The royals - Kitty Kelley [195]
Both books centered on the adventures of a little helicopter with eyelashes; both were similarly illustrated, and both told essentially the same story:
The adventures of Baldwin’s Hector begin with the helicopter feeling “unwanted and forgotten” because he’s left twiddling his thumbs in the hangar while all the other planes are traveling to exotic places. Budgie, too, feels dejected and twiddles his thumbs because all the planes in his hangar are going to an air show.
Hector falls asleep and has a “wonderful dream.” So does Budgie. Upon waking, Hector goes for a spin. So does Budgie. Hector cheers up. “In the distance he could see the sea shining and sparkling in the morning sunlight.” Budgie also “cheered up. The sea was sparkling and the cold wind whipped his cheeks.” Both Hector and Budgie perform rescue missions that save people’s lives; both little whirlybirds earn the respect of the big airplanes; and both live happily ever after.
The Duchess maintained that Budgie was her own creation—and she wouldn’t budge: “The books are all me. Every page.” The publisher holding the copyright for Hector was dubious but did not publicly dispute the Duchess. “It is difficult for us to say that anything has been literally ‘copied,’ ” wrote Jane Moore, group legal adviser of Reed International Books in a letter, “but if this was not a major source of inspiration for the ‘Budgie’ books then it is a remarkable coincidence.” She did not say whether she thought the coincidence was accidental or significant.
During Sarah’s second pregnancy in November 1989, she flew to Texas as the guest of honor of Lynn and Oscar Wyatt. The Wyatts’ estimated wealth of $8 billion paid for a gold-plated life of private planes and French villas. Lynn, the Sakowitz department store heiress, was Oscar’s fourth wife. Oscar, an oil tycoon, owned Coastal Corporation. Like little kids who collected Barbie and Ken dolls, the Wyatts collected celebrities—movie stars, models, artists, designers, and royals. “Grace and Rainier are our neighbors in the South of France,” drawled Lynn Wyatt, making the Prince and Princess of Monaco sound like “just folks” on the nearby ranch. A petite blond beauty on the international best-dressed list, Lynn Wyatt thrived on socializing with the likes of Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall, Liza Minnelli, Nancy Reagan, Princess Margaret, and the Aga Khan.
“The Wyatts are walking wallets,” Fergie told a friend, describing the international socialites and their free-spending style. She breathlessly recited the lavish details of the Monte Carlo Sporting Club Ball that Lynn Wyatt had decorated. “She flew in four thousand yellow roses,” said Fergie, snapping her fingers, “and she didn’t blink.”
As the patron of the Houston Grand Opera, Lynn Wyatt had invited the Duchess to represent the royal family at a benefit salute to the British opera. She gave a dinner party in Sarah’s honor and included her own two sons from her first marriage. Mrs. Wyatt seated her older son, thirty-six-year-old Steve, next to Sarah. He lived in London and worked in his stepfather’s petroleum empire, dealing with sales to the Middle East. He flew from London to Houston solely to attend his mother’s party for the Duchess of York.
Fergie fell hard for the tall, lanky Texan, who had thick dark hair, a year-round tan, and rippling muscles. He described himself as spiritual and attributed his spirituality to Madame Vasso, who later claimed that Sarah and Steve started their affair when Sarah was five months pregnant. The Madame offered this account to an editor at Little, Brown in New York in hopes of selling a book in 1996. But the editor turned down the book proposal, saying people were not interested in the Duchess’s indiscretions.
Sarah, who regularly consulted astrologers, told one that she could not resist the Texan. She described him as “incredibly delicious… like a blue-eyed pudding.” She also told her father that “Fred,” her code