109-year-old gives royal fashion tip

London — Catherine Masters had always wanted to meet a member of Britain’s royal family. But when she finally got the chance at age 109, she couldn’t resist offering it a little advice.

When Prince William made a surprise visit to Masters’ nursing home near the upper crust city of Oxford on Friday, she gave him a fashion tip for his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.

Like all British centenarians, Masters received a royal birthday card from the queen when she turned 100, 105 and every year thereafter. But Masters doesn’t think each card should picture her royal highness in the same yellow dress.

In an interview with the Oxford Mail newspaper, Masters said she told William that the queen should be pictured in a new dress. “I think either a blue one or white one would be nice,” she was quoted as saying.

She also reportedly gave the prince advice on how to make mashed potatoes.

Palin memoir to come next year

New York — You knew it was coming: Sarah Palin is ready to tell her side, agreeing to publish a memoir with HarperCollins. The book comes out in Spring 2010 — the year she is up for re-election.

“There’s been so much written about and spoken about in the mainstream media and in the anonymous blogosphere world, that this will be a wonderful, refreshing chance for me to get to tell my story, that a lot of people have asked about, unfiltered,” the Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate said during a brief telephone interview Tuesday with The Associated Press.

Palin’s memoir, currently untitled, will cover her personal and political life, from her childhood in Alaska and last year’s campaign to her political beliefs and her family life, including the pregnancy of her teenage daughter, Bristol Palin, who gave birth in December to a baby boy, Tripp. (She and the baby’s father, Levi Johnston, have since ended their relationship.)

If terms of the book deal aren’t leaked by next spring, at least some of the details will be revealed in Palin’s next financial disclosure forms with the Alaska Public Offices Commission. Income next must be reported on March 15, 2010. However, if she isn’t paid in full by Dec. 31, some income may fall over to the next year’s report.

Reality TV’s Kate denies cheating on Jon

New York — Reality TV star Kate Gosselin said she isn’t cheating on her husband, Jon, and called the accusations disgusting and unthinkable.

In a story published Tuesday on People magazine’s Web site, Gosselin said she’s the target of tabloid lies romantically linking her with a bodyguard who frequently travels with the family. She spoke out following recent accounts that portrayed her as the victim of her husband’s infidelity.

The Gosselins, along with their eight children, star on the TLC reality show “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” which captures on-camera the challenges of raising a large family.

But TV stardom has brought its own challenges in the form of unsought media attention.

Last week, Jon Gosselin denied reports of an affair with a 23-year-old schoolteacher, while apologizing for having put his family in an “awkward situation.”

Now, it’s Kate Gosselin’s turn.

“The next story coming out from the animals that stalk us is about our security person and his family,” she said, referring to bodyguard Steve Neild. “Already the allegations they’re making about me are disgusting, unthinkable, unfathomable, and I am horrified.”

Miss California USA allowed to keep crown

New York — Miss California USA can retain her crown despite controversies over semi-nude photographs taken of her as a teenager and her association with a conservative advocacy group for marriage, pageant owner Donald Trump said Tuesday.

Carrie Prejean’s comments about her opposition to same-sex marriage ignited a media firestorm after a celebrity judge suggested her response may have cost her the Miss USA title; she finished as first-runner up. The photos surfaced later and led to the review of her state title.

“We’ve reviewed the pictures carefully,” Trump said at a packed news conference at Trump Plaza in New York City. “We’ve made a determination that the pictures taken were acceptable. Some were risque, but we are in the 21st century.”

Trump also defended the answer Prejean gave at the April 19 Miss USA pageant. She was asked her view of marriage by blogger Perez Hilton. Prejean said she believes marriage is between a man and a woman.

“It’s the same answer the president of the United States gave,” Trump said. “It’s the same answer many people gave. She gave an honorable answer. She gave an answer from her heart, and I think for that she has to be commended.”

Maya Rudolph expecting second child

New York — Maya Rudolph say she’s expecting her second child with filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson.

The former “Saturday Night Live” star confirmed her pregnancy Tuesday on ABC’s “The View.” When co-host Barbara Walters asked whether she was expecting, Rudolph answered: “I am. … I’m so excited.”

The 36-year-old actress and 38-year-old Anderson, who has directed such films as “Magnolia” and “There Will Be Blood,” are already parents to a 3-year-old daughter.