Then the official would relax and Nicky would be allowed through

Then the official would relax and Nicky would be allowed through. After months of strange looks, Nicky asked what was going on. It turned out that there was a rapist on the loose with the same name and date of birth as Nicky. What saved Nicky from hours of interrogation was that the criminal was black. In 1991 Nicky opened his own salon in London which the rich and famous flocked to.

He found himself in demand by the Duchess of York and devised a new shorter, sleeker haircut for her. When she went to the States for official visits or fund-raising junkets in 1992, Nicky went too, to keep her hair in check. Since then Nicky's wife, Lesley, has joined him in the business. The couple travel a lot, but never on the same plane unless their two children are with them. "It sounds a bit royal, but we've always done it for safety reasons," says Nicky.

He almost always travels first class and if he can, with Virgin He explains, "I need to sleep. I don't travel first class for all the other bits and pieces, just for that bed!"ROSANNA GREENSTREET. Main Claim: Let's face it, there are European royals and there are European royals. Some of them are whey faced Scandi/ Bavarian-type nobodies with chubby offspring and silly names. Others are glittering superstars dwelling in sugar-spun gambling havens, rotten with soapish fame, looks, tragedy and sex scandals.

Prince Ernst of Hanover (polite "Who?") has been seen knocking around with the Riviera's resident supernova, Princess Caroline of Monaco. Hence, we've heard of Prince Ernst of Hanover all of a sudden. Appearance: Ruffle-haired, chubby cheeked, pixelated by telephoto lens. Royal Seal: The happy "are they, aren't they?" twosome have been spotted together with unusual frequency. Seen leaving Caroline's Paris house, attending an equestrian event and skiing in Austria with the princess in the space of a fortnight, Ernst has earned himself the kind of Hello! magazine coverage that is more characteristically reserved for Ivana. French magazine Gala has claimed that Ernst, 43, and his wife of 15 years, Chantal, are about to announce their separation.

The problem is, Ernst is not a scoundrel, bodyguard or glamour-boy. We expect worse of a Monegasque.Sidekicks: Ernst, an old friend of Caroline's, was around to pick up the pieces last year after the troubled princess lost her companion of five years and her hair. (Problemette: Ernst's wife Chantal is also an old pal of Caroline's.) Moody French actor Vincent Lindon dropped out of the scene, Caroline suffered mysterious hair loss, and her sister, Gladiator manque Princess Stephanie, was betrayed by her husband with garish, vulgar improbability on video. If only those boring old dynasties in forested European castles would wake up and devise their own B-list scandals, we would grudgingly show a bit more interest.