Paris Hilton: Celebrity News

Posted on 22 Feb 2007 by Paris

Austria’s top celebrity event of the week was almost foiled by German border guards when they stopped celebrity heiress Paris Hilton from heading to Vienna on an expired passport.

Border agents in Munich on Wednesday told the star guest of Vienna’s Opera Ball that she could not fly into Austria when she produced an expired passport at the controls.

“My passport had expired,” a sheepish Hilton told reporters at a news conference on Thursday at a packed Vienna cinema in a mall owned by her host, Austrian building tycoon Richard Lugner.

The U.S. embassy vouched for Hilton when contacted by German authorities, and the heiress of the hotel empire was allowed to go on. But Hilton had to check in at the embassy Thursday morning at 8.30 a.m. (0730 GMT) to get an emergency passport.

Hilton’s early start came after millionaire Lugner, who since 1992 has made it a personal quest to adorn his private box at the ball with renowned showbiz figures, took her to a Valentine’s Day party where she stayed until 2 a.m. before retreating to her suite in the Vienna Hilton.

“There were really nice and sweet at the party,” said Hilton, who wore a black dress dotted with white stars. “It’s a beautiful city. I have a great view from my hotel room.”

Lugner made his fortune in the construction industry and is a society luminary in Vienna where his nickname is “mortar”.

Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, acting legend Sophia Loren, former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, have accompanied Lugner over the past years to the highlight of Austria’s ball season staged in the neo-romantic splendour of one of the world’s most famous opera houses.

But none of them drew the same crowd for giving autographs to the Lugner City mall. Around 2,000 cheering, camera-phone toting fans lined up to get cans of sparkling wine Hilton is advertising for signed by the socialite.

Only a few were handed out before security guards whisked Hilton away after people in the crowd began throwing lighters, lipstick and other items for her to sign.

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