Canceled: The annual Alfalfa dinner scheduled for...

Canceled: The annual Alfalfa dinner scheduled for last Saturday night in Washington, D.C., wasn’t the only social event recently canceled, presumably because of the Gulf War. Several wives of the famous who can’t go to the annual stag dinner have put off their own get-together planned for the same evening. Among the who’s who expected were Marilyn Quayle, Lynne Cheney, B. A. Bentsen, Heather Foley, Sharon Rockefeller and Lynda Robb.

War Nerves: A camper that was modified to look like a tank set off a security alert Wednesday after it was parked outside the Vatican. But comedy troupe director Thomas Welte told police that their vehicle--used as a TV prop--was there because the spot was the only place he could find in the city to park.

Heavy Laughter: The next novel from Norman Mailer will come with wheels attached. Last month he delivered to Random House a 2,700-page manuscript, which will translate into about 1,400 pages in late-summer book. “Harlot’s Ghost” is a comic look at the CIA in the years from 1950 to 1963. Rolling Stone will print excerpts and foreign rights already have been sold in 20 countries.

Charity Scene: A book of 70 watercolor landscapes by Prince Charles is to be published this fall, and any profits will go to charity, the publishers said Thursday in London. A spokeswoman for Little, Brown and Co. UK Ltd. said the Prince of Wales will write the text. Boston-based Little Brown and Co. will publish the work in the United States.