People

By Michele Orecklin

THE MAIL MONARCH

For too long, British subjects have had to rely on newspapers, magazines and television to bring them images of their future monarch. But shortly they will have another medium on which to glimpse his visage. To commemorate PRINCE WILLIAM's 18th birthday (June 21), the post office on the British island of Jersey will issue stamps featuring the fetching royal against a variety of backdrops. They will "show his sporting side, and the fireworks represent a celebration at his coming of age," says philatelic artist William Wall. One stamp's backdrop was supposed to show Caernarvon Castle, where William's father was invested as Prince of Wales. But another fortress is pictured in error. Charles never gets respect.

GRETA LOVE HATH A WOMAN...

It seems the famously taciturn GRETA GARBO could at times be quite communicative. This week the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia will unveil a collection of letters written by the Swedish sylph that have sat unread since 1960 and may portray a side of the actress never seen in her movies. The letters were given to the museum by their recipient--poet, playwright and socialite MERCEDES DE ACOSTA, who is perhaps best known for her purported affairs with Marlene Dietrich and Isadora Duncan. The correspondence is believed to suggest that Garbo also ranked among her conquests. De Acosta stipulated that the letters should remain sealed until 10 years after the death of both women. De Acosta died in 1968, Garbo in 1990.

FROM MALADIES TO MIRACLES

Since the release of her collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, last June, JHUMPA LAHIRI, 32, has won almost every award bestowed on a first book of fiction. "Those were unexpected and amazing, but given the category, at least they made some rational sense," says Lahiri. She was wholly unprepared, however, for the news last week that she had won a Pulitzer Prize. "This is the stuff of miracles," she says. "Not even my publisher knew I was in the running." Lahiri, whose parents are from India, was born in London and raised in Rhode Island. Currently, she lives in New York and is working on a novel, a pursuit she was forced to suspend last week to contend with the flood of flower deliveries and phone calls. "I'm very impressed with the makers of my answering machine," she says. "I still can't believe it didn't break."

THE PRINCE OF PRINCIPALS

Forget the Fulbright and the Rhodes. In years to come, the most prestigious scholarship will surely be the Seinfeld. Participating in a program known as Principal for a Day at La Guardia High School in New York City last week, the comedian announced that the JERRY SEINFELD Family and Scholarship Foundation would pay tuition and expenses for five of the school's seniors to attend college next year. He plans to continue the program, with recipients chosen each year according to talent and need. Unfortunately, his move sets an unreasonably high precedent for full-time principals, who will now be forced to command the respect of students by doling out cash instead of detention.