With her perfectly manicured hands tenderly but firmly gripping her little girl as she strides through trendy boutiques, football stadiums and pricey toy stores in stilettos and self-designed dresses, Victoria Beckham appears to be a woman with everything she’s ever wanted. Despite some very public allegations of his infidelity, she has managed to hold onto her superstar husband, soccer legend David, for more than a decade, and together they’ve built a brand worth more than $250 million. But now, insiders tell us, the love love affair with her daughter has turned into an all-consuming obsession that could drive a wedge between Victoria and David, 36, and threatens to destroy the fairytale marriage, perfect family and multimillion-dollar brand they’ve worked so hard to build.
Read more in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale Monday November 28.
“Victoria is turning into a woman possessed,” a member of her inner circle said.
“It’s as if the little girl is her whole life and nothing else.”
“She fusses over Harper all day and takes her everywhere she goes,” the insider said.
Posh herself admits, “I can’t leave her alone for a minute.
A disgruntled former employee plans to spill the beans on Ange and Brad’s controversial relationship.
Incredible new claims from a former staffer could mean Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s private lives are about to be put on show yet again. Ana Charlotiaux worked at the pair’s country estate in the south of France between 2008 and 2010, answering phone calls and emails for the superstar couple. She is suing Brad, 47, and Ange, 36, for more than $88,000 as part of an unfair dismissal case, after she was sacked for allegedly having too much time off work. Ana’s lawyer claims she took four-and-a-half months leave during her employment, but this was because of illness.
What looks like a straightforward legal stoush could cause a storm of controversy for Brad and Ange. They’re terrified that if the demands of their former assistant aren’t met, she will spill intimate details of their bizarre lifestyle and shatter illusions about their relationship. “Brad and Angelina like to present a united front,” a family insider tells Star magazine. “But while Ana was working for them, much of their lives was spent having massive brawls followed by weeks living apart.” Ange seems like a changed woman these days. Gone are the vials of blood and the kinky talk. She admits she now shows the dark, sexy side of herself only to Brad behind closed doors.
“I’m still a bad girl,” she said in an interview last week. “I still have that side of me… it’s just in its place now… it belongs to Brad. “I went through heavier, darker times and I survived them. I didn’t die young. So I am very lucky. There are other artists and people that didn’t survive certain things… people can imagine that I did the most dangerous, and I did the worst… for many reasons, I shouldn’t be here.” Now the courts may be about to bring her bad-girl side back out into the open, for all the world to see and comment upon.
“She tries to hide it but she has a crazy side that’s beyond just being quirky,” an old friend of Ange’s confirms. “In the end, she just can’t hide the crazy.” Ana, 45, says she can reveal that problems between Brad and Ange worsened in 2008 when they were living at Chateau Miraval, their home in the south of France. In August, only a month after Angelina delivered twins Knox and Vivienne by caesarean, Brad left her to recover alone and travelled to Venice, where he partied with best mate George Clooney.
See more pictures of Brad and Angelina’s brood plus read more about their Nanny troubles in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale November 28, 2011.
Months after the rocky start to their married life, Monaco royal couple Charlene and Albert seem so cosy, there’s talk of a baby.
Love is in the air – or should that be in the heir? – for Monaco’s “runaway bride” Princess Charlene and her husband, Prince Albert II. The royal couple, who are coming to Australia early next year, are believed to be expecting their first child, just four months after a weeping Charlene, 33, said “I do” amid sensational claims she had tried to flee the principality rather than marry its 53-year-old ruler.
Though there has been no official confirmation from the palace, rumours have circulated for weeks that Charlene is to provide the former playboy prince with his first legitimate heir. Gone are the sexy, silhouette-hugging Armani dresses she favoured, replaced by loosely belted jackets, ample swing coats and evening gowns in curve-camouflaging velvet. Could the sudden cover-ups be due to the wintry nip in the Monte Carlo air – or something infinitely more exciting? It’s a question on every Monegasque’s lips.
Their prince has two recognised children born out of wedlock –Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, 19, his daughter by a US real-estate agent, and Alexandre Coste, 7, his son by a former Togolese air hostess – but under Monaco law these children cannot inherit.Speculation that Albert faced a paternity test over a third child was the reason given for Charlene’s alleged reluctance – since denied – to marry.
Those paternity claims appear to have been shelved since the wedding. A baby with Charlene would brush away Albert’s concerns and bring happiness to his scandal-plagued family. It could also explain the couple’s surprising new public displays of affection.
See more pictures of Princess Charlene and her husband, Prince Albert II in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale November 28, 2011.
Amid growing talk that she’s pregnant, the Duchess of Cambridge is doing all she can to cling to her former life… even heading to the local supermarket.
With speculation of a royal pregnancy reaching fever pitch around the globe, the Duchess of Cambridge last week stocked up on an extra-large load of household groceries at her local supermarket. As she stacked breakfast cereal, ice-cream and orange juice on the check-out counter at the Tesco in Holyhead, North Wales, fellow shoppers wondered whether Kate could be buying up to indulge pregnancy cravings. Dressed in a bulky turtleneck jumper and black jeans, any baby bump was kept well under wraps, so there was to be no confirmation – official or otherwise – of US magazine Life & Style’s claim that Kate is eight weeks pregnant.
Other American tabloids are full of similar stories, with Star insisting the duchess is expecting twins, while Globe reports a baby girl will be born next year. Kate’s continual touching of her stomach at public events has been seen to give credence to these rumours, as has her refusal to eat peanut butter while on a recent visit to Denmark. (Though there is no evidence that eating peanuts while pregnant can cause allergies in an unborn child, some women avoid them “just in case”.)
What is certain is that, seven months after her marriage to Prince William, the woman who was once so embarrassed by the nickname “commoner Kate” is determined to hold onto as many “normal” aspects of her former life as she can. Though she could easily have her groceries delivered or send a servant to search the shelves for her, this down-to-earth duchess insists on doing her own shopping at her local supermarket.
And while the biggest names in the fashion world are begging to lay their latest collections on her palace doorstep, Kate continues to buy clothes from the same stores she visited as a Marlborough College schoolgirl – and she even carries the bags herself! Although many in her privileged position would be primped and pampered in private, Kate enjoys getting her hair styled at her local London hairdresser, Richard Ward, thinking nothing of sitting in the window of the salon with rollers in her locks.
See the exclusive pictures of Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge shopping up a storm in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale November 28, 2011.
Anne Williams has an unusual ability…Astha Gupta meets the mum for whom words have a flavour all their own.
Having a conversation with Perth mum Anne Williams is a mouth-watering experience – at least for her. When most of us hear a word, we’re listening to the sound, but for Anne it conjures up a taste. “After I hear a word, I experience a very specific flavour and texture at the back of my mouth,” 31-year-old Anne explains. “Out of any sentence, some word will jump at me, and for a few seonds I will experience a taste created by that word. If someone keeps repeating that word, I’ll keep tasting it.”
Anne has an unusual condition called gustatory auditory – or sound-taste – synaesthesia, often described as the crossing of the senses, or joined senses. She remembers that, as a 12-year-old girl, she constantly craved salt and vinegar chips. Sometimes she wanted ice-cream waffle cones. For many years, those cravings remained a mystery. Later she realised it was because her dad’s name (Dave), evoked the taste of chips, while her mum’s name (Kay) gave her a taste of waffle cones.
It took her many years to even talk about this, and her friend Olivia became her confidante. “Olivia had a unique way of pronouncing words. Whenever she used certain words, I’d think about some food totally unrelated to what we were talking about.” Olivia’s favourite words were “like”, which made Anne taste chocolate YoGo, and “England”, which tasted like oatmeal biscuits.
“When I told Olivia, she laughed and said, ‘You are weird.’” But Anne couldn’t stop. Once she’d realised her “secret gift”, she had fun spinning out names and food. Choosing a life partner is tricky for anyone, but it was worse for Anne. She not only had to like the person, but also like the taste of their name. “It was a huge relief falling in love with Steve,” she says. “His name also had a salt and vinegar chips taste, like my dad’s.” And when it came to naming their children, Steve, 41, let Anne take the reins.
Read more about Anne’s unusual condition in this week’s Woman’s Day, on sale November 28, 2011.
Since his appearance on Dancing with the Stars in the US, Chaz Bono has had widespread support, but no one supported him more than his girlfriend, Jennifer Elia.
Now Chaz, the son of Cher, has popped the question to Jennifer on his Emmy-nominated documentary Becoming Chaz, which highlighted Bono’s transition from female to male.
Bono, 42, proposed with an engagement ring in Seattle while filming the one-hour special on his TV show.
“It’s gorgeous. Thank you so much,” Jennifer says of the sparkler. “It’s stunning. It’s huge.”
The show documents the pair and their relationship including the backlash Bono faced from some for being the first transgender contestant to compete on Dancing with the Stars.
“People feel so angry that Chaz is entering their television,” a tearful Elia said on the show.
“People who make change get shot, and I don’t think that’s worth it. This is insane. It’s not worth doing a show if you’re going to get shot.”
Watch the video of Chaz proposing in the video player above.
Kris Humphries has a starring role in his soon-to-be ex-wife’s reality TV spin off Kourtney & Kim Take New York, but his former flame Bianka Kamber says he couldn’t stand Kim Kardashian’s reality TV shows.
Twenty-eight-year-old Bianka, who bears a striking resemblance to Kim, said that Kris refused to watch Keeping up with the Kardashians and labeled the show ‘garbage’ the UK’s Daily Mail reported.
“He would never watch the [Kardashian] show with me. He always bad talked it and said it was a trashy show and that it was garbage,” she said.
“He’d ask “why are you watching that?”
“And he would say, ‘There’s nothing to it… What are they even famous for?” He had absolutely no interest.”
The new season of Kourtney & Kim Take New York will air this Sunday in the US, giving viewers an insight into Kim and Kris’s 72-day marriage.
Kim, who filed for divorce against Kris, is said to be upset with the comments Kris made about her during their relationship, with an unnamed source telling US Weekly he once said that she had a “fat ass”.
“He belittled her in front of people. He’d call her stupid. It was truly sickening,” an unnamed source told the magazine.
“He tried to control Kim by bringing her down… He would say truly terrible things. One time, he said she had no talent and her fame wouldn’t last.”
Watch the clip above of Kim and Kris playfully packing for New York before Kris tells Kim that she “ate too much wedding cake” while trying to lift her up.
See the pictures of Kris’ former flame Bianka Kamber here.
Parents who claim they love all their children equally are lying, a new book has sensationally claimed.
Author and father of two Jeffrey Kluger’s new book The Sibling Effect: What Bonds Among Brothers and Sisters Reveal About Us claims that all parents have a favourite child, no matter how much they deny it.
“Ninety-five percent of parents in the world have a favourite child — and the other five per cent are lying,” Kluger says.
Kluger’s claims are likely to incite angry denial from parents worldwide, but recent research suggests he’s closer to the truth than most people care to admit.
A recent University of California three-year study of 384 sibling pairs and their parents found that 70 percent of fathers and 65 percent of mothers exhibited a clear preference for one child.
Study leaders think the real numbers could be much higher as the study participants knew they were being watched and probably modified their behaviour accordingly.
Another study which asked siblings who they thought their parents favoured found that mothers were more likely to prefer their first-born son, while fathers doted on their youngest daughters.
The research also found that parents were prone to prefer the child that shared their interests or personality traits — for example, fathers are likely to lavish sporty kids with affection, while the arty mother might prefer her quiet and sensitive child.
While most parents will find it difficult to admit they have a favourite, parenting expert Naomi Richards says mums and dads need to stop lying to themselves.
Once you realise that you do favour one child, you can change your behaviour to ensure your other children don’t suffer.
“Try to spend equal amounts of time with all of them,” says Richards, ‘doing something with them that they enjoy. Rather than trying to get the fidgety one to enjoy the cinema, take him kite-flying with a friend. Don’t get the bookish one to take up dancing or roller-skating — go to a museum.
“Accentuating each child’s positives will really help to balance your family dynamic. It just takes practice.”
Your say: Do you have a favourite child?
Video: Is there room for two ‘fun’ parents in a family?
Ravaged by years of alcoholism, Gale Lamont was at rock bottom when she started a very special choir that ended up saving her life.
Three years ago, Gale Lamont spent Christmas alone in a darkened room, surrounded by empty bottles and overflowing ashtrays.
Her 50th birthday was just a month away. She had been trying to stop drinking for 10 years and been in rehab more than 20 times, but the longest she had stayed sober was 75 anxious, miserable days.
Her friends and family were sick of trying to help her, only to see her slide further into the abyss.
“I got to the point I wasn’t going to beat this,” she says. “I was going to die and I was going to meet my maker drunk.”
After two more weeks of solid drinking — she did not leave her couch to change or go to the toilet — Gale called an ambulance to take her to Royal North Shore Hospital, where she had become well-known among emergency department staff.
The psychiatric registrar, aware of Gale’s 22 attempts at rehabilitation, suggested a different option for her 23rd.
In the past, she had tried 28-day programs at private clinics, but this time, Gale went to Selah, a 10-month rehabilitation service run by The Salvation Army.
What happened next was nothing short of a Christmas miracle. Her 23rd rehab worked.
Slowly, over those 10 months, Gale regained the things she’d lost to alcohol over 30 years — her family, her dignity and her identity.
For almost three years now, Gale has been living the fulfilling, sober life which she’d always dreamed of and, this Christmas, she hopes to inspire others to do the same through her choir, the Selah Soul Sisters, which gives a voice to women recovering from addiction.
Selah is a rehabilitation centre for women on the NSW Central Coast, run by The Salvation Army.
Unlike other facilities, which keep patients for 28 days, Selah’s patients stay for 10 months.
The course is designed to not only treat alcoholism and other addictions, such as drugs or gambling, but help women come to terms with their demons. It also supports their return to the community.
It’s not glamorous. Gale was treated like a “princess” at private treatment clinics, but says there are no princesses at Selah.
Women share bedrooms, do housework or gardening and have to learn to get along with each other.
Slowly, Gale walked through the 12 steps — admitting her powerlessness over alcohol, turning her will over to God as she understood him, making amends — and reclaimed her life.
Gale believed it was the Salvos’ emphasis on Christian spirituality that worked for her.
“When I arrived here, I felt compassion,” she says. “In all of those other programs, the emphasis is not on spirituality. And addiction is physical, mental, emotional, but mostly spiritual.
“I could liken it to a candle. Mine was almost out. The whole time I was drinking, I was praying. I would pray, ‘God help me, God help me, God help me’.”
Soon after she arrived, Gale set up the Selah Soul Sisters choir. She had been a talented young singer, but alcoholism had derailed her singing dreams.
This was a way for Gale to find her voice — literally.
After 10 months, Gale “graduated” from Selah, but settled nearby so she could be close to her support network and carry on training the choir.
As Gale says, the Selah Soul Sisters allows women to lift their voices to the heavens in gratitude for the second chance they’ve been given. “It’s very therapeutic,” she says.
“We’re never going to be the Vienna Boys’ Choir, but it shows us, ‘I can do this, I’ve been given this gift.’ And it’s about having fun.”
Read more of this story in the December issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Your say: Have you have any experience with alcoholism or other addictions?
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