GIMMICKS: Does Lady Di Do Laundry?

The ads for Lady Di Dry Cleaners proclaimed the establishment to be "cleaners to the royal family." But the business is not near Buckingham Palace or, for that matter, in Britain. Opened last May by Diane Storoni and Gennaro Marinelli, Lady Di Dry Cleaners is a small chain of four shops in the San Diego area.

While few Californians are likely to believe that Prince Charles and Princess Diana send their dirty linen to San Diego, the ads were enough to offend Anglophiles in the area and draw two letters of complaint from the British consulate-general in Los Angeles.

Lady Di Dry Cleaners refuses to drop the "cleaners to the royal family" line or to change its name, and the consulate admits it cannot legally force the owners to do so. Storoni insists that "Lady Di" is a childhood nickname. Those who are offended, says Partner Marinelli, should ask for "a little less starch in their laundry."