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The Queen records her Christmas Day message in the Yellow Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace in London 15 December 2004.FIONA HANSON

Morning radar: Three things we're talking about this morning

Don't let them eat cake: The Queen has reportedly cancelled her annual 'do at Buckingham Palace. A palace spokesman told the UK Sun: "Given the economic climate, it was thought appropriate to show restraint."

Wait - isn't this the same woman who paid 100,000 pounds for housecleaning?

One worker told the British paper that the Royals mix freely with servants at these events, "... it's normal to see the Queen dancing with a footman or Prince Philip waltzing with a maid.

"The champagne flows like water and you feel your hard work has been appreciated. This won't go down well."

Some 1,200 guests were due at the £50,000 party, scheduled for December 13.

That the Queen's net worth is up around £350 million appears to have no bearing. If the Queen can't pull off a holiday party, one shudders to think what will become of lesser annual office parties around the Commonwealth.

The mistress and the miner: The Chilean miner mistress brouhaha is gaining steam. First, we heard about Yonni Barrios, whose wife and mistress of 10 years both showed up to sit vigil waiting for him while he was trapped.

According to reports, another miner, named Carlos Barrios who was rescued yesterday has a five-year-old son with his wife and his girlfriend of seven months is pregnant. Yet another miner is said to have four women vying for his attention. There's his wife. His current live-in girlfriend, a third woman who claims to a son with him and still another who says she is having an affair with him.

Much of the commentary has jumped right over the fact that these men are totally busted and right into labeling these women "gold-diggers".

Interesting how that works, eh? Unless these women are fakes - and that should be fairly easy to figure out - they were first attracted to miners, not rich celebrities.

Schwimmer's secret: If you're looking for news on the David Arquette/Courteney Cox-Arquette split, things have cooled down a bit after Arquette sputtered some apologies about his blabbermouth ways. But you will find this: Cox-Arquette's Friends co-star David Schwimmer quietly married his London girlfriend Zoe Buckman four months ago.

How refreshing not to have Tweeted all about it.

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