The all-new 2015 Ford Mustang is set to officially make its debut tomorrow morning, and while the photos have leaked, it's still going to be quite an event for the auto world.

That's partly because the redesign coincides with the 50th birthday of the first true pony car.

So before we move into the brave new world, here's a look back at 11 key moments from the past 50 years that helped make the Mustang the ultimate symbol of the American car.

1964: In April, the very first Mustang, the 1965 model, made its debut at the World's Fair in New York City. It was a smash hit from the start: Ford took 22,000 orders the first day, and had sold a million within two years. Price: $2,368.

1964: Later that year, the Mustang made its film debut in "Goldfinger," driven by villain Tilly Masterson. It loses out to Bond's Aston Martin DB5 after a chase through the Swiss Alps.

1965: In 1964, Ford asked Carroll Shelby to create a performance version of the Mustang that would also be street-legal. The result was the 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350, a fastback model whose 289-cubic inch V8 engine produced 306 horsepower.

1968: Steve McQueen hopped behind the wheel of a 1968 Mustang GT390 for one of the most famous car chase scenes in cinema, a 10-minute nail-biter through the streets of San Francisco, in "Bullitt."

1971: The Mustang hits peak size, ending up a foot longer and 600 pounds heavier than the original.

1974:Ford slimmed down the pony car, introducing the Mustang II. The new version was 19 inches shorter and 490 pounds lighter than the outgoing 1973 model, and reflected Americans' growing concerns about fuel economy after the 1973 oil crisis.

1979: Facing an "identity crisis," according to Ford, the Mustang's designers used the automaker's "Fox" body to make the 1979 Mustang, a longer, taller, and simpler car than the Mustang II.

1984: The limited production Mustang SVO brought a host of technical advances to the line, with a turbocharged 2.3-liter engine that boosted performance.

1987: Ford decided to base the new Mustang on a front wheel drive Mazda, then backed off after a public outcry. Instead, it put out a rear-wheel drive car with a major face lift and a V8 engine that pumped out 225 horsepower.

1994: In the early 1990s, Ford considered killing the Mustang. It decided to press ahead, and for its 30th birthday, gave the Mustang its first major redesign in 15 years.

2013: With the 662-horsepower 2013 Shelby GT500, Ford gave America the world's most powerful V8-powered production car.

SEE ALSO: The 50 Sexiest Cars Of The Past 100 Years

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Expect to see a lot of "Radiant Orchid" around next year — Pantone just announced the purple hue as it's 2014 Color Of The Year.

It might sound silly, but retailers and designers pay attention to Pantone's yearly selections. And the "global color authority" takes the Color Of The Year very seriously.

To select the color, Pantone "quite literally combs the world looking for color influences," according to its website.

They look at the entertainment industry, new art collections, popular travel destinations, and technology.

Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute Leatrice Eiseman has made the color decision for the past 13 years.

Pantone's Vice President of Consumer Licensing Lisa Herbert told Business Insider in April how the process works: "We deliver the news in a sealed envelope, and we have our representatives go out to [partner companies] in their trench coats with their suitcases. They have to sign a confidentiality agreement and the color cannot be revealed until we say so."

This year's color was emerald.

SEE ALSO: Meet The Secret Powerbroker Who Decides The Color Of The Year

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Caracas, Venezuela is the most expensive place for foreigners, according to a new Cost of Living survey by consulting firm ECA International.

Tokyo dropped from most expensive expatriate destination in the world to 10th as a softer Yen caused several Japanese cities to be much less expensive than in 2012. 

Tokyo and Beijing are the most expensive cities in Asia. Costs in African cities is rising across the board.

Tel Aviv is now the 24th most expensive (up from 46th) while Paris came in at 29th.

New York City stayed at 50. Interestingly, London is not on the list.

SEE ALSO: US Expat Describes The Best And Worst Things About England

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Wal-Mart heiress gets Texas DWI arrest expunged after prosecutors decline to press charges

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Alice Walton, the billionaire daughter of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton, has had a 2011 arrest in Texas for suspected drunken driving cleared from her record after prosecutors declined to press formal charges.

The arrest was expunged from Walton's record during a hearing Monday in Parker County, Texas, which is just west of Fort Worth. Parker County Assistant Prosecutor Fred Barker told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://is.gd/AH52bq ) in October that he expected Walton's request to be granted and that case records would be destroyed. He declined to discuss the matter Monday.

"It's a criminal offense to discuss any information related to an expunction. As such, we have no information to provide," Barker said.

Walton, 64, was arrested Oct. 7, 2011. Texas prosecutors never filed formal charges against Walton and the two-year statute of limitations expired, meaning the case against her could no longer be pursued.

Tom Vinger, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the trooper who arrested Walton was suspended in March for alleged misconduct and hadn't returned to duty, and was thus unavailable to testify in Walton's case.

Mac Smith, the Texas attorney who represented Walton, didn't immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment left Tuesday by The Associated Press.

In documents seeking to clear Walton's record, Smith noted that the arrest was for an alleged misdemeanor.

"No information or indictment was ever filed by the state and the statute of limitations for this offense expired on Oct. 7, 2013," Smith wrote.

Court records said the officer arrested Walton based on her performance in field-sobriety tests. Walton told Davis she has an injured leg and couldn't perform balance tests under any circumstances.

The newspaper reported previously that defense lawyers submitted letters from two physicians saying Walton cannot walk or maintain her balance normally. The doctors said she was injured in a motor-vehicle accident in Mexico in November 1983 that left her left leg shorter than her right.

Walton had previously been convicted in 1998 of drunken driving in Springdale, Ark., following a single-vehicle accident.

In 1989, her vehicle struck and killed a woman who was walking in traffic on Arkansas 265 in the state's northwest. Walton was not cited and police said she wasn't at fault in the accident.

Walton, whose father was Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, has a net worth of $33.5 billion, which Forbes magazine says makes her the eighth-wealthiest American. The Texas citation was filed a month before the opening of the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art in Bentonville, which she founded.

___

Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com

MEET THE WALTONS: A Guide To America's Wealthiest Family

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This post is sponsored by The Webby Awards.

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Enter the 18th Annual Webby Awards before the final entry deadline of December 20th. You can't win if you don't enter. Submit your work for a Webby Award now.

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Although the photos leaked early, it wasn't until today that we got our first, official look at the 2015 Ford Mustang GT.

We'll see the car in person later today, but based on the photos, it looks good.

The new Mustang will come as a convertible and as a fastback, with three engine options: the big 5.0-liter V8, a 3.7-liter V6, and the less thirsty 2.3-liter EcoBoost engine that Ford throws under the hood of basically every car it makes these days.

The V8 will produce over 420 horsepower and the V6 generates 305.

Ford kept the long hood and short rear, but made the car lower and wider than the outgoing model. It also threw in sequential turn signals— always a cool feature.

Now for the photos. Fastbacks always look their best in profile:

 The silver isn't bad, either:

SEE ALSO: 11 Moments That Made The Ford Mustang The Ultimate American Car

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By day, Jon Lovitch is the executive sous chef at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge. But by night, he's the creator of what has become, officially, the largest gingerbread village in the world. 

With 164 separate structures that weigh in at a total of 1.5 tons, this isn't your typical gingerbread creation.

There's a school, town hall, egg nog distillery, pierogi store, hot chocolate brewery, and train station. Nearly 2,240 pounds of snow-like icing coat the miniature city.

"GingerBread Lane" is on display at the New York Hall of Science in Queens now through mid-January, but preparation and construction is actually a yearlong process. Lovitch has dedicated about 1,500 hours of work to the village since February, baking each individual structure separately and storing them in an empty bedroom in his South Bronx apartment. 

The hard work has paid off — the Guinness Book of World Records has officially declared it the world's largest gingerbread village. 

And working on the festive project gives him a good break from his day job.

"Very little you prepare as a chef can last beyond a few days, and the products have to be as fresh as possible," Lovitch said to Business Insider. "Stuff with [GingerBread Lane] hits the floor, it's still used. If product breaks or has issues, I just reuse it. Also the taste with GBL is not relevant. At all. Only the smell."

The display gets some pretty entertaining reactions from visitors, many of them small children. 

"They just stare in amazement, and wonderment," he said. "It's pretty flattering."

After all of that hard work, disassembling the village will be tough, but visitors who happen to be there may get a treat. 

"[It's] gutwrenching, makes you almost cry. When I go that day,I stare at it for an hour or more, just stare. Then finally force myself to tear it down," he said. "If there's a big crowd to take a piece home, the giveaway — it makes it so much easier."

SEE ALSO: The First-Ever Christmas Tree At Rockefeller Center Was Pretty Pathetic [PHOTO]

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When you have a big, blank wall to fill, your first thought may be a gallery wall. There’s nothing wrong with that, but sometimes it’s nice to break up all of that flat framed artwork with something different. Enter baskets, brackets, paint-dipped objects, wall sculptures, special paint effects and more. Check out these 12 ways to fill your walls with color and creativity.

1. Cluster colorful baskets. Why hang one or two baskets when you can hang a whole bunch? Collect decorative woven baskets in various sizes and colors, and play around with possible arrangements on the floor before hanging them. Can't find colorful baskets? Create your own by painting the interior of plain baskets with craft paint.


2. Layer giant letters. In this case two is definitely better than one — a pair of oversize letters, whether vintage or new, makes a big statement anywhere you put them. Slightly overlapping the letters creates an even stronger graphic statement than hanging them side by side.


3. Make a dip-painted wall sculpture. Yes, the piece shown here was created by an artist — but that doesn't mean you can't craft your own spin on it. Try dip-paining an old farm implement or wood-handled cooking tools in brightly colored paint to give them a modern twist, then hang them on the wall.


4. Tape off a graphic statement wall. Paint a base color on your wall, then tape off sections (these will show through later) and paint the next coat in a contrasting hue. Vary the width of your taped-off stripes to create a random look similar to what is shown here. Hang pictures or just let the wall be a statement on its own.

5. Use wall brackets to bring dimension to your art. Instead of just hanging art directly on the wall, why not try propping it up on decorative wall brackets? It would boost visual interest, and you can change things around whenever you feel like it — framed prints one day, bud vases the next.

6. Hang your hats. Don't let cool hats hide behind closed doors — show off your fedoras, trilbies, cloches and skimmers on hooks on the wall for a functional display. Unless you are going for a dorm room–bachelor pad vibe, I would avoid hanging baseball caps. No hats? Try the same thing with your statement necklaces for a similar effect.

7. Add oomph with framed paper. Lengths of wallpaper framed with basic wooden wall molding beef up the headboards of a pair of four-posters in any bedroom.

8. Track down a vintage sign. A massive vintage store sign is sure to become the focal point of the room — so choose one you really love.


9. Go subtly sophisticated with wainscot paneling. Create architectural interest on a plain wall by using 4- to 6-inch-wide pieces of MDF wainscot paneling applied in a grid pattern, then paint it all a superrich, dark hue.

10. Stick a message on the wall. Yes, I said stick, not paint: Use a projector to display the message across a door and wall and trace it onto black contact paper. The contact paper can be peeled off, so this is a perfect project for renters ... or if you want to test out an idea before committing to it with paint.

11. Go retro with a metal wall sculpture. We can thank Jonathan Adler for creating a new wave of popularity for the midcentury metal wall sculptures of C. Jere— these cool retro pieces make frequent appearances in Adler-designed spaces, and he has reissued several C. Jere designs, so it is now much easier to find them. Here interior designer Soledad Alzaga used a linen-covered canvas to frame the wall sculpture, giving it even more depth.

Don't want to spend the bucks on a C. Jere original? There were many other makers of metal wall sculptures who produced work in a similar style during the same time period. Try using a phrase like "vintage metal wall sculpture" in your web search and you should be able to track down plenty of options at all price points.

12. Hang something with an interesting pattern. Keep an open mind and you can find unique wall hangings just about anywhere: metal sheets used to cover radiators, garden fencing, punched tin doors, woven screens, baskets … the list is endless. Check your own garage, attic and storage shed, and keep an eye out for curbside freebies — you never know what you may find!

More From Houzz:

•Hire an interior designer to find that just-right sofa and coffee table for your living room
•Browse through a wide selection of decorators and find the perfect fit for your bedroom remodel
•Find home remodeling professionals, local residential architects and top decorators in your area.

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If Amazon discounts a product you just ordered, there's a quick and easy way to get your money back. 

Reddit user poorsol posted an exchange with the retailer to demonstrate how easy it is to get a refund. 

In a brief chat with an Amazon customer service representative, poorsol explains that the wine rack he originally bought for $28.52 has been discounted by about $8. 

The rep says that the company will refund for any discounts made within seven days of your purchase: 

We dug around Amazon's website and couldn't find anything about this policy, so we decided to chat customer service. 

They confirmed that this is the policy: 

SEE ALSO: What Victoria's Secret Workers Think When Men Walk Into The Store

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Click for sound.

Dry cleaning expert Wayne Edelman, of Meurice Garment Care,  explains why getting your suit cleaned is essential to keeping it fresh. 

Produced by Justin Gmoser; Additional Camera by Alana Kakoyiannis

SEE ALSO: The Mystery Behind Dry Cleaning Revealed

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Flavored booze. "Millennials" dig it, "purists" hate it, and now the CEO of one of America's most iconic spirits has weighed in.

Paul Varga, the chief executive of Brown-Forman, says that drinkers can expect the Jack Daniel's brand to remain "conservative."

"When you're dealing with the Jack Daniel's trademark, you're going to be extra careful," Varga said on an analyst call (picked up by the Wall Street Journal's Ben Fox Rubin). "I suspect we'll have more ideas that we'll treat just as conservatively."

Well, it depends what your definition of conservative is. As Rubin notes, Jack Daniel's just rolled out a new seasonal Winter Jack that blends the spirit with "apple cider liqueur and spices."

And there's the Tennessee Honey brand. Which, in your humble booze correspondent's opinion, is the Fall Out Boy of liquor.

According to Varga, Tennessee Honey brand has been hugely successful, and he doesn't see JD drinkers coming down with the kind of "flavor fatigue" seen with vodka (and maybe gin).

But to a certain extent, you've got to give the people what they want.

Read the full report at the Wall Street Journal »

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"This World Cup draw in Bahia may be the most ridiculous boondoggle of all time," Sports Illustrated's soccer writer Grant Wahl said yesterday.

The 2014 World Cup Draw will be held Friday in Costa do Sauipe — an isolated luxury resort near the port city of Salvador.

There are no residents within a 30-mile radius of the resort, according to ESPN's Gab Marcotti. And some are criticizing the event and its price tag ($11 million) as the height of FIFA's over-the-top extravagance.

The resort features swan boats, turtles, horseback rides, and white sand beaches. It's lavish, particularly when you consider the national economic woes that spawned widespread protests last summer.

The resort has nearly four miles of beaches.

It's split into a number of hotels. Here's the Sauipe Park Hotel.

Where the FIFA big wigs are staying.

Click here to see the gift guide >>

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Little differences over a long lifetime create big disparities. This is the nature of compounding. If you make decisions only a little better than your cohort that should translate into a big difference over a lifetime.

Someone who saves money for retirement is probably going to be in a better situation come 65 than someone who didn’t start saving until they were 45.

Here are five books that I think everyone should read before they turn 30. Reading and understanding these will give you an edge, however slight, that will increase the odds that things will work out to your satisfaction. When you’re a rich billionaire because of this, just remember me ok.

1. "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion"
Psychologist Robert Cialdini introduces the universal principles of influence: reciprocation, scarcity, authority, commitment, liking, and consensus. Sure you can watch the short video but its not the same. Buy the book. Why do you need to learn these? To paraphrase Publius Syrus, ‘He can best avoid a snare who knows how to set one.’ After you read this book move on to "Poor Charlie’s Almanack."

2. "Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin To Munger"
The last time I mentioned this book Farnam Street readers flooded my inbox. I’ll try to address the two primary concerns that appeared. First, if you can’t find it new just purchase a used copy. Who cares? Second: Yes it’s an “expensive” book. Ignorance is more expensive. Just buy it.

3. "Letters from a Stoic"
I came to Seneca a few years after I turned 30. It’s clear from reading Seneca that he’s full of wisdom. His letters deal with everything we deal with today: success, failure, wealth, poverty, grief. His philosophy is practical. Not only will reading this book help equip you for what comes in life but it’ll help you communicate with others.

4. "The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus"
A Syrian slave, Syrus is a full of timeless wisdom. Want an example? “From the errors of others, a wise man corrects his own.” Here is another “It is not every question that deserves an answer.” Ok, one more? “To do two things at once is to do neither.” And he didn’t even know of Facebook and Twitter. You can read this book in under an hour but spend the rest of your life trying to learn and apply his wisdom.

5. "The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America, Third Edition"
I’d much rather recommend "Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders" (also freely available), however I recognize that most people would be intimidated by its size. In the Essays, Lawrence Cunningham thematically organizes Buffett’s own words. There is more than enough here to get a clear picture of the principles and logic of Buffett and Munger’s philosophy for business, life, and investing.

If you’re over 30, that’s ok too. It’s never too late.

SEE ALSO: The 6 Most Influential Business Books In 2013

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Ford officially unveiled the 2015 Mustang GT today, and after taking the chance to see it in person, we're impressed.

The latest incarnation of the original pony car comes as a convertible and a fastback, and with three engine options: a 5.0-liter V8, a 3.7-liter V6, and Ford's 2.3-liter, four cylinder EcoBoost engine.

The outside is a grab bag of sharp lines that look pretty good together. Dave Pericak, chief engineer for the Mustang, said there's "a lot going on," but argued the lines and details are "harmonious."

In contrast, Ford has kept the interior simple, almost sparse. That's a good thing, because this is a driver's car, and there's no need for much besides seats, a steering wheel, pedals, and a shifter.

At a reveal event in New York today, Ford showed off the convertible with a manual transmission (the automatic will come standard with shifter paddles).

There aren't too many buttons. That's always a good thing.

Ford didn't go for the electric parking brake.

The push button start/stop is a standard feature. The four toggles next to it control the Mustang's drive mode. Choices include normal, track, and snow/wet. Cooled and heated seats are a nice feature, and the extra warmth should let drivers keep the top down in chillier weather.

This is the 50th anniversary of the Mustang, so Ford added a reminder.

This is a two-door car, so we didn't expect a big backseat.

SEE ALSO: 11 Moments That Made The Ford Mustang The Ultimate American Car

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When we learned Olive Garden was coming out with a burger, we were intrigued. 

As lifelong patrons of the Italian chain (and fans of the breadsticks), we still weren't sure what to expect. Burgers are uncharted territory at Olive Garden, a place known for cheesy pasta dishes. 

We visited the Olive Garden in the Flatiron district of Manhattan, armed with a $25 giftcard from the company. 

Despite the fact that the burger just came out this week, Olive Garden didn't do much to highlight it on the menu. We found it under "Sandwiches."  

Here's how the menu describes it: 

We asked the waiter for his opinion. He responded by saying "I like it" and shrugging. We also asked whether the item was popular, and he said some people had ordered it. 

We ordered two burgers. The sandwich comes with your choice of soup or salad. The waiter also brought breadsticks to our table. 

After snacking on some salad and breadsticks, it was time for the main event: 

Our initial impression upon first bite was that the burger was bland. The meat itself did not seem to have any seasoning. As we continued to eat, we began to taste the garlic aioli, which had the consistency of olive oil rather than mayonnaise. 

The prosciutto provided the burger with a nice crunch, but lacked the saltiness that usually makes the cured meat so enjoyable. Here's what the toppings looked like: 

The bread had the consistency of ciabatta, with a hint of herb. The consistency was fine, but something about the bread didn't taste fresh. It also broke apart and became soggy.

To be fair, this problem is fairly normal for huge restaurant burgers. 

The burger was just too bland for us. We were left wishing it had more condiments, like a balsamic dressing or a sun-dried tomato spread. 

As for the fries, they reminded us a lot of McDonald's. The only difference was a dusting of garlic Parmesan: 

Overall, the Olive Garden burger wasn't bad. But we don't think it's good enough to threaten competitors like T.G.I. Friday's, Red Robin, and Applebee's. 

Burger fans will probably continue to frequent more traditional burger joints. Meanwhile, Olive Garden fans can come for the breadsticks. 

SEE ALSO: The Worst Fast Food Employees Of The Year

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DigitalGlobe has compiled the 20 coolest satellite images from 2013, taken by the company's five Earth-imaging satellites.

The company is asking fans to vote for their favorite birds-eye views of Earth on its Facebook page. 

The top five images with the most "likes" will make it to the final round later this month. The website will announce the winning image in early January 2014.  

Right now, a medieval fortified palace in Syria's largest city, Aleppo, is in the lead with 572 likes. 

Check out all of the images here, then head over to the Facebook album to vote for your favorite. 

The Cambambe Dam on the Cuanza River in southern Africa's Angola. (April 28, 2013)

A false color image of wildfires in the Australian state of Tasmania. Healthy vegetation is colored red. (Jan. 6, 2013)

The Citadel of Aleppo, a medieval fortified palace in Syria. If you rotate the picture 180 degrees, the "hole" becomes a "hill," an interesting optical illusion. (May 26, 2013)

Since 2005, Bugatti has been producing various models and special editions of one of mankind's greatest automobiles, the Veyron.

Today, the luxury brand, owned by Volkswagen, announced it has sold its 400th Veyron — and it will sell only 50 more.

Of the 400 purchased so far, 300 were the Veyron 16.4 or 16.4 Super Sport, both coupes. The Super Sport is the fastest production car ever made.

Bugatti won't make any more of either car, so new owners will have to settle for the roadster Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport and 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse. 

The 400th Veyron sold was the third and final Vitesse "Jean-Pierre Wimille" special edition, for a whopping €2.13 million ($2,91 million), before taxes.

So if you forgot to put your name down for the Ferrari Laferrari before it sold out, and you've got to find another use for that huge wad of cash you've been saving up, move quickly.

SEE ALSO: What It's Like To Drive A $370,000 Rolls-Royce Through The Arizona Desert

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Château de Villersexel, a French castle that was once the home of the noble Grammont family, is on the market at a $17.1 million asking price, The Wall Street Journal reports.

According to the owner, Baron Jean-Pierre Potet, the castle was destroyed twice: once in the year 1000 and again in 1871, during a battle of the Franco-Prussian War. When the Marquis de Grammont left the estate to fight in World War II, French civilians looted the castle, taking nearly all of its furnishings. 

Using old photos as an aid, Potet was able to recover most of the original decor from nearby antique stores. The 38,000-square-foot chateau has an astounding 30 bedrooms and 15  bathrooms and is being sold with all of its historic furnishings intact. The 74-acre property also includes horse stables and a working farm. 

The property is being sold by Xavier Attal of Immo Best International. 

The Château de Villersexel lies on 74 acres of property in northeast France, near the border with Switzerland.

The centuries-old castle is designed in the Louis XIII style.

Steps lead up to an imposing front door.

There was one story that dominated the British papers today. It trended on social media, and slogans related to the story are now appearing in graffiti on walls and on T-shirts. It's a winding tale of love, cocaine, and domestic violence. In short, everyone in the U.K. has become captivated by the bitter feud between divorcees Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi.

It's been a nasty fall from grace for the pair. After they married ten years ago, Lawson and Saatchi were once one of the golden couples of London society. She was a popular celebrity journalist and chef, appearing frequently both in print and on television (Lawson was in the process of trying to break into the U.S. market, where she appeared on "Iron Chef America" and "The Taste," following the earlier success of her "Nigella Bites" program airing on The Food Network). He was a legend in the advertising world, having made a fortune founding the huge agency Saatchi and Saatchi, and later became one of the most important collectors in the world of modern art.

That all changed this past June, when Lawson and Saatchi dined at Scott’s in Mayfair, central London, and the Sunday People published photographs that appeared to show Saatchi grabbing his crying wife by the throat. Police later investigated the incident and cautioned Saatchi, who told one London newspaper that the photo just showed a "playful tiff." A few weeks later, Saatchi divorced his wife.

The story would have probably been forgotten if it hadn't been for the court case of Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo, two sisters from Italy who had worked as assistants for Lawson and Saatchi. The Grillo sisters are accused of using credit cards loaned to them by the couple to spend £685,000 (more than $1 million) on luxury clothes, accessories and rooms at high-end hotels for themselves, charges which they deny.

During the trial, lawyers for the sisters alleged that Lawson had allowed their incredible spending to buy their silence about her cocaine, marijuana, and prescription drug habit. Emails from Saatchi, in which he accused Lawson of being "so off her head" on drugs she allowed them to "spend whatever they liked," were read in court. Suddenly the pictures published by the Sunday People began to take on a different light: Saatchi reportedly told friends he was taking cocaine out of his wife's nose, though in court he said he had never seen any evidence that she was a drug addict.

If this was Saatchi's big PR move to get back at Lawson (as some have speculated), it now appears to have backfired. Lawson has been in court for the past few days, and she has openly admitted to using cocaine a handful of times, but denied that she was addicted. "If I was taking cocaine and cannabis to the extent you say, I wouldn't be standing here," she told prosecutors today, also adding "If you want to put me on trial, put me on trial."

Her performance in court has found much of the British public on her side. "Team Nigella" is the word trending on social media, being spray-painted on walls, and appearing on T-shirts. and the Daily Mail ran an elegant photograph of her on their front page with the touching headline "I didn't have a drug problem. I had a life problem – The day Nigella unburdened her soul in court" (as the Guardian notes, the story and its presentation has a whiff of Princess Diana about it). Team Charles, meanwhile, is nowhere to be seen.

How could Saatchi have lost the public sympathy so quickly? Well, first, consider the two people here. Saatchi has played an extraordinary role in British society in the past few years, and some aspects of it have been controversial — creating the advertisement that arguably got Margaret Thatcher elected, or helping to send art prices into the stratosphere, for example. He's notoriously cantankerous, and extremely rich. Lawson, on the other hand, has always been remarkably popular in the U.K. — her good looks, down-to-earth cooking style, and flirty manner have made her popular with both men and women.

There's may also be another factor that says much about modern Britain: The metropolitan elites who made up much of Lawson's fanbase perhaps don't care or aren't surprised that a prominent media personality would take cocaine. As James Ball, special projects editor of the Guardian, sardonically tweeted yesterday: "BREAKING: posh person in TV industry has used cocaine. I'm sure a nation is in shock." Cocaine usage may not be a big deal for many of these fans, but accusations of bullying or violence of a wife by her millionaire spouse are. Whether American audiences will be so relaxed about Lawson's drug use remains to be seen, however.

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