PEOPLE

By David E. Thigpen

IT'S ALL IN THE TIMING

HARRY CONNICK JR., who turns up on screen in Independence Day as a drawling, alien-hunting fighter pilot, also has a new album, Star Turtle, which just happens to have an extraterrestrial theme. The jazz-funk record describes a cosmic terrapin's landing in New Orleans and his evening of club crawling with local lounge lizards. But those looking for a link between movie and album are lost in space, Connick says. "The two are unrelated. I'm not into turtles or space stuff." The seeming coincidence can be chalked up to that secret something known as cross-promotion.

SEEN & HEARD

Emma Thompson has the sense to inquire. Does director Mike Nichols have the sensibility to hire? Word is out that casting for an upcoming screen version of the potboiling political roman a clef Primary Colors may soon begin. Thompson seeks the Hillary Clinton role, while Tom Hanks is angling to play Bill Clinton. Surely there's a role somewhere for Anonymous.

Hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have Israel's enemies quaking, but on the home front a 21-year-old nanny has him on the defensive. Tanya Shaw, fired by Netanyahu's wife Sara for burning a pot of soup, went public with stories of working from 6:30 a.m. to midnight, and enduring Sara's screaming fits. So far a stream of press leaks has backed Shaw's tales.

ELTON'S HOME MOVIE

A year ago, when ELTON JOHN's live-in companion, former ad exec David Furnish, began shooting a biography of the superstar rocker, no one expected much in the way of candor. After all, John was paying for the shoot and, having been burned in the past by stories of drug abuse, was acutely aware of the value of image control. This week the finished film, Tantrums and Tiaras, premieres in Britain and turns out to be far from a whitewash. Furnish's work documents a tantrum or two as it follows the rocker backstage, in his private jet and around his Windsor mansion. It also unveils John's psyche through chats with his mother and his therapist. The movie may be good therapy; John has already watched it some 20 times, roaring with laughter with each viewing.

EVERYTHING SHE WANTS?

After a decade of marital cold war and four years of separation, have the Waleses reached the settlement to end it all? According to royal insiders, DIANA has decided to bury the hatchet with Charles, right in his wallet. In exchange for a divorce, Diana, who turned 35 last week, will get just about everything she wants: joint custody of Princes William and Harry, about $30 million in cash, and a lease on her posh digs at Kensington Palace. Still on the table: hanging on to the title Her Royal Highness. And for Charles? The Prince keeps his right to the throne and gets time with Camilla Parker Bowles. But he may have to float a loan for the princely Diana payout: he makes only $7.5 million a year.