"We thought wedding would never happen": Harry

LONDON (Reuters Life!) – Britain's Prince Harry revealed on Thursday his family thought his elder brother William would never take the plunge and marry Kate Middleton.

He also said they would be thinking of their mother, the late Princess Diana, on the big day, April 29.

"We all thought that it was never going to happen for him. But it has happened, and I think everyone's going to be very proud of him," he told reporters.

"I think he's done the right thing. He's waited, and he's done it when he feels right, and it's a huge step."

William first met his future bride in 2001 while they were students at St Andrew's university in Scotland. Speculation about whether he would pop the question went on so long she eventually became known by the tabloid press as "waity Katy," before William finally proposed during a holiday in Kenya last November.

Harry, who is third in line to the throne, said he was looking forward to welcoming Kate into the royal family.

"She's a fantastic girl. She really is," he said.

He joked: "I'm really looking forward to getting her under my wing -- or she'll be taking me under her wing probably."

Harry spoke about the wedding as he prepared for a challenging trek in the Arctic with a group of wounded servicemen who are hoping to reach the North Pole.

Turning his attention to Diana he ventured: "Myself, my brother and my father, there will be all sorts of people and the rest of the family that will be no doubt be thinking about it."

He added: "And I hope she would be very, very proud that the big day has come upon him."

Harry, who is best man, admitted that, with only a month to go, he has still to write the speech he is due to give with two of William's close friends.

"The speech will be like any normal best man's speech. Between the three of us we will make sure people know the good times and the bad times that he's had since he was a nipper," he said.

Harry said his speech will take "the mickey out of him," but will inevitably have to be toned down for the occasion.

"I will tell a few stories, but I think my grandmother (Queen Elizabeth) will be there, so I'll have to be selective."

In a separate interview he gave to BBC television from the Arctic he quipped: "We are going to make sure we dig him in the ribs a few times and embarrass him -- make him lose some hair."

Kate Middleton holds secret hen party

LONDON (AFP) – Kate Middleton has held her hen party celebrating her last weeks as a single woman before marrying Britain's Prince William, St James's Palace said Tuesday.

The news comes exactly a month before the couple tie the knot at London's Westminster Abbey and the day after palace officials confirmed William, second in line to the throne, had held his stag night in private.

It is thought Middleton's sister Pippa, her maid of honour, organised the hen night, held earlier in March. Newspaper reports said it was understood to have taken place at the home of a friend.

A spokesman for St James's Palace, which handles William's affairs, confirmed the party had been held but would not discuss any details of the event, saying it was a "private" affair.

Middleton is not known to be a big drinker and the move to hold her hen night away from public venues reflects her status as someone about to become a key member of the royal family.

Guests were likely to have included old school and university friends, as well as other close pals.

William similarly gave the press the slip by holding his stag night in private.

He reportedly marked the end of his life as a single man with a low-key party at a rural retreat at the weekend after plans for a watersports day were reportedly ditched.

"It has taken place. We are not saying when, or where," a spokeswoman for the prince told AFP.

When William announced that his younger brother Prince Harry would be his best man and therefore organise the stag, commentators suggested he gear himself up for a boozy night at some of Harry's favourite London hotspots.

But wary of a potential media frenzy, William held a low-key party with about 20 of his closest friends at a country estate outside London, according to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

William outfoxes press with secret bachelor bash

LONDON — Score that Prince William 1, the British tabloid press zilch.

Far from the cameras of the U.K.'s voracious press, the prince bid his single life goodbye in a bachelor party reportedly held in eastern England over the weekend.

Palace officials confirmed Monday only that the stag party — reportedly thrown by his brother and best man, Prince Harry — had taken place.

"It has happened," a spokeswoman said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with palace policy. "We are not giving any details."

Those details have been the subject of intense speculation since William announced his engagement to 29-year-old Kate Middleton in November. The pair will wed April 29 at London's Westminster Abbey.

Would the party be held in Scotland or South Africa? Would there be good old-fashioned British boozing? And would Harry, William's sometimes wayward younger brother, organize some spectacularly off-color prank?

The world may never know. The Daily Telegraph, which broke the news, said the prince and about 20 friends attended a weekend party thrown by Harry, possibly at an estate in Norfolk owned by the father of one of the guests.

The paper said the guests had been sworn to silence, quoting Thomas van Straubenzee, one of the likely partygoers, as saying: "I'm very sorry but I have got to keep it a secret. I hope you understand."

The party — thrown just before Harry was due to leave for a fundraising expedition to the Arctic — will have disappointed the paparazzi. The princes' social lives have filled hundreds of pages of tabloid print and British media in particular have made a mint off of Harry's penchant for partying.

A 2008 royal bachelor bash thrown in honor of Peter Phillips, William's cousin, was tabloid gold dust, yielding tales of drunken escapades across England's Isle of Wight and even — it is alleged — a grainy picture of an exposed royal posterior.

The British media has also speculated often about Middleton's bachelorette party plans, with one tabloid reporting that her sister Pippa will be throwing a "Dirty Dancing"-themed hen party bash at the family home in the wealthy English village of Bucklebury.

While the world's media may have missed out on William's stag do, innumerable other festivities — from pub promotions to house parties — are planned to coincide with the royal wedding itself. Even Prime Minister David Cameron is getting in on the act.

City officials said his office has asked for permission to host an open-air party in Downing Street, where he lives.

William and Kate decide two cakes better than one

LONDON (AFP) – For their wedding next month Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton announced Sunday that they aren't just having their cake and eating it -- they're having two.

The couple said they had decided on a "multi-tiered traditional fruit cake" with a floral design, followed by a chocolate biscuit cake that was one of William's childhood favourites.

The main cake, which will take centre stage at the Buckingham Palace reception on April 29, will be made by celebrity cakemaker Fiona Cairns who counts former Beatle Paul McCartney and rockers Pink Floyd among her clients.

Cairns said Middleton, 29, had played a key role in designing the cake.

"She has guided us right from the beginning and has quite strong ideas," said Cairns, who started her business at her kitchen table a quarter of a century ago in Leicestershire, central England.

"That makes it much easier than a bride who has absolutely no idea whatsoever, which has happened in the past. But she knew very much what she wanted and she brought us mood boards and told us what influences she would like us to use on the cake."

The cake will be decorated using cream and white icing with a "strong British floral theme" employing the Joseph Lambeth technique, a traditional English style that uses three-dimensional scrollwork.

It will contain dried fruits such as raisins and sultanas to walnuts, cherries, grated oranges and lemon, French brandy and free range eggs and flour.

The decorations will also feature William and Kate's new cipher, thought to feature the couple's entwined initials, which will be officially released on their wedding day.

But the second, less formal cake will have a special resonance for William -- as well as appealing to chocoholics and those who find traditional wedding cake a little heavy.

The prince asked British biscuit maker McVitie's to create it according to a special recipe from the kitchens at Buckingham Palace.

"When Prince William was a young boy he would have it for tea and really enjoyed it," said Paul Courtney, the firm's cake design and development head chef.

"It has a couple of secret ingredients we can't tell you about but it will have dark chocolate, to give it a really nice flavour, and use rich tea biscuits that will be broken up."

McVitie's have made wedding cakes for the royals for decades, including for the diamond wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in 2007.

William -- the son of heir to the throne Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana -- will marry Kate in London's historic Westminster Abbey. Key details, including the designer of her dress, are yet to be revealed.

James Dean was molested at young age: Liz Taylor

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – "Rebel Without a Cause" screen legend James Dean was molested by his childhood minister, according to an interview with Elizabeth Taylor published Friday.

Hollywood icon Taylor, who died this week aged 79, revealed Dean's secret in an interview given 14 years ago, but requested that it not be published until after her death.

"I loved Jimmy. I'm going to tell you something, but it's off the record until I die. OK?" best-selling author Kevin Sessums quoted Taylor as saying, in the interview published by the Daily Beast online.

"When Jimmy was 11 and his mother passed away, he began to be molested by his minister. I think that haunted him the rest of his life. In fact, I know it did. We talked about it a lot.

"During 'Giant' we'd stay up nights and talk and talk, and that was one of the things he confessed to me," she said, referring to the movie in which Taylor and Dean co-starred.

Dean died in a car crash in 1955 at age 24, shortly after making "Rebel Without a Cause," in which he played Jim Stark, a teenager with a troubled past arriving in a new town.

He was nominated for two posthumous Oscars -- for "East of Eden" in 1956 and "Giant" in 1957.

Taylor died Wednesday from congestive heart failure, and was buried Thursday in the Forest Lawn celebrity cemetery near Los Angeles, resting place to generations of stars including her long-time friend, pop icon Michael Jackson.

Former Shadows guitarist Jet Harris dies: media

LONDON (Reuters) – British musician Jet Harris, who played bass guitar in Cliff Richard's band The Shadows, has died aged 71, British media reported on Friday.

Terence Harris, nicknamed "Jet" because he was one of the fastest runners in his school, was introduced to Richard in 1958, and his website credits him with coming up with the name The Shadows.

"Jet was exactly what the Shadows and I needed -- a backbone holding our sound together," Richard said in a statement.

"Jet, the bass player, will always be an integral part of British rock'n'roll history. Losing him is sad -- but the great memories will stay with me. Rock on, Jet."

With The Shadows, Harris enjoyed a string of hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s including "High Class Baby," the chart-topping "Apache" and "Guitar Tango." His last recording with the band was "Wonderful Land" in 1962, which also made it to number one in the British charts.

After leaving the group, Harris teamed up with former Shadows bandmate Tony Meehan and again reached number one with "Diamonds" in 1963.

After a serious car crash nearly ended his career he faded from the limelight, although he did tour in Europe and release several albums. As his success as a musician faded, Harris became a professional photographer.

He was made an MBE for his services to music, and died after a two-year battle with cancer. Earlier this month he was forced to cancel all appearances due to ill health.

Charlie Sheen to be subject of TLC special

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – TLC is getting into the Charlie Sheen business.

The Discovery-owned cable channel, famous for putting on shows like "Jon & Kate Plus Eight" and "Sarah Palin's Alaska," has ordered an hour-long documentary entitled "Charlie Sheen: On the Brink."

It will chronicle the very public unraveling of the recently-fired "Two and a Half Men" actor's career and public image.

With behind-the-scenes footage and brand-new expert commentary, including MacKenzie Phillips discussing life as a celebrity who has dealt with drugs and recovery, the show takes viewers inside Sheen's home and examines the relationships with the women in his life and his children.

The special will also highlight other celebrity meltdowns that have captured public attention and offer insight into what drives this bizarre behavior.

The special, which is being produced in association with NBC News, is slated to air on March 20 at 10 pm (EST).

It is expected to include news footage from Sheen's 24-7 media blitz, as well as original interviews on the actor's rise and fall.

In the meantime, Sheen - who is currently suing Warner Bros. Television and Men co-creator Chuck Lorre for $100 million - surely will continue to provide fodder for the network's cameras through his growing Twitter feed (2.5 million followers and counting), frequent webcasts and planned tour.

Suspect dies in standoff with St Louis police

ST. LOUIS – Two federal marshals and a police officer were wounded Tuesday in a gunfight with a suspect who died following a standoff at a St. Louis home, authorities said.

One marshal is in critical condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

St. Louis police confirmed in a statement that a "male suspect is deceased." The brief statement did not explain who the man was or how he was killed.

Talking to reporters outside the house, Sannita Vaughan said her brother was the dead suspect who had been holed up inside.

"All we know is, they killed him," Vaughan said as relatives tried to shield her from the media crush.

The two U.S. marshals and a police officer had been serving an arrest warrant at the house on the city's south side when a gunfight broke out, according to Jeff Carter, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service.

One U.S. marshal is in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit at Saint Louis University Hospital, spokeswoman Laura Keller said. The other is in fair condition and is undergoing surgery, Keller said.

She did not provide the officers' identities.

A St. Louis police officer was hit in his bullet-proof vest and suffered a graze wound and injuries from a fall, according to a recorded statement on the city police media hotline. It said he was taken to the Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Jason Merrill, a spokesman for the Barnes-Jewish Hospital, confirmed that one person wounded in the shooting was being treated there, but provided no name or details of that person's condition.

Earlier Tuesday, city police spokeswoman Schron Jackson said police were involved in a standoff at the property, but she had no more information.

Police cordoned off several blocks on every side of the house with police tape in the neighborhood in a poorer section of the city's south side. They blocked access to the property with police cars and vans.

Television video footage from KTVI in St. Louis showed one marshal being carried down an alley by several officers and being put into an ambulance.

There has been no word on any arrests.

Earlier Tuesday, Vaughan told reporters that her brother was inside the house and had been shot by police. She looked into television cameras and implored the brother to come out and surrender.

As police began to disband, bystanders appeared inflamed and began shouting obscenities at police. One officer with a police dog tried to quell the tempers.

With twist, `American Idol' down to 13 contestants

NEW YORK – The Hollywood stage became a little less crowded Thursday as "American Idol" cut its contestant pool from 24 to a lucky 13 finalists.

Four of the final contestants are from California, two are from New York and two are from Nashville, Tenn.

Ten of the finalists made it to the next round of the Fox reality show through online and phone votes from viewers. In a new twist, judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler picked six of those left out for a wild-card competition, choosing three of them to go forward after they auditioned with a song.

The three to benefit from the judges' extra chance were Ashthon Jones, 24, of Nashville; Naima Adedapo, 26, of Milwaukee; and Stefano Langone, 21, of Kent, Wash.

"This is the toughest night ever," Jackson said.

Five men and five women were chosen by the viewers. They are Casey Abrams, 20, of Idyllwild, Calif.; James Durbin, 22, of Santa Cruz, Calif.; Jacob Lusk, 23, of Compton, Calif.; Scotty McCreery, 17, of Garner, N.C.; Paul McDonald, 26, of Nashville; Thia Megia, 16, of Mountain House, Calif.; Haley Reinhart, 20, of Wheeling, Ill.; Karen Rodriguez, 21, of New York; Pia Toscano, 22, of Howard Beach, N.Y.; and Lauren Alaina, 16, of Rossville, Ga.

Jones, given her second chance, stalked the stage and confidently sang "I'm Not Goin'." She was right.

The three judges had some suspiciously convenient indecision following the wild-card competition. Coming out of a commercial break, Lopez said they needed a few more minutes to decide — just enough time for Fox to air the world premiere of Lopez's new music video as the six competitors waited nervously onstage.