A Royal Troublemaker Says She’s Learned Her Lesson

Fergie says she was a royal pain as a child. The Duchess of York didn’t take issue with an old school report that described her as “slapdash, stubborn and headstrong.” “I always tried to do things and not get caught,” the former Sarah Ferguson said. “I put dye in the lavatory cistern and put glue on the teacher’s chair because it was maths, and I didn’t like maths.” But the wife of Britain’s Prince Andrew said that “when I finished up at school, I did work quite hard and I was becoming more responsible by the minute.” Childhood troublemaking may not run in the family. The duchess said her 1-year-old daughter, Princess Beatrice, is a “placid, happy little girl.”

--Medical researchers in Britain are angry that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has canceled government plans for the country’s biggest sex survey because she believes that it would violate privacy. The $1.2-million survey would have asked 20,000 adults explicit questions about their sex lives. Kaye Wellings, a health researcher, complained: “This is not a survey motivated by prurient curiosity into people’s private lives.” Researchers believe that the project would have provided valuable information for the fight against AIDS.

--If your name were going down in history, you’d want it to be legible. Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh has replaced his official signature, affixed mechanically to thousands of documents he doesn’t have time to sign. The abandoned signature was described as an “E” and two squiggles plus a “B” and two loops. Bayh said that a penmanship teacher had told him he should sign his name more carefully, and that a high school student he once gave an autograph said: “Come on, what’s that?” The new official signature contains all eight letters of the governor’s name.

--As the New York Democratic primary nears, singer Paul Simon added his voice to the supporters of City Council President David N. Dinkins, saying: “It’s time for a change” after three terms served by Mayor Edward I. Koch. Dinkins responded: “With his help--and the aid of all New Yorkers--we will build bridges over the troubled waters of this great but pained city.” Meanwhile, a new Daily News/WABC-TV poll showed Dinkins leading Koch 51% to 44%.