This week on Topic A, Henry the Intern finally had the release he was waiting for: coverage of Prince Charles' wedding to his longtime mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles. Back on Tina's adopted side of the pond, Condi Rice is an "iron girl," Liz Smith talks of her new I Love Celebrities So Much, It Makes Me Wanna Bake book, and Lloyd Grove admits he has no life. After the jump, Henry's giddy review.

Most-anticipated "Topic A" ever? Well, excluding the debut. Best "Topic A" ever? It was up there. First transatlantic "Topic A"? Signs point to yes. Tina was sure in her element and each segment was engaging and, dare I say, enlightening? For once I yearned for an expanded edition. If only. Oh, thank you, Tina.

The show began with Tina settled "outside Windsor Castle" for a roundup of the royal wedding with the actor and screenwriter Stephen Fry. The jubilant Fry said the crowd "just went crazy," the Queen "was really twinkling," and a smiling Camilla "was in a fabulous mood." Though he is friends with the Princes, journalists often have more insight, he said, because "sometimes the spectator sees more of the game."

When Fry spoke of Princess Diana, he told Tina, "People have argued you created her." She politely deferred: "Get to the chase." Indeed, the focus was on Camilla, who, Fry said, has self-confidence and wit, "the best possible lubricant" for life.

Back at CNBC HQ, Tina had interviewed Bernard-Henri Levy, who is retracing Alexis de Tocqueville's examination of democracy in America for The Atlantic. The Frenchman said America is largely "an unknown country" and the political arena is more intense than he expected. Levy thinks Bush is a "strange man" who overcompensates for insecurities with outward cockiness ("You brag a lot when you have something missing"); he sees Condi Rice a sexy "iron girl."

Next, Liz Smith discussed Dishing, her new book about food and gossip. Tina asked, "What's more important, the people or the food?" Smith replied, "It's about who you're going to eat with [because] a lot of [food] is fantasy" due to today's diets. Tina agreed, "It's a virtual kind-of feast." Smith compared The Elvis Presley Cookbook to pornography and admitted she contemplated "turning my kitchen into a closet" because she always eats out. She is planning a novel about life after death.

Then, Thomas de Zengotita, the author of Mediated: The Hidden Effects of Media on People, Places, and Things, explained how "people have just reached [such] a level of self-consciousness that [they] tend to perform [their lives] as well as live-them. [They] have an ongoing narrative line to what they're doing." He cited President Clinton as "a man who was performing his life." de Zengotita views O.J. Simpson's trial and the coverage of Princess Diana's funeral as transformative because there was a "virtual revolution" when it "became impossible to distinguish the event from the story." He believes "excessive mediation" has a positive effect: "You can only embrace diversity if you have digital access to it."

Lastly, an excellent editor's desk roundtable concluded the hour. Lloyd Grove, David Carr, Liz Smith, and Jessica Coen —representing the Daily News, the Times, the Post, and Gawker, respectively— speculated about the new, British-infused National Enquirer. Carr, in a pink shirt, thinks they have "been overwhlemed by all their un-holy spawn." Coen declared that the spawn have won. "I think [the Enquirer] can't keep up on the edgy stories," she said, so they should compete with "things that aren't necessarily as timely." Coen said her own work is "almost a response" to the media saturation.

Tina thinks the tabloid has a chance by focusing on crime. "I keep having a feeling that people are going to tire of celebrity," she said, and Smith agreed. Both admire the publication's accuracy rate. Smith: "If they say you're dying, you're dying."

Grove confessed he has "a young assistant" to tell him who's hot. He said his "column is not very different from what David writes," but Carr squashed that. Separately, Coen spoke up to question Smith: "How do we know whether or not to trust what you're saying" in that fluffy column? Smith just considers herself an observer.

Hot picks
Coen: MTV2's "Wonder Showzen" — "I am getting kind-of obsessed."
Carr: Beck's "Guero"
Smith: 109 East Palace by Jennet Conant — "I think she's bucking for a Pulitzer."
Grove: BBC's "The Office"— Tina: "You're such a snob." Lloyd: "You can watch it over and over again and I have, maybe because I have no life."
Tina: Sex with Kings by Eleanor Herman

Closing quote by Saul Bellow: "Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door."

P.S. Michael Stipe, interviewed from a red carpet, came out: "I like the Tina Brown show."