In the years since the release of the Merian C. Cooper classic King Kong, time has taken its toll on the beast and his splendid art-deco perch. The Empire State Building is no longer the world's tallest building, and King Kong is not the young buck he used to be either. This month, to celebrate the film's 50th anniversary, these two critical elements of the beauty-and-the-beast tale were reunited: a ten-story, 3,000-lb. inflatable Kong (at 84 ft., more than 30 ft. taller than the original) was hoisted a quarter-mile in the air to his old haunt atop the Empire State. Even without the menacing biplanes, Kong fared poorly, with tangled cables and tears in his heavy vinyl-coated nylon skin. But after a week of deflating mishaps, the balloon's builders, who plan to take the ape on tour this year, finally got the weather and mild winds they had prayed for. And lo, as blowers pumped air through Kong's toes, the creature filled out to his full, magnificent size, producing one of the most striking sights ever added to the Manhattan skyline. (The original, of course, only climbed a model.) Alas, the King's stay was short-lived. Yet another tear developed, and after only a day of glory, the mighty Kong lay hanging off the building's spire like an old brown garbage bag. It was beauty killed the beast last time, mundane nylon failure this outing.

At 6 ft. 5 in. and with a handsome Guardsman's mustache, Photographer Norman Parkinson, 69, can certainly hold his own in front of the camera's lens. As Britain's premier fashion photographer, he hasn't done all that badly behind it either. Joining him at Sotheby's in New York City last week for a one-man show of prints taken from his new book, Fifty Years of Style and Fashion, were two of his favorite models: Iman and Mick Jagger's current flame, Jerry Hall. Before the opening, Parkinson reports, he gave each model a piece of paper and asked her to name the one other woman she would like to be. Each wrote down the same answer: Dolly Parton. "No matter how beautiful a woman is," opines the photographer, "she always worries whether her breasts are too small." As for Parkinson's pick as the most beautiful woman in the world? Elizabeth Taylor, says he. "Others go in and out. Her beauty is lasting." Swallow hard, Joan Rivers.

For European royalty, affairs of the heart must sometimes take a back seat in the Rolls-Royce of life to the affairs of church and state. Last week, for example, rumors surfaced of a September wedding between Monaco's Princess Caroline, 26, and Robertino Rossellini, 33, the son of Ingrid Bergman and Film Maker Roberto Rosseilini. No sooner said than scotched. "If ever she decides to marry, the announcement will come from the palace," chilled the Grimaldi press representative. Though the pair are clearly a couple, a nuptial announcement does seem some time off. Caroline was granted a divorce from Eurolizard Philippe Junot in 1980, but her application to the Vatican for an official annulment must be granted before a second marriage would be recognized in the eyes of the church. The Pope must directly okay all royal annulments (so as to avoid pressure on local clerics), and the Vatican does not necessarily speed the wheels of bureaucracy. So a final decree might not be forthcoming until November or later. --By E. Gray don Carter

On the Record

Prince Charles, 34, on the countless rooms in Buckingham Palace: "I haven't counted them. There are some we haven't been in, but quite a few people might have been living in them for several years unbeknownst."

Richard Lamm, 47, Governor of Colorado, on the old adage that the economy follows women's skirt lengths: "Hemlines now are just below the knee but split to the thigh. I'm not sure what that means." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.