Armani, Rocks & The Royals

In London, Armani is the talk of the town.

Or at least that is what Victoria Mather a travel columnist for Tatler magazine as well as a columnist for the "Sunday Telegraph" newspaper, told The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.

"Mr. Armani!" Mather quickly corrected in an interview at Heathrow Airport with the Concorde in the background. She says that is how Londoners are referring to the designer, whose 30-year career is the subject of a well-attended retrospective.

"I went to the Armani last night at the Royal Academy," she says. "It was so fun. Richard Gere was there. My great moment was to see Richard Gere watching himself in 'American Gigolo,' which is playing as part of the installation, which is this extarordianary retrospective of the frocks.

"Huge controversy as to whether or not The Royal Academy should be tangling with frocks. But it is in this glorious space. Robert DeNiro was there, Lauren Hutton and Eric Clapton were there and the super models are in town because it's 'Fashion Rocks' tonight at the Royal Albert Hall with Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. It's groovy to be in London."

Speaking of the royals, Smith asked about speculation about that Prince Charles will marry Parker Bowles, his long-time companion.

Mather says, "The particular deal is I don't think they want to get married. When they get married, it means she can't be the Princess of Wales because there is only one Princess of Wales, which is Diana. And it means she can't go home to her own house and muck out the horses and take the dogs to walk. It's a whole different deal."

There's been also some controversy about Prince Harry, Charles' younger son, being in Australia. Mather notes, "He is being what we call a jackaroo on a big sheep-cattle station, out in the Outback. It's a great thing for him to do. You know, he's out of the public eye."

Recently there were some headlines about Harry being homesick and wanting out of the Outback. Of this, Mather says, "I think his advisor is now being brought home and told to stay down there and get on with his, you know, stiff upper lip."

As for his older bother Prince William, Mather says, "He's gone back to the university, but he now says when he leaves the university, he wants to spend two years in Africa." And his father is not happy about that.

"He'd like him to do a job."

Mather has flown the Concorde at least half a dozen times and she has seen everyone from movie moguls to Princess Diana on her flights.

She shared a story with Smith about how she got on the famous plane with no money. She recalls, "I got out here and I said, 'I borrow money when I get to the other end.' I'm going to the Four Seasons in New York and it's fabulous. This will be absolutely fantastic. I had nothing except my passport. I lost my wallet."

Traveling on the Concorde has had incredible cachet. Referring to it as a she, Mather notes, "She flies over my house every single day. When I'm walking the dog in the park, I still see people waving when she goes over. An incredibly sight. Horribly uncomfortable to travel on, but she is a time machine."

Unfortunately Mather says technology has put an end to the time machine. She says, "There is e-mails and isn't the need to be physically somewhere in three hours. And when she's late, then her time-machine purpose isn't served particularly well. You can now go blissfully in a bed in first class and plug your laptop in on the airplane and work on the airplane and e-mails come on the airplane. Concorde is utterly glorious, but she is out of date now."