Royals expecting first child

London — Prince Edward’s wife, Sophie, expects to give birth to her first child in December, Buckingham Palace said.

A spokeswoman for Sophie on Tuesday said the 38-year-old countess was feeling “absolutely fine,” but would not be undertaking official engagements for the time being on doctors’ advice.

Edward is the third and youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II.

Townshend listed as sex offender

London — Legendary rock guitarist Pete Townshend was cleared Wednesday of possessing pornographic images of children, but he was placed on a British register of sex offenders.

After a four-month investigation, London’s Metropolitan Police said the cofounder of The Who “was not in possession of any downloaded child abuse images” but had accessed a Web site containing such images in 1999.

Townshend, 57, said in a statement that he was wrong to visit the site, but he noted that police accepted he had no “nefarious purpose” in doing so. He maintained that he went to the site to research his autobiography and get information for a campaign he was mounting against Internet pornography and child abuse.

As part of an official cautioning procedure, Townshend’s fingerprints, photograph, and a DNA sample will be taken, and he will be placed on a national sex offender registry for five years.

Timberlake takes TNT job

New York — Justin Timberlake is going from center stage to the sidelines as a special correspondent for Turner Sports.

The ‘N Sync singer will report from several sports events for TNT, including the NBA playoffs, NASCAR races and the PGA championship. For TBS, he’ll appear at major league baseball games and Big 12 and Pac-10 college football games.

“We are excited at what this unique marriage between the world of sports and entertainment can bring to our high-profile sports properties,” Mike Pearl, executive producer for Turner Sports, said Tuesday.

The 22-year-old pop star has played in the celebrity basketball game during the NBA All-Star Weekend the past two years. Last year, he hit a long-range jumper over fellow TNT analyst Kenny Smith, who won two championships with the Houston Rockets.

Brain-surgery diet suits comedian

Los Angeles — A month after brain surgery, wisecracking comedian Rodney Dangerfield appeared in fine form Wednesday, assailing hospital food as “garbage” and retorting: “Why should I tell you?” when asked how he was feeling.

Dangerfield, 81, was released from the University of California, Los Angeles, Medical Center on April 21, nearly two weeks after undergoing surgery meant to improve his blood flow for an upcoming heart valve replacement.

Dangerfield, whose films include “Back to School,” “Ladybugs” and “Caddyshack,” said he’s lost 30 pounds during recuperation. “If you want to lose weight, do what I did. I went on the brain surgery diet.”