George W Bush may have been able to oust Saddam Hussein without too much difficulty, but he appears to have met his match in Sir Mick Jagger.
The President had hoped to check into the £3,600-a-night Royal Suite at the Imperial Hotel in Vienna when he attends a summit of European leaders in June, but his men were told that it had already been reserved by Sir Mick and there was no question of him surrendering it.
"Mick is performing in the city at the same time as the summit," a close associate of the singer tells me. "White House officials had wanted to reserve the suite and all the other rooms on the first floor, but Mick and the Rolling Stones had bagged every one of them.
"Bush's people seemed to be under the impression that they would just hand over the suites, but there was no way Mick was going to do that."
The 62-year-old singer made his views of Bush abundantly clear in the Stones' latest album, A Bigger Bang. "You call yourself a Christian, I call you a hypocrite," he had sung. "You call yourself a patriot, well I think you are full of shit."
The Imperial's spokesman Caroline Mueller admits that American Secret Service agents had got as far as inspecting the hotel, but confirms that the President will not now be staying there. Ronald Reagan, JFK and the President's father, George Bush, all stayed in the Royal Suite while they were in office.
My man at the American Embassy will say only that the President will be accommodated "elsewhere" during his visit to Vienna, but refuses to elaborate "for security reasons".
For Sir Mick it is doubly satisfying. Not only has he inconvenienced a man he despises, but his coveted suite boasts a 7ft 4in long bed - very handy indeed when his girlfriend, L'Wren Scott, pictured right, is 6ft 4in, even without her Jimmy Choo heels.
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The President had hoped to check into the £3,600-a-night Royal Suite at the Imperial Hotel in Vienna when he attends a summit of European leaders in June, but his men were told that it had already been reserved by Sir Mick and there was no question of him surrendering it.
"Mick is performing in the city at the same time as the summit," a close associate of the singer tells me. "White House officials had wanted to reserve the suite and all the other rooms on the first floor, but Mick and the Rolling Stones had bagged every one of them.
"Bush's people seemed to be under the impression that they would just hand over the suites, but there was no way Mick was going to do that."
The 62-year-old singer made his views of Bush abundantly clear in the Stones' latest album, A Bigger Bang. "You call yourself a Christian, I call you a hypocrite," he had sung. "You call yourself a patriot, well I think you are full of shit."
The Imperial's spokesman Caroline Mueller admits that American Secret Service agents had got as far as inspecting the hotel, but confirms that the President will not now be staying there. Ronald Reagan, JFK and the President's father, George Bush, all stayed in the Royal Suite while they were in office.
My man at the American Embassy will say only that the President will be accommodated "elsewhere" during his visit to Vienna, but refuses to elaborate "for security reasons".
For Sir Mick it is doubly satisfying. Not only has he inconvenienced a man he despises, but his coveted suite boasts a 7ft 4in long bed - very handy indeed when his girlfriend, L'Wren Scott, pictured right, is 6ft 4in, even without her Jimmy Choo heels.
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