PETER PHILLIPS, son of the
Princess Royal, graduated from
Exeter University yesterday
watched by his mother, father,
sister and a girlfriend.
The Princess sat with Captain
Mark Phillips, from whom she
was divorced in 1992, as their
22-year-old son joined 500
other graduates to receive his
Bachelor of Science degree in
exercise and sports science after a three-year course at the
university's St Luke's College of Education.
The university declined to disclose the grade of Mr Phillips's
degree.
Mr Phillips's sister, Zara, 19, joined her parents in the
university's Great Hall.
She had been noticeably absent the previous day at the
thanksgiving service in St Paul's Cathedral for Queen
Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Palace sources said then that
she was on holiday in the Caribbean.
Watching the ceremony with the Princess Royal and her
family was Elizabeth Iorio, an American showjumper, who is
said to be a close friend of Mr Phillips.
Parents, sister and girlfriend all joined Mr Phillips after the
graduation ceremony for a private lunch in Papermakers, a
restaurant in Exeter.
The Princess was not accompanied by her present husband,
Commodore Tim Laurence.
~*~
Fergie: the adman's dream girl(Evening Standard)
by Alex Benady
The British public is slow to forgive and slower still to
forget. So it is probably true to say that most people in this
country still think of Sarah Ferguson as the "Duchess of
Pork" - the plump Freebie Fergie, who ran up an
overdraft of nearly £4 million.
It may come as a surprise,
then, to learn that in the United
States she has carved out a
very different reputation - as
the advertiser's friend.
For she is one of the hottest
marketing properties in
America, ranked alongside the
biggest Hollywood and sports
stars. To her clients -
WeightWatchers and
Wedgwood china - she is
worth far more than her weight
in gold.
"She is an articulate person,
greatly admired in America.
She has brought a whole new
wave of prosperity to both
WeightWatchers and
Wedgwood," says her mentor, billionaire businessman and
newspaper magnate Tony O'Reilly, who first recruited her
to front the Heinz-owned slimming operation in 1997.
She is paid an estimated $1 million a year by the diet
company, for which she performs three week-long tours,
addressing WeightWatchers meetings and appearing in
advertising.
Her results are quite awesome. WeightWatchers, for
instance, claims that attendance at its meetings has
increased by an astonishing 60 per cent since Fergie
became the brand spokeswoman. Given that the
company's last reported turnover was around $350 million
a year, that equates to an extra $120 million a year.
Nine months ago, O'Reilly sold off the slimming-classes
side of the WeightWatchers business for around $575
million. Of this, some analysts attributed nearly half, more
than $250 million, to the "Fergie effect". It makes her
wages look like slave-labour.
Hardly surprisingly, WeightWatchers can scarcely contain
its delight with Fergie the wonder work-horse. "We love
her, we are thrilled by what she has done for our
business," says Linda Corelli, vice-president of
communications for WeightWatchers in the US.
"We think of her in this country as an icon. She is much
more interesting than a film star, but despite her royal
background, there is no hint of snootiness. She is so
forthcoming and authentic, people adore her."
It is a similar story over at Wedgwood, also partly owned
by O'Reilly, which awarded Fergie a $1 million, two-year
contract as brand-spokeswoman 15 months ago.
The work is hardly top-end glamour stuff: it consists of a
string of in-store presentations in key American cities
"amplified" by interviews with local radio and TV stations.
According to Carey Cuddeback, vice-president of sales
and marketing for the china company, business has
increased by 35 per cent since Fergie became
spokeswoman - after five years of zero growth. At a
conservative estimate, that's another $20 million on the top
line. Again they praise her genuine charm, her polish and
industry.
"She is the perfect brand metaphor - beautiful, classic but
resilient. She's phenomenal with consumers and works
extremely hard, putting in 15-hour days, even when she is
ill," says Cuddeback.
Some of the Duchess's earlier commercial efforts have
received less glowing reviews. In 1997 she was paid a
reported £500,000 to appear in a TV commercial for
Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice. "Instead of tea, I serve
Ocean Spray," she told American viewers, before
throwing a bucket of ice out of a window onto a gang of
paparazzi below. "The taste gives me a real zing."
It was reported at the time that the commercial's director
insisted on 103 takes before being satisfied with her
performance. She has also worked for Kodak.
Last year Fergie turned down a £500,000 approach from
Volkswagen to star in ads in the UK, and she refuses to
allow her American work to be shown in this country.