A Regal Rapture Over Chicago

His Royal Badness, Prince, is telling everyone, "I love Chicagoand everyone in it . . . except for the critics," who generallypanned his opening night at the Chicago Theatre. The singer alsofell in love with Chicago shopping, spending all day Monday doingjust that - spending - at Water Tower Place while 20 members of hisband were audience members at the Oprah Winfrey Show. (For a reviewof his impromptu gig at Metro, see Page 45.)

NOW IT CAN BE TOLD: Chicagoan Abby Hart, head concierge at theFour Seasons Hotel, was one of the 12 jurors (selected from a fieldof 1,800) for the simulated trial of accused Martin Luther King Jr.assassin James Earl Ray, which HBO aired last weekend to coincidewith the 25th anniversary of King's murder.

"Everyone involved with it was totally sworn to secrecy," Hartsaid, to prevent the "verdict" from getting out. The "jurors" foundRay innocent. Hart reports that many of those involved in thelate-January taping are "convinced J. Edgar Hoover was somehowinvolved in King's death . . . and this will lead to a real new trialfor Ray."

WASHINGTON TRIBUTE: For the April 15 Harold WashingtonFoundation fund-raiser, the late mayor's press secretary, AltonMiller, has written a narrative of Washington's own words, titled,"We're Climbing A Great Mountain." It'll be read at the gala markingWashington's birthday and the 10th anniversary of his becoming mayor.

PHONE HOME: Jodie Foster has three unlisted phone numbers."One's for my friends, but because of leaks, I have to change itevery six months. The second one's just for my agent, lawyer andbusiness manager. . . . And the third's only for my mom."