and Della Koenig Foundation.

“It’s going to be great fun,” Mrs. Koenig predicted as the committee took Cardin to the Bistro Garden Pavilion for dinner. Besides the Cardin show they’re also planning a special dinner for patrons at the Regency Club the night before the gala. While their elders gather at the Regency Club, the junior committee, which is headed by Barbara Sinatra’s son Bobby and the Gregory Pecks’ daughter Cecilia, will be hosting a party for the younger set at the Hard Rock Cafe.

And as a prelude to both dinners, there’ll be a cocktail party at the Beverly Wilshire where both groups will mingle. The hostess is Princess Stephanie, who’s giving the party to thank Le Prairie, the Swiss skin-care line, for its contribution to her mother’s foundation. (Princess Stephanie, along with such social arbiters as Mrs. Gordon Getty, Mrs. Oscar Wyatt Jr. and Mrs. Dennis Stanfill, posed for Le Prairie ads. Their fees were donated to their favorite charities.)

For the gala itself, entertainment chairman Leslie Bricusse has lined up quite a cast--Johnny Carson as master of ceremonies and Liza Minnelli as the headliner.

It was Barbara Grant who spelled out the foundation’s goals for the cocktail crowd. In its second year, the foundation is dedicated to continuing Princess Grace’s patronage of the arts in the U.S. by granting scholarships to talented young actors, dancers, choreographers, playwrights and directors.

Listening attentively were Mrs. Grant’s husband, Cary, and Gloria and Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck (his wife, Veronique, had a cold), Gant Gaither (he’s a family friend of Monaco’s princely family), Tova Borgnine, Robin Plunket, Mrs. Milton Berle, Mrs. Vincente Minnelli, Kitty and Mervyn Le Roy, Luis Estevez, the Henry Bergers, Dr. Ivy Mooring, Gene Washburn, Jarma Bensinger, Bob Forward, Grace Robbins, Contessa Cohn and Parisian Jean Miguel, the man responsible for turning a private yacht into Maxim’s des Mers. The yacht was commissioned by Brazilian playboy Baby Pignateri as a wedding present for his wife, Princess Ira von Furstenberg, but by the time it was ready to sail the marriage had foundered. C’est la vie. The ship then lay in dry dock for 20 years until Jean Miguel persuaded Cardin to rescue it.

Bemvindo Cariocas! The Rainbow Guild has chosen Rio de Janeiro as its destination Sept. 21 when the support group for the Amie Karen Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center sets sail aboard the S. S. Rainbow (actually it’s the Beverly Hilton’s International Ballroom, but never mind) on a celebrity-packed cruise.

The ship (read ballroom) will be festooned with streamers and balloons, a la the Carnaval in Rio. Nell Carter, star of NBC’s “Gimme a Break!,” will entertain the passengers (read guests) and “Hotel’s” Connie Sellecca will be in the honored spot. Gary Owens will act as master of ceremonies. And Clark Keen’s orchestra will play sensuous sambas all night.

More seaworthy special guests: the “Hotel” cast, including Anne Baxter, Shari Belafonte-Harper, Heidi Bohay, James Brolin, Nathan Cook, Shea Farrell and Michael Spound. They’ll be joined by the crew of “The Love Boat” (they’re the bunch that will add the authentic touch), among them captain Gavin MacLeod, Ted Lange, Fred Grandy, Patricia Klous, Ted McGinley, Bernie Kopell and Jill Whelan. Also expected aboard are Kenny and Marianne Rogers, Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss, Fred MacMurray and June Haver, Rafer Johnson, Barry Bostwick, and Gary Collins and Mary Anne Mobley.

The evening’s captains (read co-chairs) are Erica Lowy and Bella Simon, who’ll be working on this sortie with Rainbow Guild President Jennifer Goddard. So as not to slight “Dynasty,” the committee (including Janice Wallace, Sherry Nussbaum and Karen Todman) has chosen John Forsythe as honorary chairman. All aboard.

New York’s social set is in a tizzy over society columnist Suzy’s move this past week from the Daily News to Rupert Murdoch’s Post. Rumors have it that Murdoch offered Suzy (a.k.a. Aileen Mehle) the Earth to make the switch. Suzy’s no dummy--she took it. There’s also talk that Murdoch, who is in the process of taking over the Metromedia television stations, has TV plans for the wild-maned Suzy.

Meanwhile, about 50 of Suzy’s socially top-rated chums are planning a big masked ball in her honor at the Plaza Hotel on Nov. 4. The evening, at $1,000 per person, will be a fund-raiser for the children’s division at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. That’s the way Suzy wants it.

The committee going all out on this one (Tiffany’s John Funt is doing the decor) includes Mrs. Henry Kissinger, Mrs. Deane Johnson, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan (yes, indeed, the new Mrs. Basil Embiricos is happily enceinte ), Mrs. Walter Annenberg of Philadelphia and Rancho Mirage, Mrs. Gordon Getty of San Francisco, Mrs. Alfred Bloomingdale of Bel-Air, Mrs. Sid Bass of Texas, Countess Chandon de Briailles, Mrs. William Randolph Hearst Jr., Mrs. Joshua Logan, Countess Rudi Crespi, Gloria Vanderbilt, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, Mrs. Harding Lawrence, Mrs. Nelson Rockefeller, Mrs. Albert Lasker, Baroness di Portanova, Mrs. Ronald Tree, Mrs. Thomas Kempner and Mrs. William F. Buckley. And we’re just skimming.

There’s a sweet thought behind this effort. Over the years Suzy has been there to help the ladies make their charities a success. And now, they agree, it’s about time that they said thank you in a meaningful way. Amen.

The Social Scramble: Don Bren, Tom Nielsen and the board of directors of the Irvine Co. are hosting their annual round-up and barbecue Monday at the Irvine Ranch. The hosts promise plenty of food, dancing and entertainment. Who could ask for anything more?

Michael Loshin, who’s a partner with his wife, Julie, in Parties Plus, pulled off the impossible the other night. He and the staff planned a surprise birthday party for Julie. And guess what? It was a surprise until Michael guided Julie past Rex il Ristorante (that’s where she thought she was dining with the family), up the elevator and on to the penthouse of the historic Oviatt building. That morning, Charles Compton called in sick. He spent the day at the Oviatt setting things up. Regal Rents moved in and set up the kitchen and David Yeh arranged the flowers. And when Julie and Michael arrived with their children, Shari and Hillary Rubin, Stephanie and Mark Loshin, and uncles David Levine and William Lee, the party was on. Among the guests were artist Keith Keiffer, the Carl Levins, and Mr. and Mrs. Michael Stern.