With a royal wedding coming up thoughts of marrying into wealth are in many people’s minds, but a new survey by The Weekly has found that Australian women would rather marry a tradie than a prince.
The 1000 women surveyed also said that they would rather marry a tradie than a millionaire, an actor or sportsman.
At 46, Australia’s golden girl Rebecca Gibney remains a knockout in a swimsuit. She tells Kelly Baker how diet, exercise and the support of a loving husband have helped her embrace her changing body.
“Who else is appearing in this story,” asks Rebecca, “Are there any other older women … or just me?” The conversation we have next goes something like this. I say a name and Rebecca responds, “Gorgeous girl … younger. Beautiful girl, but also younger. Lovely, lovely girl, stunning … younger.”
Rebecca is laughing throatily throughout and the conversation is clearly in jest, but there’s something so very sweet and vulnerable about her that I feel compelled to try to say something positive anyway. And so I tell her that, sure, she might be the oldest of the beautiful women that The Weekly has included in this particular portfolio, but she’s the one who will take the coveted cover position.
The hairstylist begins working on those soft blonde curls and I perch on a stool nearby. We talk nonsense, gossip about marriages gone bad (Rebecca is happily married to artist Richard Bell, but an earlier marriage to singer Jack Jones ended in divorce) and swap stories about our children. She swoons over her son and his utter deliciousness, her husband’s, too. She’s utterly in love with them both. In fact, as far as Rebecca is concerned, life is heavenly. She finally has the family she’s always dreamed of, she’s surrounded by dear friends and, she loves playing late-in-life mum Julie in the Seven Network’s Packed To The Rafters. Everything in her life is damn near perfect (touch wood) although, she does admit that she occasionally looks in the mirror and simply can not believe what she sees.
“There are times when I think, ‘Whoa, where did that come from?’ ” says Rebecca, shaking her head and poking at her flat tummy with a finger. “But for the most part I feel pretty good. My husband always says to me, ‘Darling, you’re beautiful just as you are. It doesn’t matter anyway, as we’re going to grow old together; let it go.’ And I think he’s right. There is something liberating about getting older. I’ll always try and make the most of what I’ve got, but I’m not going to get stressed about it. I’m not 25, I’m not 35, I’m not even 45! So there’s no point trying to be.”
Still, she’s not about to give up altogether. Rebecca loves regular facials, she cares for her skin and never goes without SPF 30+. She also dabbles in a little Botox, the muscle-freezing injectable that instantly wipes away fine lines and wrinkles.
“I don’t have any right now,” she laughs, when I ask her. “I mean, have a look?” And at that, she wrinkles her brow and crinkles her eyes to demonstrate. But I do occasionally get just a little. I don’t go overboard. I don’t want to look frozen and I can’t be an actress and have no expression in my face – that would be mad. But I do get some of the harsher lines softened.”
Not too many women in the public eye will admit to getting work of any kind done, but Rebecca is one of those rare honest creatures who will ’fess up to just about anything. She tells me she had considered surgery (“Heck, I’ve considered everything,” she chortles), but is too afraid to go through with it.
“I’ve done the research,” she whispers to me. “I looked at an eye lift, but I have noticed very few people get great work done. I believe the eyes are the window to the soul and I’m terrified the surgeon would muck it up and then what? I might end up looking like a startled deer or like I’ve got a carrot up my bum.”
Read more of this story in the January issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Your say: What do you think of Rebecca Gibney? Share with us below.
He owns a palazzo in Tuscany and homes in London, New York, Malibu and the Caribbean – not bad for the son of a milkman. Sting, one-time teacher turned rock god, talks to Susan Chenery about vanity, Trudie and what makes him tick.
When Sting opens the door he has just woken from a deep sleep. His hair is standing up and he is sort of half awake and blurry. It is a strangely intimate moment. In his sleepiness, which lasts for quite a while, he is vulnerable, defenceless, an ordinarily tired man. It might interest you to know that Sting wakes up “chuckly” and sort of cuddly.
He calls me “love” and “darling” and for a brief and shining moment, I get an idea of what it might be like to be Mrs Sting, his wife, Trudie Styler.
From the vast balcony of his luxurious hotel, the landmarks of Rome are lit up far below. In the November gloom, the sky is low, mean and troubled. Sting, 59, loves the northern winter, where everything turns inwards against the insistent cold. “I enjoy that, it is clearer, the air is clearer,” he says. “I like to put a fire on, I like the cold. I look forward to the winter, I like weather like this. It is stimulating, it is creative.”
Shades here of the King Of Pain, whose melancholy mind informed the lyrics of many Police songs of the ’70s and ’80s.
Leaning against a chair is a lute on which he plays Bach every day.
“It is sort of a daily exercise that stands me in good stead,” he says. “I mean, people wouldn’t want to pay money to hear me play Bach. I am not under any illusions about that. For me, it is a kind of spiritual exercise.”
In the days leading up to this interview, I was astonished at how many Sting/The Police songs I heard in an average day – in bars, cafes and shops – explaining easily why he is one of the highest paid musicians in the world. We all want to “walk in fields of gold”, with someone we love and might grow old with.
“I like the idea that they are touchstones for people and their memories,” says Sting. “I would never contradict anyone who said, ‘Oh, this song means this to me.’ Of course, it does, though it may mean something totally different to me. And I always manage to find something new in the songs that takes my interest.”
Read more of this story in the January issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Your say: What do you think of this story? Have you ever been conned before? Share with us below.
For some parents, discovering their child is homosexual is a crushing blow that destroys their relationship, but as Michael Sheather discovers, it can also open the way to self-awareness and even stronger family bonds.
Narelle Phipps knew quite early that her son Neil saw the world through a different prism. “I first wondered if Neil might be gay when he was about eight,” says Narelle. “He was our only son, but he seemed so very different to the other boys.”
“He loved rhythmic gymnastics and he’d dance around on the deck, twirling coloured ribbons in the air. His sister is five years older than he is, but he joined in her jazz ballet classes and loved it, but didn’t seem to notice that he was the only bloke. He was a gorgeous boy who made a wonderful contribution to the family because he was so lovely.”
For the next decade, Narelle did what she now describes as “a wonderful job of burying my head in the sand. I just pushed that to the back of my mind and carried on,” she says. “I don’t know why. Perhaps I was hoping that it would all go away and I wouldn’t have to deal with it. But I was wrong.”
Coming to terms with the reality of a homosexual child is a difficult prospect for many parents. More than one million Australians – about one in 20 – define themselves as gay or lesbian, though many believe a truer rate could be as high as one person in 12.
While some have no trouble accepting their children for who they are, others struggle in an emotional conflict that sometimes tears families apart. Not only must parents overcome their own prejudices, they must also overcome an overwhelming assault from some of the most powerful feelings in the human spectrum – fear, grief and even disgust – many times fuelled by misunderstanding, misinformation and ignorance, and all of them destructive in their own way.
Yet, as the case studies in the January issue of The Weekly show, it does not always have to end in bitterness and recrimination, nor in family breakdown.
When Neil was 18, Narelle and her husband Keith, an engineering consultant from western Sydney, came home from a weekend away. “We came home to discover that Neil had gone to Mardi Gras, the annual gay and lesbian parade in Sydney, with some friends and that he had worn his sister’s silver spangly dress.
“I sat down with him at the dining room table and asked him if he was gay and he said, ‘No Mum, I’m not.’ Two weeks later, I asked him again and this time he said yes. To my eternal regret, I handled it badly. I told him I was devastated. He needed me to understand, but some part of me wasn’t really listening. It was awful. I’m so sorry about that. I’d had 10 years to get ready for it, but I didn’t.”
Read more of this story in the January issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Your say: What do you think of this story? Is your son or daughter gay? Has finding that out changed your relationship? Share with us below.
These three women were duped by a charismatic con man, but fought back by warning other women on the web. Now he’s under arrest, reports Jordan Baker.
It was the eyes that hooked Diana Mors. His charm and generosity were appealing, too, but she loved his George Clooney gaze – a gaze that made her feel like the only woman in the world. Tom* was funny, handsome and smart, almost too good to be true. But, she reasoned, good things eventually come to those who deserve them.
It was in late 2008, as they got to know each other through emails, that Tom told her of his loneliness after his fiancée died in a car accident. He mentioned only in passing the fortune that alloweé him to take extravagant holidays, wander the country and go back to university. He was new to Brisbane and would be staying a little while, he told her. He had a suggestion: could he rent a room at her house rather than stay at a lonely hotel?
He moved in, romance blossomed, and Tom showed his gratitude by taking her shopping for designer clothes and a car. They had have extravagant dinners. But Tom never paid for the shopping sprees on the spot, and the purchases were never delivered. When they dined out, she would pay and he’d add it to the money his personal assistant was transferring to her account.
When, after six weeks, he owed her about $2000, Diana told Tom to leave and sort his finances out. “You know where I am once you’ve worked things out,” she told him. He packed his bags and disappeared. She later found out he moved straight in with Rebecca, a woman he met online using Diana’s internet connection.
While living at Diana’s house, Tom had dazzled smart, savvy Rebecca Bell, 33. He shared many of her interests, and she was moved by the tragic story of his fiancée who died in a car accident. “He had a lot of confidence and I think that enticed me,” Rebecca says. “You feel like you haven’t had a connection with someone like that in a long time.”
He was wealthy, he told her, but expensive hotels were lonely. He was staying with a friend, but would rather rent a room off Rebecca. She invited him into her home and romance blossomed. He valued her opinion and consulted her about his business dealings. She saw emails and texts from his associates, which seemed to back up his tales. He took her shopping for expensive gifts, although there was always a reason why he could not pay on the spot.
“Each time I’d try to ask him questions, he’d produce a document or email, or turn it around on me, saying how could I not trust him?” she tells The Weekly. As Rebecca waited to move into a house he said he had bought for her, Tom flew to Adelaide to give a speech on carbon credits. “I knew he was leaving,” she says. “I was relieved. And then a little light bulb went off in my head.”
Rebecca dug out the phone number of the “friend” he’d mentioned, a woman called Diana, and sent her a text message. It read: “I’ve been with Tom. I think he’s a con man.” Diana called her immediately. “Honey,” she said, “you don’t know the half of it.”
Using information they remembered from conversations with Tom, they tracked down one of his victims, who in turn helped them track down others. With painstaking research, they pieced together the past 10 years of his life and contacted 21 women across Australia and the USA, who had been hurt and ripped off by Tom. Diana and Rebecca learned that there were worse cases than theirs; some women were financially ruined. Their quest became two-pronged – to protect other women, and to support those who had fallen victim. They call it a “survivors group”.
Yet on the many occasions they tried to report Tom to police, they got little sympathy. “Police would say there’s no law against lying or moral misconduct,” says Diana. “What gets me is if I walked into David Jones and took thousands of dollars worth of goods, I’d be in prison. But when he walks into someone’s life and rips them off, you get a condescending look and ‘buyer beware, honey’.”
Read more of this story in the January issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Your say: What do you think of this story? Have you ever been conned before? Share with us below.
*Imagine never being allowed to hold your new grandchild, or being prevented from saying goodbye to your dying husband. Bo Zaw Gyi meets Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma, where she’s finally been freed from house arrest.**
To the world she is a freedom fighter, a woman brave enough to stand up to the Burmese military junta. To her countrymen she is known as The Lady, a name they whisper in hushed, reverential tones.
But 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, 65, is also a wife and mother, who has spent 15 of the last 21 years under house arrest, staring at the same decaying walls, while her people suffered and her family lived in exile far away from her.
In November 2010, we all cheered when she was granted liberty again, and her supporters flocked to her home when the army removed the barricades.
When The Weekly visited just days later, gardeners were busy cleaning up the lawn of her weathered colonial mansion. “Do come in and sorry for the state of this place, we’re having a bit of clean-up,” she says, with the British accent she acquired from many years living in England.
For such a petite woman, she has a commanding, no-nonsense presence. Her poise and ramrod-straight back are hints of the determination and discipline that have made her famous.
She takes me to the drawing room downstairs, which overlooks Inya Lake; a room that for so long has been Suu Kyi’s prison. It is panelled in teak and is sparsely furnished but for the guitar and drum kit used by a local youth band. A portrait of her father, General Aung San, who was assassinated in the same year – 1947 – he negotiated Burma’s independence from Britain, hangs on the wall.
“Oh it wasn’t all that difficult,” she says of her house arrest with typical modesty, before reminding me of the estimated 2,100 political prisoners being held in Burmese prisons. “I was simply sitting in my home and I’ve never been one for going out a lot.”
Suu Kyi filled her days with reading – novels and poetry; music – she plays piano; listening to the radio up to six hours per day – mainly the BBC. “I had to know the news each day because no one could come and tell me,”
Read more of this story in the January issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Your say: What do you think of this story? What do you think Suu Kyi will do next? Share with us below.
Photo by Mario Testino/Clarence House Press Office via Getty Images
Catherine Middleton is so in love and ready to marry her Prince, reports Katie Nicholl, royal writer with The Mail On Sunday and author of William And Harry.
A hushed silence falls over the appropriately named Queen’s Head pub in the quaint village of Chapel Row as Catherine Middleton and her mother Carole take a seat at the bar. They are well-known in the tranquil village in the heart of Bucklebury which boasts some of England’s prettiest countryside, but nonetheless, the regulars can’t seem to help but stare.
It is a Tuesday night and the two women raise their glasses. The ice in Carole’s gin and tonic clinks merrily in its tumbler. Catherine, never one to really drink spirits, nurses a glass of chilled white wine as they strike up a conversation taking care not to speak above a whisper. With their long legs and perfectly toned figures the two women, who look more like siblings than mother and daughter, draw admiring glances.
Kate will have to embrace change in order to be a success. A sophisticated training program has been in place for some years to ensure that her transition from “commoner” to royal is seamless. At St James’ Palace “Team Kate” is hard at work. She is having lessons in royal history and protocol, which can be confusing. Kate would always be expected to curtsey to the Queen, as do the rest of the royal family, while protocol dictates Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, would curtsey to Kate if Prince William is present and Charles is not. While Kate is receiving support from Camilla, who is said to like Kate immensely, Kate is understood to be having counselling to help her come to terms with the enormity of what lies ahead. One of the things she will have to cope with is the inevitable comparisons with Diana.
So how much will Kate’s life change when she becomes a princess? For the foreseeable future, the answer is relatively little. William and Kate will continue to live on the island of Anglesey, off the Welsh coast, where William is stationed with the RAF as a search and rescue pilot. “They plan to spend the next two, maybe three years in Wales and their daily lives will not change much,” explains an aide. “William and Kate have made it clear they don’t want it to change. He loves his job and Kate wants to be a good wife and support her husband. She is very happy in Wales and they certainly don’t want aides, butlers or anything like that.”
While William has a career, a plan is currently being mapped out for Catherine. Courtiers believe that, for Kate to be popular, being an army wife is not enough. According to one senior aide, “A number of charitable roles are being explored. Kate has some real passions, especially working with children, and this is something she wants us to explore for her.
“We want to make sure we choose the right charities for Kate and there are a number of options. Catherine wants to use her title and her position to help others,” the aide adds.
There are also plans in place for Kate to accompany William on some of his charitable visits and talk of them carrying out an overseas tour. William, who is a patron of Centrepoint charity for the homeless, wants Kate to accompany him on some of his charitable engagements so he can “show her the ropes”. The Queen has also suggested Sophie Wessex act as a mentor for Kate. Prince Edward and his wife recently set up their own charitable foundation and the Queen admires how Sophie balances being a wife and mother with her charitable work and public role.
“What Kate is walking into is not to be underestimated and the Palace learnt from Diana how alienating marrying into the royal family can be,” says one source at the Palace. ‘No one wants Kate to feel isolated. The royal family want her to feel as at home with them as she does with her own family.”
Read more of this story in the January issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Your say: What do you think of this story? Do you think Kate will make a wonderful princess? Share with us below.
When it comes to nutritional supplements for the mother-to-be, folic acid — the B-group vitamin that is critical for helping to prevent birth defects such as spina bifida — gets all the press.
However, several studies suggest that choline, a less well-known water-soluble nutrient that is also classed with the B-group vitamins, is just as important in ensuring healthy foetal development, particularly in reducing the risk of heart defects.
According to a study of mice by researchers from Cornell University and McGill University, low choline intake during pregnancy was associated with increased levels of homocysteine in the blood, which is a risk factor for heart disease, as well as heart problems in the animals’ offspring.
Another report, published in Behavioral Neuroscience, suggests that adequate choline during pregnancy was linked to improved attention span in test animals’ babies. Even though these were animal studies, not human ones, it makes sense for any pregnant mum to err on the side of caution and ensure she eats good food sources of choline, such as liver, eggs, fish, chicken, spinach, tofu, and wheatgerm.
Vegetarians may want to consider a supplement, with professional supervision.
After being left heartbroken by her husband of 14 years, Shania Twain has finally found love again but in very unusual circumstances.
The country music singer’s ex-husband, producer Mutt Lange, left her for her best friend in 2008. Now 45-year-old Shania has announced her engagement to that best friend’s ex-husband, the UK’s Daily Mail reported.
The real-life wife swap, which sounds like a Jerry Springer episode, saw Shania and 40-year-old Frederic Thiebaud become secretly engaged two months ago in Switzerland.
Despite the unusual situation, Shania is said to be “happier than she’s ever been” to be engaged to 40-year-old Frederic Thiebaud.
Following the breakdown of her first marriage following rumours of her husband and best friend’s affair, Shania turned to Thiebaud for support sparking a friendship.
“We leaned on one another through the ups and downs, taking turns holding each other. We’ve become closer and stronger through it all,” Shania wrote about their relationship last year.
Thiebaud popped the question with a three-carat, emerald-cut diamond ring worth an estimated $100,000, which he designed.
Kylie Minogue has hinted she may be touring Australia next year in a Christmas message to fans while announcing the release of two Christmas tracks for Vision Australia.
“I have some very exciting news for you in 2011, which I can’t tell you yet, but I can hardly wait,” Kylie said in a video message, signing off with “I can’t wait to get home and see you in 2011.”
The 42-year-old singer, who is slowly losing her Aussie accent, has released ‘Let It Snow’ and ‘Santa Baby’ with a portion of proceeds going to Vision Australia to assist their work with children who are blind or have low vision.
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