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Princess Diana’s marriage advice William and Kate from beyond the grave

William, Kate and baby George and William's late mother Princess Diana.

William, Kate and George and William's late mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

Princess Diana has given marriage advice to her son Prince William from beyond the grave in a series of tapes apparently recorded before she died.

US magazine Globe reported the existence of the mysterious tapes on the weekend.

The publication claims Diana made the recordings for William shortly before she died in 1997 because she feared for her life.

In one audio clip, “Diana” urges William, “Cherish your children for me. Let them know I’ll love them and watch over them,” while in another she imagines his wife would be, “beautiful, smart and independent”.

“I know I’d adore you and we’d be fast friends,” the voice says of Kate. “You’d have to be someone truly special. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be William’s wife.”

The woman goes on to warn Kate about the pressures of public life and that being a future queen makes marriage harder.

Kensington Palace has refused to comment on the tapes, but one of Diana’s friends yesterday told The Mail on Sunday that the sentiments expressed in the recordings were “uncannily” like things Diana had told friends in the months before her death.

“Oh my God, I know her choice of words, the way she would say things and this sounds exactly like her,” businesswoman Lana Marks, who designed handbags for the princess, said.

“I knew Diana very well during the last 18 months of her life. Diana discussed with me in great detail what she wanted for William in terms of a wife, children — what she wanted for his future.

“When I hear the contents of the tape, they echo what she discussed with me in great detail. It is uncanny.”

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Prince George christening date confirmed

Prince George's Godparents announced

Kate and William will appear together at a charity gala next month.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have announced the date for Prince George’s christening,which will take place next month.

The ceremony will occur on October 23, a statement from Kensington Palace said.

“Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are pleased to announce the christening of Prince George will take place on Wednesday, 23rd October at The Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace,” the announcement said.

“Prince George will be christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby.”

Some details of the christening are known, like what the royal baby will be wearing on the big day — a replica of a 170-year-old gown that has been passed through the royal family — but yet to be confirmed is who the godparents will be.

No details have been announced yet but it is thought Prince George, who will be three months old at the time of his christening, will have as many as six godparents.

It is almost certain that among those honoured by becoming godparents to the third-in-line to the throne will be Prince Harry and Kate’s sister, Pippa Middleton.

Pippa is not only the mother’s sister, but played maid of honour at the 2011 royal wedding and is regarded at the Duchess’s best friend.

If William follows his father’s lead, he is likely to choose younger brother Prince Harry as a godfather, having been his best man.

Other royals in the running include Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, who is said to have been a great support to Kate throughout her pregnancy, and Peter Phillips, the Queen’s eldest grandchild.

William’s close cousin and the daughter of Princess Diana’s sister, 30-year-old Lady Emily McCorquodale, is also an outside chance to take on a godparent role.

More likely to take on the roles are Alicia Fox-Pitt, who studied with Kate, and Hugh van Cutsem, the son of one of Prince Charles’ closest friend and whose daughter Grace stole the show as a royal bridesmaid at William and Kate’s wedding.

Prince William and Harry each had six godparents, while Prince Charles had eight.

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Katy Perry considered suicide following divorce

Katy Perry considered suicide following divorce

Katy Perry has revealed she considered suicide during her darkest days following her divorce from comedian Russell Brand.

The 28-year-old pop star spoke candidly about her experience, saying the sad time in her life inspired many songs on her upcoming album Prism, including the song ‘By The Grace Of God’.

“That song is evident of how tough it really was at a certain point,” she told Billboard magazine. “I asked myself, ‘Do I want to endure? Should I continue living?’”

Katy and Russell ended their marriage in 2011 after he sent her a text message saying he wanted a divorce.

She told the magazine that all of the songs on the album were inspired by real-life events.

It was Katy’s divorce that also sparked her to anger US TV veteran Barbara Walters after arriving late to a pre-arranged interview.

“When I got there, I apologised immediately, but then she said to me, ‘You know, I’ve only ever waited for one other person this long and you know who that person was? Judy Garland. You know how she turned out, right?’ I was like, ‘Oh, snap! Yes, b—-,’” Katy said.

But despite the difficult circumstances, Katy decided to stay quiet on the real reason she was late.

“I just couldn’t tell her as we were sitting down for a mega-interview, ‘Hey, my marriage is falling apart. Give me a break’.”

Katy is now focused on her new boyfriend, fellow musician John Mayer, whom she credits for helping her get her life back on track.

“He is literally a genius, as is evident in his songwriting,” she said.

“I always tell him, ‘Darling, you know I’m going to give your mind to science after you’ve passed, because we’re going to have to understand how all these sparks work’.”

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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Celebrity couple twitter wars

Twitter has become the public hook-up AND break-up spot for celebs. With public declarations of love, subtle and not so subtle flirtations, and even out-right mean-girl behaviour. We take a look at some of the most memorable celebrity twitter wars.

It’s hard to remember back to 2008 when Lindsey Lohan was all over the tabloids for her partner of choice, not for stumbling out of nightclubs.

The American actress dated DJ, singer/songwriter Samantha for years but for a long time kept the truth about their relationship secret.

When things finally did come to an end between the two, their once secret love turned into a public twitter war.

Lindsay didn’t shy away from revealing Ronson had cheated on her.

“I was right all along. Cheat!” she famously revealed.

The star didn’t stop there but continued her barrage of emotional tweets.

“Being cheated on does wonders to you. I’m doing this publicly because u & ur friends call [US magazine] People. So you win, you broke my heart. Now go away. I loved you.”

The world was shocked when Barbados songstress Rihanna took back her abusive ex-boyfriend Chris Brown.

But even more so when they watched their relationship come to a grinding halt once more, and once again, in the public eye.

In the beginning of May both Chris and Rihanna took to twitter with a series of not-so-cryptic tweets, signalling that once again, it was the end of their tumultuous relationship.

Chris tweeted his final goodbyes with this heart felt message. Rihanna on the other hand, was not so quick to give him her blessings.

American singer Rita Ora and reality star Kardashian brother, Rob, fired up one of the most heated and vicious twitter wars of them all.

The reality star took to twitter to express his disappointment that his relationship to the How we do (Party) singer had ended and accused her of cheating on him with 20 men.

Although Rita was originally shy to reply, the singer ended up declaring war on the public Twitter stage, claiming that she didn’t know the two of them were in a relationship.

“Rob’s d— was wack, I had to go get it somewhere else,” Ora tweeted.

Rob couldn’t help get in one final swing replying, “So you let me get you pregnant and you let others hit raw?”

The outrageous tweets were later removed from their twitter accounts but the damage was already done.

With news exploding about Miley Cyrus and Aussie heart-throb Liam Hemsworth’s break-up it’s only fitting to acknowledge that while she’s certainly lost control of her tongue at the moment, she’s showing amazing restraint on Twitter this time round.

When Miley Cyrus broke up with previous boyfriend American singer and model Justin Gaston in 2009, she took to twitter to put him in his place.

Miley was quick to call out her ex’s seemingly innocent tweet and accuse him in front of a world audience, of being afraid of love.

It doesn’t look like we can expect any twitter wars between Miley and her most recent long-tern boyfriend, Liam Hemsworth though, as the couple have already stopped following each other’s twitter feeds.

It’s the lack of tweets between these two that sparked rumours of a split.

The couple have never shied away from sharing public displays of affection over twitter, but all of a sudden the tweets became more cryptic and few and far between.

On Shane Warne’s Birthday Liz didn’t acknowledge his special day but instead tweeted, “Uh oh… the alpacas have escaped”.

The couple recently took to twitter to apologise for their lack of tweets, stating they are going through hard times but are ‘not throwing in the towel yet.’

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SPOILER ALERT: New twist in Bridget Jones book

SPOILER ALERT: New twist in Bridget Jones book

Bridget Jones fans have been left shocked after discovering author Helen Fielding has killed off the lovable Mark Darcy.

Extracts from the new book in the Bridget Jones’s Diary series, Mad About The Boy, reveal that Bridget and Mark Darcy married and had two children but he dies, leaving Bridget to raise the children alone and putting her back on the singles’ market.

The novel comes 15 years after the last books in the series were published, which left the lovable characters Bridget and Mark in a happily-ever-after scenario.

The extracts, which have been published in the Sunday Times Magazine, don’t reveal how Darcy dies, but tell the story of Bridget five years after his death, meeting a new 30-year-old toy boy, Roxster, on Twitter.

“Crucially, it might put Roxster off me, to be surrounded by old people at a 60th birthday party and make some sort of completely unnecessary point about how old I am, though of course I am MUCH younger than Talitha. And frankly, I refuse to believe how old I actually am,” Helen writes, in one extract.

The revelations have come as a shock to fans, who have taken to social media to voice their opinions.

Sabrina Medora wrote, “I understand an author has the right to do as they please with their books. But SERIOUSLY, Helen Fielding??? WHY???”

While Katy Tafoya wrote: “You can’t just go off and kill Mark Darcy! Bridget Jones doesn’t need a damn boy toy.”

Helen’s first two books sold more than 15 million copies and were made into Hollywood blockbuster films starring Renee Zellweger as Bridget and Colin Firth as Mark Darcy.

What do you think of the auther’s choice to kill off Mark Darcy? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.

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Dannii Minogue grieves grandmother on The X Factor

Dannii Minogue’s tears for her grandmother on The X Factor

Viewers of The X Factor watched Dannii publicly grieve the loss of her grandmother after a heartfelt performance by contestant Dami Im on last night’s live performance show.

The judge lost her grandmother just two weeks ago, believed to be from a long cancer battle, and dedicated the contestant’s Simon & Garfunkel classic, Bridge Over Troubled Water, to her parents and surviving grandfather.

“I had the roughest week ever. That was for my parents and my grandfather,” Dannii said, wiping away tears.

Although Dami’s performance received mixed reviews, with opposition mentor Redfoo claiming to be unmoved by the performance, Dannii was quick to praise the talented singer.

“I’ve had the toughest time. You’ve been my absolute angel. And for anyone else out there who ever had a tough time – that is the song,” she said.

This isn’t the first time the Minogues have had to battle cancer in their family, with Dannii’s sister Kylie fighting and successfully beating breast cancer in 2006.

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Princess Beatrice ‘twerks’ in party pictures

Princess Beatrice is threatening to steal her cousin Harry’s title of most fun-loving royal, with a series of photos of her partying being published on Facebook.

Beatrice, 25, is seen “twerking” and pulling faces in the images taken during a 2007 Spanish holiday which were posted on her friend Alison Hamilton’s Facebook page.

In another more recent image on Beatrice’s own page, the princess mocks her infamous royal wedding hat.

The pictures show a relaxed side of Beatrice and are likely to greatly increase her popularity.

Images of Beatrice from a 2007 holiday were published on her friend’s Facebook page.

In this image from Beatrice’s Facebook page, she mocks her royal wedding hat.

Beatrice with an unnamed friend in 2007.

Beatrice at her Spanish holiday vila in 2007.

The picture of Beatrice’s sister Eugenie ‘twerking’ was published on Instagram last week.

Beatrice’s boyfriend Dave Clark on a boys’ trip to South Africa in 2006.

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Princess Eugenie: Royal match-maker!

Princess Eugenie: Royal match-maker!

Princess Eugenie can add match-maker to her list of achievements after successfully setting up her cousin, Prince Harry, with his girlfriend, Cressida Bonas.

Eugenie, 23, and Cressida, 24, a trained ski instructor and dancer, have been close friends for some time – and Eugenie clearly thought the pair would make the perfect match!

Prince Harry and Cressida have been dating for almost a year after first stepping out together in February at a Swiss ski resort.

The pair were photographed kissing and cuddling on the slopes and it looks like their love has lasted.

They recently attended the Boodles Boxing Ball charity event at Grosvenor House hotel, London. The society beauty snuck in through the rear entrance of the hotel while Prince Harry arrived by car.

Eugenie was joined by her boyfriend Jack Brooksbank and Princess Beatrice was on the arm of boyfriend Dave Clark.

Harry and Cressida were among the last of the guests to leave the society shindig, but again, left separately – Cressida with Eugenie and the Royal Protection staff.

Cressida and Eugenie are often spotted together and were recently snapped sharing a laugh at lunch together at a chic restaurant in London’s Kensington.

No word yet on whether Harry will bring his beauty along with him when he conducts his first official tour of Australia beginning October 5.

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Wills and Kate ready for baby number two, already?

Wills and Kate ready for baby number two, already?

It’s been an amazing year for Wills and Kate – now they’re preparing to top it off with a happy announcement in time for the festive season.

By Christmas, if all goes according to plan, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be on track to give baby George a sibling.

Royal insiders have confirmed the couple is so happy in their family bubble that they’re looking to add to it – and hope to be expecting by December at the latest.

“They’d be absolutely thrilled if Kate was pregnant by Christmas,” reveals a close source. “William and Kate will be splitting their time during the holidays with Kate’s family and the Queen in Sandringham House in Norfolk, so it would be the perfect moment for an announcement.”

For most first-time mothers, being pregnant twice in a year would be at the bottom of the to-do list, but for Duchess Kate, the move isn’t nearly as surprising as it sounds.

Read more about William and Catherine’s baby plans in this week’s issue of Woman’s Day, on sale Monday, September 30, 2013.

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We’re mum direction!

We're mum direction!

From left, mums Kimberley, Nadine and Sonia admit their 1D obsession can be “pretty embarrassing”.

They swoon over which boy-bander is the cutest, they know all the words to the latest single and they spend a fortune on memorabilia. But these One Direction fans aren’t your typical smitten teens.

Brisbanites Nadine Neave, 44, and Sonia McDonald, 42, and 39-year-old Kimberley Janssen from the Gold Coast are “Mum Directioners” – an ever-expanding club of grown women gone mad for the English/Irish pin-ups, 20-odd years their junior.

“Dancing around the backyard to this band with my 11-year-old, Bella, makes me feel like I’m reliving my youth,” says single mum Kimberley, a beauty consultant.

“When your daughter listens to them 24/7 and has posters all over her walls and ceiling, there comes a time where it’s a case of if you can’t beat em, join ’em!,” agrees business executive Nadine, mum to Brooke, 17.

“But telling your staff you stood in a queue for three hours to buy tickets doesn’t go down well…”

Read more about the One Direction mums in this week’s issue of Woman’s Day, on sale Monday, September 30, 2013.

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