Party plans for Reagans

Press, 7 October 1988, Page 8

Party plans for Reagans

From

JOHN HISCOCK,

of the “Daily Telegraph,” in Los Angeles

THERE are still four months to go before Ronald and Nancy Reagan’s homecoming, but the party-goers and givers of southern California are already wheedling their way on what will be the “A-Plus” invitation list — for the lunches, dinners and soirees at which the ex-President and his wife will be present. According to the early buzz on the circuit, the Reagans face a solid three months of welcomehome dinners and at least a hundred parties when they leave the White House on January 21 and move into their new home in Bel-Air in the heart of southern California party society. The lobbying to be allowed to stand with them in the same room is feverish, and in some cases lifelong friendships are under severe

strain because of hints that one person may be invited to a particular event and another snubbed. As one prominent party organiser put it: "I know people who would kill to be included on the list. To attend a party at which they are present or — what a dream — to be invited by the Reagpns to a party, is the ultimate ambition of every socialite in town. “Until now, Armand Hammer or Lew Wasserman (the chairman of MCA-Universal) was at the very top of everyone’s list, but the presence of an exPresident and his wife on the circuit has changed everything.” Some have an inside track to the party list. They are the 20 Reagan friends who clubbed to-

gether to raise SNZ4.2 million to buy the house at 666 St Cloud Road (Nancy quickly had the number changed to 668 to avoid any Satanic connotations) where the Reagans will take up residence. People like Armand Deutsch, Betsy Bloomingdale, former At-torney-General William French Smith and the Earle Jorgensens have ensured, by putting up the money, that they will all have prominent places in the Reagans’ court. And, either by accident or, say cynics, by design, the house is singularly unsuitable for largescale entertaining. In fact, the most it can comfortably accommodate for dinner is 20, causing much gnashing of teeth among those who passed up on the opportunity to contribute.