Simon Cowell snubs President Obama

Just how grand, busy and important is the pop impresario Simon Cowell? By his own account very, to the point that he turned down an invitation to have a one-on-one dinner with President Barack Obama when he was in California last week because, Cowell claims, his diary did not allow such a frippery.

The creator of the two blockbuster shows, The X Factor and American Pop Idol, admitted his apparent snub to the other most powerful man on earth while appearing on Jay Leno’s The Tonight Show on Monday. Cowell said: "I was invited to have dinner with him [Obama] last week, but wasn't available. He wanted to have dinner, but our diaries didn't quite match. He wanted to do eight, I wasn't free until nine. We just didn't quite connect. But I said, 'Any time I'm in Washington...' "

The revelation appears to be in retaliation for a jokey remark Obama made recently about American Pop Idol, one of the most-watched shows in the US. "Washington," Obama observed, "is a little bit like American Idol, except everyone is like Simon Cowell." Cowell, of course, has the reputation of being something of a nasty character, often berating the performers on his shows and in some instances reducing them to tears.

American commentators have questioned the veracity of Cowell’s claim, asking how on earth he could be "too busy" to meet with the leader of the free world. The White House has yet to confirm whether such an invitation was ever issued.

Meanwhile, another claim made by Cowell on the Leno show - that Prince Philip had called him a "sponger" at the last year's Royal Variety Performance - has been denied by Buckingham Palace. A spokesman for the Prince said yesterday: "I have spoken to the Duke of Edinburgh, and he has absolutely no idea what this is about. He told me, 'I did not say anything of that sort. I wouldn't call anyone a sponger. Why would I call him that?'" ·