The Second Best Man

Columns of advice to the lovelorn frequently warn of dangers ahead when lovers come from widely different backgrounds and environment. In London last week, Princess Margaret and her commoner fiance, Photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, were discovering how right the columnists can be.

The major shock of the week was the announcement that Jeremy Fry, 35, a longtime bohemian friend of Tony Armstrong-Jones, had withdrawn as best man at the royal wedding next month. The stated reason : a recurrence of jaundice. When clamorous newsmen asked if Fry were stepping down for any reason apart from his health, a royal spokesman replied: "No comment." The sensational Sunday newspaper, The People, breathlessly revealed that in 1952 Fry had been arrested in Hyde Park, fined -L-2 after pleading "guilty to a minor offense," and stated in court, "I'm afraid I was rather drunk."

Too Conspicuous. In fact, the more closely palace officials looked at Tony's friends and family, the more uneasy they became at the burgeoning of eccentricities. Tony has two stepmothers, one an actress presently married to an Italian lawyer named Giuseppe Lopez, the other a former airline hostess. (His mother, sister of Stage Designer Oliver Messel, is now married to the Earl of Rosse.) Also distressing is the zest with which foreign newspapers are exploring Tony's lively past. Last week the Paris France-Dimanche reported that Tony is expected to get rid of such old friends as a Hindu guitarist, a bistro owner, assorted models and cover girls, noted that two weeks ago, Tony's step-aunt, Lady Bridget Parsons, was arrested and charged with drunken driving. Tony's erstwhile great and good friend, a Chinese actress named Jackie Chan, was all too conspicuous in the British press; last week she announced that she had just cut her first record (But No One Knows and Gentlemen Please) because "it seems a good time for it to be released."

Before Britons' eyes, the glitter of the wedding was fading. Even the palace itself seems determined to downgrade it. For the first time in the memory of protocol experts, civilian guests will be permitted to wear lounge suits if they do not prefer to honor the occasion with morning dress. The route to and from Westminster Abbey will be so short--it can be walked in seven minutes--that the waiting crowds will have little opportunity to cheer. Royalty abroad was behaving coolly. Margaret's closest European relative, King Olaf of Norway, sent his regrets and those of his son, Prince Harald, because of a "previous obligation." The obligation: the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian Society of Sciences in Trondheim. Other pleas of "prior engagements" were arriving from continental royalty.

Surprise Invitation. By week's end the nervous and harried bridegroom had found a new best man. He is Dr. Roger W. Gilliatt, 37, a London nerve specialist and the son of a former physician to Queen Elizabeth. Dr. Gilliatt accepted the invitation with pleasure, but admitted to newsmen that he was also surprised to be asked to be best man, since he did not know Tony Armstrong-Jones that well. Obviously, the best man had not been found among Tony's best friends.

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