Tattle: Brit Tabloid nails Fergie selling access to Andrew

As a spokeswoman for Weight Watchers, Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson dropped a lot of pounds.

But that number didn't compare to the number of pounds she requested others to drop to gain access to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew.

Ferguson said yesterday she was "very sorry" after News of the World reported she was offering to sell access to Andrew for $724,000 - that's 500,000 pounds.

Just imagine what he'd be worth if they were still married.

The duchess said in a statement that she had financial problems, but "that is no excuse for a serious lapse in judgment and I am very sorry that this has happened."

"I very deeply regret the situation and the embarrassment caused," she said.

News of the World posted video on its website that appears to show Ferguson discussing payment terms with undercover reporter Mazher Mahmood, posing as a businessman. Mahmood has been nicknamed "The Fake Sheik" (not bad, but it's no Joltmeister) after his role-playing as an Arab diplomat led to a previous embarrassing undercover report on the royals.

Tattbits

* Lindsay Lohan is supposed to finally show up in a an L.A. courtroom this morning.

We'll see if the judge has the courage to do what she said she would do - toss her in the clink.

* Drew Carey plans to visit his hometown of Cleveland to discuss with City Council members his ideas to help revitalize the city.

"The Price is Right" host is expected to meet with council members Thursday after accepting an invitation from Council President Martin Sweeney.

Last month, Carey argued for less government, more competition, less taxes and changes to schools in 10-minute segments about Cleveland on the Web site reason.tv. The site is affiliated with the Reason Foundation, a libertarian-leaning organization for which Carey is a board member.

Here's the basic problem. Everyone wants "less government" and "less taxes" until they find out "less government" and "less taxes," especially at the state and local levels, means budget cuts to police, fire, sanitation, schools, etc.

Ax those departments and everyone then gets ticked off.

* The manager of U2 says that frontman Bono has undergone emergency back surgery in a Munich, Germany, hospital after he was injured while preparing for the group's tour.

Turn 50 and it's a lot harder to climb the Joshua Tree.

* Ach du Bieber!

In Berlin, meanwhile, teen idol Justin Bieber walked smack into the glass of an automatic revolving door when trying to exit a German hotel, sending his fans into a blogging frenzy.

"Ouch! I just walked into that door . . . my forehead hurts . . . I walked right into the window," Bieber said.

* TMZ.com reports Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett's sex video has become the biggest-selling pre-order in Vivid's history.

Sorry, Hank, you can't buy up all the copies. They just make more.

But take that, Kim Kardashian!

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

E-mail gensleh@phillynews.com.