(KRT) - CAN WE SAY, LIGHTEN UP?

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg skipped Monday's Columbus Day parade in Manhattan, as he had vowed, because his friends from "The Sopranos" were told they couldn't attend.

"I'm sort of walking along, invite two Italian Americans, want to say thank you on behalf of the city. And bada-bing, bada-boom, all of a sudden they're down my throat. OK?" said hizzoner, who either has a potentially dangerous sense of humor or has seen "The Godfather" too many times.

The Columbus Citizens Foundation had sought a federal court order banning Bloomberg from bringing Dominic "Uncle Junior" Chianese and Lorraine "Dr. Melfi" Bracco to the parade along Fifth Avenue. The mayor said he invited them because of their public service work for the city.

Both sides subsequently agreed organizers were free to invite or uninvite anyone they wanted. And the mayor was free to have lunch with the HBO drama's actors (instead of marching without them in the parade), which is what he did.

On Sunday, however, he did march in the Bronx's parade.

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BORED RICH

Rosie O'Donnell doesn't want you to think she is ungrateful for all that her defunct talk show has given her. But she had to give it up because she was just so bored. Appearing on "The Isaac Mizrahi Show" in her new short do, the sheared one said she left her talk show because "the thrill of doing it was gone." She could have stayed for the money but, she said, "You know what, Isaac? I've got enough money."

Oh, that we could all say that.

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BUTLER DENIES HE DID IT

A former butler to Princess Diana - the man she called "my rock" - pleaded not guilty in a London courtroom Monday to stealing hundreds of items from her and others in the royal family. Dressed in a dark suit, Paul Burrell nodded when asked to confirm his identity and answered "not guilty" to three charges of theft.

Burrell, 44, is accused of taking more than 300 items between Jan. 1, 1997 and June 30, 1998. The property allegedly included letters, photos and compact discs from Diana, Prince Charles and their son, Prince William, at Kensington Palace, the London home of the princess.

If convicted, Burrell faces a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. He maintains all were given to him by the princess for safekeeping. The trial, which is gripping public attention, resumes Tuesday.

Another former royal butler, Harold Brown, is to stand trial in December for allegedly stealing items from the princess, including a jeweled model of a wooden ship, valued at $735,000, that was a wedding gift from the emir of Bahrain.

Elsewhere in the royal domain, Princess Eugenie, 12, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York, underwent successful surgery on her back Monday, Buckingham Palace said.

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ZOWIE!

Actor Nicholas Cage has sold his comic-book collection for more than $1.6 million. The 400 items included Action Comics No. 1, the 1938 comic that featured the first appearance of Superman and sold for - holy cow! - $86,250.

In other auction news, the estate of late advice columnist Ann Landers will go on the block Nov. 24 on the Internet (www.butterfields.com). Among the items up for bid: letters to her from ex-Presidents Carter and Ronald Reagan.

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ACTING DEBUT

She slams, she drives, she acts! Tennis star Serena Williams will make her TV acting debut Oct. 30 as a guest star on ABC's "My Wife and Kids." Williams will play a kindergarten teacher.

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NO RIGHT TO PRIVACY

Three appeals court judges ruled Monday that a British newspaper was justified in publishing a photo of supermodel Naomi Campbell leaving a drug addiction center, as the model lied to the news media about her drug problems.

Earlier this year, a High Court judge ordered the Daily Mirror tabloid to pay the svelte one $5,425 in damages and meet her court costs, reportedly $310,000, after he ruled the newspaper had breached her right to confidentiality by running the story in February 2001.

The appeals court said the report was justified in the public interest and to set the record straight after Campbell had gone out of her way to tell reporters that she, unlike other models, did not take stimulants or tranquilizers. Campbell, 32, has said she filed the suit to establish her right to privacy and ensure that she and others could receive therapy without media intrusion.

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LIZA'S WEDDING

Tuesday night at 11 EDT, you are there. Behind the scenes at the glam wedding of Liza Minnelli and David Gest. It happened in March in New York, but it'll unfurl again in the 30-minute VH1 special, "Liza & David's Wedding." You'll hear the newlyweds, Bob Mackie (who designed The Dress), and some of the A-listers who attended, including Natalie Cole, Luther Vandross, Monica, Mya, Marisa Berenson, and columnists Liz Smith and Cindy Adams.

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(USA Today, the New York Daily News and Philadelphia Inquirer wire services contributed to this report.)

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© 2002, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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