Advertisement
Home Page 5032

I’m Kate Middleton…and so is my daughter!

I'm Kate Middleton...and so is my daughter!

As William’s bride-to-be prepares for her wedding, her Aussie namesakes are also enjoying fame.

Breakfast in bed, scones for afternoon tea and a curtsey every time she enters the room. Yes, Kate Middleton has never had it so good. But this isn’t Prince William’s Kate. It’s her Sydney schoolteacher namesake, who’s had a right-royal pampering since William proposed to his sweetheart in November.

“I’m getting a real taste of royal life… and I love it!” quips Kate, 39, who, like Prince William’s fiancée, is actually named Catherine. “And I’m not even queen yet!”

Life has become a lot more exciting for the mum-of-three – and her five-year-old daughter, who is also called Kate – since the royal engagement was announced. “I’m used to getting up in the morning to make breakfast, but now my husband surprises me with eggs and bacon in bed!” laughs Kate, a PE and dance teacher.

“I also get newfound respect from some other teachers, who have taken to bowing as I enter the staff room and referring to me as ‘Ma’am’. Only a few months back no-one made the connection but they do now. Making it even more special is that my maiden name was Smith – there’s nothing more common than that!”

As big and little Kate happily tuck into cucumber sandwiches, scones and delicate strawberry cakes at high tea, they look like true princesses-in-waiting. “My daughter’s popularity at school has suddenly increased, and like a true princess she can be demanding and changes her clothes two or three times a day!” reports her mum. “She’s also bossing around her older brothers, Nicholas [9] and Daniel [7].”

Related stories


Advertisement
Home Page 5032

Kate Middleton’s pre-wedding schedule revealed

Kate Middleton's pre-wedding schedule revealed

Kate Middleton shares her pre-wedding schedule for her final 24 hours as a commoner.

On her last official engagement before tying the knot with her prince, Kate Middleton admitted to a few pre-wedding jitters.

“I can’t believe it’s going to be very soon now,” she confessed to the crowds who’d gathered to watch Prince William, 28, and his bride-to-be open a community centre in Lancashire. Asked whether she was nervous, a slimline Kate – who has trimmed down so much in the past few weeks she’s had to have her sapphire engagement ring re-sized – replied, “Yes, of course I am.”

And with about two billion pairs of eyes expected to be watching her every move, no-one could blame Kate for breaking that perfect poise as she prepares to walk down the aisle on April 29. Here, we take a look at the 24 hours leading up to the wedding and what Kate’s final hours as a single woman will be like on the biggest day of her life.

21 hours to go

2pm – Pampering – The last-minute arrangements will be especially stressful, so it’s essential the royal bride is as relaxed as possible. Kate will have a manicure, pedicure and full-on pamper session at celebrity hairdresser Richard Ward’s luxury salon in Knightsbridge.

19 hours to go

4pm – Preparing her hair – Hairdressers demand that for the half-up, half-down ’do Kate is predicted to opt for, her hair must not be freshly washed. She’ll need to rinse her famed chestnut locks the afternoon before her nuptials, so up-and-coming hair stylist James Pryce can style her hair easily in the morning.

17 hours to go

6pm – The final rehearsal – Although the wedding will have been rehearsed for weeks by all taking part, Kate and William will go through the order of service the night before with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who will marry them.

See the full 24 hour schedule in this week’s Woman’s Day, on sale April 18.

Related stories


Advertisement
Home Page 5032

Princess Mary’s pride and joy!

Princess Mary's pride and joy!

The Christening of her twins topped off an emotional and happy Aussie family reunion for Princess Mary.

Meet the very cute Prince Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander, and his dear little sister, Princess Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda. Mathilda appears to be a generous nod from Mary to her Aussie homeland.

The christening ceremony at The Holmen’s Church in Copenhagen is the latest magical chapter in the ongoing real-life fairytale that is Princess Mary.

And judging by the look on a very proud Mary’s face, she was enjoying every second. She good-naturedly shrugged off tabloid reports of Prince Frederik’s alleged drunken antics in a Copenhagen nightclub, where he was pictured hugging a “mystery blonde” last week. It later emerged the woman was Jeppe Handwerk, a close friend of Mary and Fred.

Just as she did with the christenings of her first two children, Prince Christian and Princess Isabella, Mary managed to combine the pomp and rich splendour of Danish royal history with the laid-back, understated feel of an Aussie family gathering.

Taking pride of place at the baptismal font was Mary’s beloved big brother, John Donaldson, 40, who has been given the honour of becoming a godfather to Prince Vincent, while Mary’s sister, Patricia Bailey, 43, is one of little Princess Josephine’s godmothers.

Related stories


Advertisement
Home Page 5032

Karl Stefanovic’s golden moment

Karl Stefanovic's golden moment

From disasters to the royal wedding, it seems there’s nothing Karl Stefanovic won’t cover…but the Gold Logie nominee’s kids just want Dad to stay safe!

Disastrous world events are tough enough for most young kids to fathom, but for 11-year-old Jackson Stefanovic, the horrific floods, cyclone and earthquakes of early 2011 were made all that more scary as he watched his dad, Today show co-host Karl, pack his suitcases and head straight into the middle of the catastrophes.

“When I got back from Japan, Jackson said to me in the car, ‘Daddy, why when there were floods in Queensland did you go to Queensland? When there was a cyclone in Queensland you went there and when there was an earthquake in Japan you went there’,” recalls Karl.

“And I said to him, ‘That’s my job and I do feel a very keen sense of responsibility to tell these people’s stories’. “He said, ‘Well, I want to know that you are going to be safe when you go to those areas’, and I told him we are pretty safe but it’s the people who live over there that I worry about. It’s the first time I’ve every really encountered that with the kids. This time it had hit home.”

With their fears for Dad’s safety allayed, Karl and his wife Cassandra’s kids, Jackson, Ava, 6, and River, 4, can now concentrate on cheering Dad on at the 2011 TV Week Logie Awards. And this year he has the “great honour” of being in the running for Gold for the first time. What makes it even sweeter is the fact that he’s the first journalist in more than 10 years to be listed.

“I honestly never thought I would be nominated for a Logie, let alone a Gold one,” says Karl, clearly chuffed. “It’s strange as well – I’m just pleased that people bothered to go out of their way to vote for me. You know, they took the time. I mean, that’s pretty cool.”

Related stories


Advertisement
Home Page 5032

Suri has the best party ever!

A pint-sized shoe boutique, a petting zoo complete with elephants and giraffes, an army of A-listers and all the sweet treats you can eat – yep, just another day in the life of Suri Cruise!

The celebrity youngster, who celebrated her fifth birthday last weekend, helped plan the lavish celebrations that saw more than 200 guests descend on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ Beverly Hills mansion.

In line with Suri’s wishes, Hollywood’s top animal handlers supplied a veritable menagerie for the circus-themed garden party.

“Kids were able to play with possums, hairless rats, skunks, foxes, little bunnies, lambs and even a snake,” reveals a guest.

Read more in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale Monday April 18, 2011.

Woman’s Day

Suri’s party will have a kids kitchen and mini shoe boutique.

Willow Smith will perform.

Guests include the Beckhams, Heidi Klum’s gang and Gwen Stefani’s kids.

Related stories


Advertisement
Home Page 5032

London gears up for the wedding of the century

Prince William and Kate Middleton will exchange vows in Westminster Abbey in a matter of hours.

London has been preparing for this day for months, and the city has been caught up in a flurry of last-minute preparations over the past few days.

Here are some shots of the last hours before the wedding of the decade.

Kate Middleton greets crowds the on the eve of her wedding

Prince William meets wellwishers outside Clarence House last night

Prince Harry joins William greeting crowds outside their London home

Florists work on decorations for Westminster Abbey

Flowers waiting in Westminster Abbey

The final dress rehearsal in London earlier this week

The royal choir rehearses ahead of the big day

People in the crowd outside Buckingham Palace

People in the crowd outside Buckingham Palace

People in the crowd outside Buckingham Palace

Official William and Kate royal wedding china

Official William and Kate royal wedding china

Downing Street’s official cat Larry in his royal wedding costume

Related stories


Advertisement
Home Page 5032

Princess Mary reveals the names of her twins

Princess Mary reveals the names of her twins

Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik have named their twins Vincent and Josephine.

The Danish royals revealed the names at the babies’ christening at Copenhagen’s Holmen’s Church yesterday, three months after they were born.

Related: Meet Princess Mary’s twins

In keeping with royal tradition, Mary and Frederik had kept the babies’ names a secret until the official christening, which was attended by more than 300 people.

Mary, 39, wore a bright blue dress and a cream headpiece to the ceremony, and couldn’t stop smiling as she and Frederik, 43, carried the babies into the church, accompanied by their other children Prince Christian, five, and Princess Isabella, three.

The royal couple named 12 godparents for the twins at the ceremony, including three Australians. Mary’s brother John Stuart Donaldson became one of six godparents to Prince Vincent, while one of her sisters, Patricia Bailey, and her friend Josephine Rechner were named godmothers to Princess Josephine.

The twins’ full names are Prince Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander and Princess Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda. Danish media reports suggest the names Minik and Ivalo were chosen to honour Denmark’s autonomous territory Greenland. Mathilda is believed to have been chosen to honour Mary’s Australian heritage, as it is the Danish version of Matilda, from the famous song ‘Waltzing Matilda’.

Related: Australian godparents for Danish royals

The Tasmanian government is planning to send official gifts to the twins on behalf of Australia. Handcrafted timber boxes will be filled with Tasmanian children’s books and sent to Copenhagen in the coming weeks.

Mary was born in Tasmania and is planning to take Princess Josephine and Prince Vincent to meet her family there later this year.

Your say: What do you think of the names Vincent and Josephine?

Related stories


Advertisement
Home Page 5032

Keli Lane faces 13 years jail for killing her newborn baby

Keli Lane jailed for 13 years

Keli Lane has been jailed for at least 13 years and five months for murdering her newborn baby Tegan.

The former water polo champion was sentenced in the NSW Supreme Court today. Justice Anthony Whealy set a maximum term of 18 years, with no possibility of parole until 2023.

Lane, 35, was found guilty last December of murdering her second baby Tegan on September 14, 1996. Tegan’s body has never been found.

Lane reportedly had two abortions as a teenager and subsequently kept three pregnancies and births secret. She put her first and third children up for adoption, but was convicted of murdering Tegan.

The baby went missing between Lane leaving a Sydney hospital and her attending a wedding later the same day. Lane claimed she had given Tegan to the baby’s father but the court found she had murdered the infant because she thought the child would interfere with her social life and sporting ambitions.

Justice Whealy said Lane had murdered Tegan “in a situation of desperation”.

“From her perception, there was simply no way out,” he said.

Your say: Do you think Keli Lane’s sentence is fair? Email us [email protected]

Related stories


Advertisement
Home Page 5032

Meet Princess Mary’s twins Vincent and Josephine

Getty

Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik have christened their three-month-old twins and revealed their names to be Vincent and Josephine, following a baptism ceremony in Copenhagen yesterday.

Mary and Frederik today ended months of speculation over the twins’ names after keeping with Danish tradition and withholding their newborns’ names, who were born on January 8, until their baptism.

The twins’ full names are Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander and Josephine Sofia Ivalo Mathilda.

More than 300 people attended the ceremony including Princess Mary’s brother John Stuart Donaldson, who was one of six godparents to Prince Vincent.

One of Princess Mary’s sisters Patricia Bailey and her friend Josephine Rechner were named as godmothers to Princess Josephine.

Tasmanian-born Mary wore a royal blue dress with a flower detail head piece while Prince Fredrick wore a navy suit and coral coloured tie. The twins were dressed in traditional white flowing christening dresses.

Related stories


Advertisement
Home Page 5032

A bra fitting that fits

A bra fitting that fits

As the lift pings to signify my arrival at the lingerie floor of David Jones, I break out into a cold sweat.

For me, underwear shopping is a nightmare. Everything looks sexy in an A-cup, but by the time I wrest an E from the back of the rack (if the style goes past a D at all), I am confronted with an industrial-strength creation that has almost as much fabric as a circus tent and bears more than a passing resemblance to one.

In pictures: This season’s hot colour — white

Then there’s the fitting room, inside which you realise that the aforementioned monstrous bra is either too small (gasp) or arranges your assets in such a way that you would look more at home in a burlesque club than an office.

At this point I usually lose the will to shop and return home immediately, but this time promised to be different.

Luxury French lingerie brand Chantelle — one of the world’s oldest underwear labels — has teamed up with David Jones to offer personalised fittings and this is what I’ve signed up for today.

As soon as I arrive, my fitter Izabella ushers me into a private change room.

“Beautiful lingerie has an amazing power,” she says, in a husky French accent. “It makes you instantly more confident. It’s a secret that only you know, and it can make you feel beautiful and sexy.

“Now, all you need to do is relax and tell me what you like to wear and how you dress and we can see what bra is right for you.”

Related: ‘Cougar effect’ fuels sexy lingerie sales

After quickly measuring me, Izabella brought several bras, and took time explaining when I would wear them, and how they would fit into my current wardrobe. If something didn’t fit properly, she hastened away to get another size, all the while dispensing lingerie pearls of wisdom.

“Taking time to choose the right bra is a very French way of dressing,” she says.

“Most Australian women don’t realise that what you wear under your clothes can change the whole appearance of your outfit. Where I come from, we always dress from the inside, out.”

After this delightful fitting, I plan to do so too.

Chantelle will offer personal consultations to David Jones customers from May onwards.

Your say: What is your worst bra shopping experience?

Video: Chantelle fitter Veronique Bonard discusses the latest lingerie trends

Related stories


Advertisement