NEWS LITE : DOWNSIZING MAY AFFECT PRINCESSES.

The daughters of Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, the Duchess of York, formerly Sarah Ferguson, will be asked to renounce their titles of princess when they turn 18, The Sunday Times said.

Quoting unnamed royal sources, the newspaper said Princess Beatrice, 10, and Princess Eugenie, 9, would instead have the more modest ``Lady'' before their names and would also lose their titles of Her Royal Highness.

The newspaper described the move as another effort to slim down and modernize Britain's royal family.

Asked to comment, a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said she was ``not aware of any discussions that have taken place on that.''

The royal family and Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labor government have been examining ways of limiting the number of royals who get state funds and perform royal duties.

Queen Elizabeth II gave her youngest son, Prince Edward, a title when he married June 19.

He became the Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn, and his wife, the former Sophie Rhys-Jones who acquired the status of princess, became Her Royal Highness the Countess of Wessex.

The palace also announced that any children of the marriage will not have the titles prince or princess, and will not receive the designation Royal Highness.

Russian contestant crowned Miss Europe

Russia finally has something to cheer about. While the economy may be sour and President Yeltsin in ill health, they do have a beauty queen. Miss Russia, 17-year-old Elena Rogojina, took the Miss Europe crown over the weekend in a ceremony in Beirut. She beat out 39 contestants from the continent.

The first runner-up was Miss Italy, Cristina Cellai, and second runner-up was Miss Estonia, Cadri Galjaots.

Stooge fans to honor unsung one

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. Larry Fine, the frizzy-haired member of the Three Stooges who suffered never-ending abuse from Moe and Curly, is getting gentler treatment in his hometown.

A wise guy Philadelphia weekly is leading an effort to raise $25,000 to paint a mural of Fine on South Street, a funky stretch of restaurants and tattoo and tongue-piercing parlors.

Is the money coming in? Why, soitenly.

So far, the weekly has raised about $2,900 without once resorting to eye-poking or hair-pulling (or head-bopping, pie-throwing or administering a smack across three faces in a row).

The tentative design is a 20-by-20-foot painting of the put-upon Stooge's face, his eyes wide in anticipation, on the bull's eye of a target.

The artist who will paint the mural, David McShane, is a Three Stooges fan who spent his childhood re-enacting the boys' antics with his five brothers.

``Although Larry was the local guy, he's probably the most overlooked. Most of the stuff we did was more Curlyisms,'' said McShane, launching into a recitation of Stooge lines (``Niagara Falls. Slowly I turn . . .'') ``He was always getting his hair pulled, and Moe would be left with a big hunk of his hair.''

The Philadelphia Weekly decided Fine would make good wall art after the Philadelphia Daily News raised money for a mural of Frank Sinatra in heavily Italian South Philly. The Weekly complained that Sinatra was from New Jersey, and it suggested honoring instead a real Philadelphian, namely one Larry Fine.

``We basically did it as a lark, and we just started hearing from people - police officers, lawyers, Stooge fan club members,'' said Tim Whitaker, the weekly's editor.

Fine was born in a row house on South Philadelphia's South Street in 1902. The mural will be painted next door on the side of Jon's Bar & Grill. Fine died in 1975. Moe Howard and his brothers Curly and Shemp are long gone, too.

Meeting Cher fulfills boy's wish

All Eric Campbell had to do was ``Believe.''

It was a dream come true for the 11-year-old boy when he got to meet his idol Cher, whose song kept him going during daily radiation treatments for an inoperable, life-threatening brain tumor.

``She thought I was good,'' Eric said after Cher embraced him and gave him a kiss during a concert stop in Tampa, Fla., Friday.

The boy gave the 53-year-old singer a tiny rose pin and a thank you card during their meeting, made possible with help from the Fulfill a Wish Foundation.

``I like her music. I think it's good,'' Eric said. ``And well, I think she's pretty . . . even though she's older than my mom and dad. And gosh, my dad is like 30.''

Stowe's a longtime fan of Travolta's

As a teen-ager, Madeleine Stowe was so enamored with John Travolta, her co-star in ``The General's Daughter,'' that she faked being a reporter in order to meet him.

``I actually pretended to be a journalist,'' Stowe said in an interview in this week's People magazine.

``John's publicist was very nice, but he did say, `John is too busy and, by the way, what publication are you from, miss?' I've never told John any of this.''

If anything, Stowe, 40, is even more impressed with Travolta after filming ``The General's Daughter,'' in which the pair investigate the death of the title character.

``He's so nice that one day I was talking to him, and I was like, Why don't you knock it off? No one is that nice. But he is. He was nice every single day for four months.''

Elton John plans to dig out of debt

Elton John, the big-spending singer who accumulates homes, fabulous jewels, top-of-the-range wigs and luxury cars as fast as he makes hits, is seeking a $40 million loan to pay off bills, The Sunday Times reported.

John is negotiating with a London finance house, Samuel Montagu, and has agreed to sign over income from future hits as well as proceeds from old ones, the newspaper said, quoting unidentified sources.

The singer, who reportedly spends up to $400,000 a week on credit cards, will also offer his homes in England, France and the United States as collateral.

John, 52, needs most of the money to clear loans outstanding in Britain and the United States, including an $11 million overdraft with an English bank, and a loan of nearly $4 million, the newspaper said.

The Sunday Times estimated his fortune at $256 million, and his income from 1991 to 1996 at $131 million.

Paula Jones driving despite suspension

Paula Jones was ticketed early Sunday morning for having a suspended driver's license after she was pulled over for a burned out tail light, police said.

Jones was on Interstate 30, about 25 miles southwest of Little Rock, Ark., when she was stopped by state police at about 1:15 a.m., police said.

At the side of the highway, the trooper ran Jones' California license and learned it was suspended, state police spokesman Bill Sadler said. The National Crime Information Computer check said the suspension was for failure to appear on a misdemeanor charge out of Long Beach. Sadler did not know what the Long Beach charge was.

News Lite is compiled from Daily News staff and wire reports

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1) Artist David McShane holds a drawing of a mural to honor Larry Fine, a Philadelphia native known as ``the Stooge in the middle.''

Dan Loh/Associated Press

(2) Cher