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Victoria Beckham style file

Victoria Beckham is one fashionista who isn’t afraid to step out in bright colours — not to mention a pair of sky-high heels — even if this outfit is as close as she’ll get to a birthday cake.

Posh may give the impression that she prefers her pout over her pearly whites these days, but earlier photos spell otherwise.

While Posh has made her own brand of bob-cut hairdo famous, she occasionally sports longer locks.

Rehearsing with her Spice Girls bandmates in 1997, Victoria isn’t quite sure what to do with herself…

Soon enough, Posh found her patented pout.

The Spice Girls won the Best Video and Best Single categories at the Brit Awards in 1997 — (L to R) Melanie Chisholm, Victoria Adams (later Beckham), Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Melanie Brown.

Earlier days of the romance between Posh and Becks, at an awards ceremony in London during October 1999.

Posh with her life-size wax model at Madame Tussaud’s in London, December 1999. The Spice Girls were the first pop band to be modelled for the museum since the Beatles.

October 2006 in London, Victoria Beckham releases her book on fashion and beauty, That Extra Half An Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything in Between.

With her incredibly high wedges, Posh shows that fashion knows no pain.

A chic Victoria takes son Cruz to famous New York toy store FAO Schwartz in 2007.

It had been a decade since the group hit the stage together, but Posh showed she still had some spicy moves while on The Return of Spice Girls World Tour in February this year.

An fluorescent Posh styles it up with the best of them — designer Michael Kors, model Heidi Klum, and fashion director of Elle Nina Garcia — at the Project Runway season 4 collections.

Posh gives her son Romeo a hug just before cheering on hubby Becks in the International Friendly match between France and England on March 26, 2008 in Paris.

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Loving legumes meal plan

The high fibre diet was one of the most successful diets to do the rounds in the ’80s and today the message to eat more fibre holds true. Nowadays it’s easy to get your recommended daily intake of fibre with the many varieties of excellent canned legumes and pulses available in supermarkets.

Legumes are antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal. They may also help promote the growth of intestinal bacteria. They are a good source of plant protein and as a carbohydrate food they provide a slow and steady release of energy, keeping you feeling full for a very long time.

If are unused to eating so much fibre, there’s a good chance you will suffer from a little gas when you start this diet. Throughout the day we encourage to you sip on peppermint tea. It helps aid digestion and relieves the discomfort of abdominal pain, gas and bloating.

Day one | Day two | Day three | Day four | Day five | Day six | Day seven

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Victoria Beckham turns 34

Photo by Getty Images

Love her or hate her, there’s no denying that Victoria Beckham is one of the most famous and recognisable faces in the world today. As Posh celebrates her 34th birthday we take a look at her life…

Born Victoria Caroline Adams and dubbed Posh Spice by the British tabloid press after her rise to pop stardom with The Spice girls, Victoria Beckham is also a pop solo artist, songwriter and dancer turned fashion designer, author, businesswoman, and occasional actress.

After sweeping the world with Spice Girl fever, the pop group disbanded and went their separate ways to pursue personal interests with varying degrees of success. Since, Beckham has dabbled as a pop solo artist, with four UK Top 10 singles and her first hit single, “Out of Your Mind” reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart – her highest chart entry to date.

Without a doubt though the vivacious and eye-catching star has found more success as a style icon, now one of the most photographed and recognised personalities on the planet. With this label of style icon under her miniscule belt, Victoria has walked the fashion runway with a great deal of success; designing a line of jeans for Rock & Republic and then branching out into her own denim brand, dVb Style.

With fragrances, sunglasses, handbags and jewellery also to add to her repertoire of Beckham-branded endorsements, anyone would think she’d be too pressed for time to release two bestselling books, one her autobiography, the other a fashion guide. But, it seems most business ventures the Beckham’s touch, turn to gold.

Posh has appeared in a number of official documentaries and also a spate of reality television dramas. Victoria Beckham: Coming to America which documented the family’s move to America, was poorly received by the American press. But there is little doubt that the Beckhams, especially Victoria, have more than stirred the Hollywood pot with their impressive celebrity influence.

The couple’s joint wealth is estimated at around $250 million.

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Over 40 and fabulous

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47 year old Julianne Moore graced the cover of French Vogue this month in racy leopard print lingerie, Elle Macpherson signed up as the new face of Revlon at 44, and Madonna approaches her 50th birthday with yet another image reinvention and album release. What do all these women have in common? They’re proving that successful careers and fabulous good looks can stand the test of time. In fact, women get better with age.

But do youthful looks come at a price? There has been much speculation in the media surrounding cosmetic procedures of the rich and famous, and certainly surgical procedures such as Botox, facelifts and chemical peels seem to be an established trend in Hollywood. The careers of actresses such as Demi Moore and Sharon Stone owe their revived success to their sizzling new looks which have raised eyebrows and set tongues wagging across the world.

Has she or hasn’t she, seems to be the question on everyone’s lips as stars such as pop sensations Madonna and Kylie Minogue grace the covers of our glossy magazines with impossibly tight and polished looking skin.

There will always be critics of cosmetic surgery, but vanity wins out as these procedures have shown increasing popularity with thousands of women going under the knife for the sake of eternal youth.

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I’m the tiniest teen in the world!

Tiny Jyoti Amge is already a “mini” celebrity in her hometown of Nagpur, India. She has one very big claim to fame — she is thought to be the littlest girl in the world.

Standing just 58cm at 15 years old, petite Jyoti is smaller than the average one-year-old child. She has her own mini grey uniform and school bag and even a tiny desk. But she looks like a doll next to her teenage classmates.

Remarkably, brave Jyoti is constantly cheerful and she even has ambitions to sing and be an actress one day.

“I am proud of being the smallest girl. I love all the attention I get,” says a smiling Jyoti. “I’m not scared of being small, and I don’t regret being small.”

I am sure there are many people in this world who are dwarves like me. I’m just the same as other people. I eat like you, dream like you. I don’t feel any different.”

Jyoti is thought to have the condition achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism. But unlike other patients, who generally grow to more than 120cm tall, Jyoti has not even reached half that.

Jyoti’s mum, 45-year-old housewife Ranjana Amge, says no-one really knows why her little girl never grew up.

“Jyoti seemed quite normal to us when she was born,” says Ranjana. “We came to know about her disorder when she was five years old. We consulted a specialist and he said she will be this size all of her life.”

“Jyoti is small, yet cute, and we love her very much.”

People in the region of India where the family live flock to see the pretty teenager. She has already been registered in the Indian Book Of Records as the smallest girl in the country — but is also thought to be the tiniest in the world.

For the full story, see this week’s Woman’s Day (on sale April 14).

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Camilla and Charles shock split!

Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles are increasingly living separate lives, amid reports the couple’s three-decade-long relationship is heading for the rocks following a series of blazing rows in front of staff.

As the couple marked their third wedding anniversary last week, friends have revealed that Charles and Camilla are constantly at each other’s throats, as they struggle to make their marriage work.

The Duchess of Cornwall was noticeably absent when Charles accompanied Prince William and Kate Middleton on a skiing trip to the royals’ favourite ski resort in the Swiss Alps during the last week of March.

Sources have told the UK’s Mail On Sunday newspaper that the situation has become so tenuous that even the presence of Palace staff is not enough to cool down the couple’s bitter fighting.

“The rows have been escalating over the past three months,” a Palace source told the paper. “The staff is getting tired of it, because you can’t help but hear the shouting … as you can imagine, it’s hugely embarrassing when that happens.”

As tension between the two continues to grow, Camilla has been spending an increasing amount of time at her old family home, Ray Mill, 165km from the couple’s Clarence House residence, often flying in at a moment’s notice by helicopter.

“She is happy to spend time at Ray Mill,” a close friend told the paper. “Charles will never go down there to comfort her. He just sits it out.”

Sources say the couple’s relationship has been on shaky ground for months, after Camilla was forced to pull out of attending Princess Diana’s memorial at the Guards Chapel last August.

Left shocked and humiliated by the public backlash that accompanied her invitation to the anniversary service, Camilla told friends she felt abandoned by an unsympathetic Charles. While Camilla had always felt uneasy about attending the service, she was pushed into accepting the invitation by her husband.

For the full story, see this week’s Woman’s Day (on sale April 14).

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Princess Diana’s and Charles costly divorce.

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Brad and Ange: kids out of control

As superstar couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie await the arrival of the newest members of their brood, there is disquiet over how their increasingly unruly family will cope with the added strain of twin babies.

Soon to be raising six children under the age of seven, Brad, 44, and Ange, 32, are coming under fire for their parenting methods — with childhood behaviour experts telling Woman’s Day that the couple’s erratic lifestyle and parenting habits could be contributing to their children’s behaviour.

Difficulties have reportedly flared of late, with sources telling US magazine Star that Maddox, 6, has been constantly pushing Pax, 4, around in an attempt to show him who’s boss. “But Pax is no wimp, and he fights back.”

However, it’s little Zahara, 3, who really rules the roost, with even the youngest in the family — the couple’s biological daughter Shiloh, 22 months — coming off second best.

Little Shiloh is starting to show possible battle scars, with recent photos revealing the tiny girl with a chipped front tooth.

“Zahara screams and shouts at the boys when she doesn’t get her own way,” one of the sources revealed to Star. “Z is always pushing or scratching Shiloh.”

“Ange gets worried when Shi plays with the other kids. She always comes back with a scraped knee or a fat lip!”

The chaos has reached the point where even normally unflappable Angelina has admitted to losing control of her unorthodox household.

“Four is kind of kicking our ass,” Ange admitted in a recent TV interview about her brood. “But we kind of feel like, damn it, we’re up for the challenge!”

For the full story, see this week’s Woman’s Day (on sale April 14).

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Do you think Ange and Brad should be adding more kids into the mix?

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Q & A with Cameron Daddo and Alison Brahe

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Trisha’s cancer shock

After a series of devastating setbacks, the former Play School host faces the toughest fight of her life.

Former Australian TV host Trisha Goddard has revealed she is battling breast cancer, after a routine mammography three weeks ago revealed a lump.

Now living in the UK, where she fronts a hugely successful talk show, the 50-year-old former presenter of Play School and The 7:30 Report has already undergone two operations to remove the lump and some of her lymph nodes and faces an exhausting bout of chemotherapy.

Trisha’s husband Peter Gianfrancesco says his wife is devastated by the diagnosis but is focusing on her recovery.

“We are both stressed and exhausted from the stress and worry, but are trying to deal with this one step at a time,” he said last week.

The show goes on

Determined to overcome the illness, Trisha has told staff at her production company that she will be back on board in two weeks.

“Trisha does not want to feel like a sick person,” says company managing director Malcolm Allsop. “She is strong and will come through this as she has with other setbacks in her life.”

Trisha’s friend Dr Rosie King, who co-hosted the Aussie lifestyle show Live It Up with her in the early 1990s, says Trisha has never been one to slow down, no matter what life has thrown at her.

“After having her first baby Billie (now 18), she was back on TV that day,” Rosie tells Woman’s Day. “This diagnosis would have been a devastating blow. But I have to say that Trisha is a remarkable woman.”

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The real Roberta Williams

In Channel Nine’s top-rating gangland drama Underbelly she’s the sassy motor-mouth chick with a flashy sex-and-drugs-fuelled lifestyle and a taste for dangerous men.

But with her former husband — notorious Melbourne serial killer Carl Williams — now serving life for three underworld murders, Roberta Williams is adamant her on-screen character is nothing like the worried mother whose four children are the innocent casualties of the city’s gangland wars.

“Carl is in jail for life — but nobody stops to think that our little girl Dhakota has also got a life sentence because of all of this,” Roberta tells Woman’s Day. “At seven years old, she hasn’t done anything wrong.”

Despite the legal ruling banning the acclaimed 13-part TV series from being broadcast in Victoria — due to an ongoing trial linked to the underworld wars which claimed 30 lives — the former wife of the baby-faced killer claims publicity surrounding its broadcast in other states has been painful for her family.

On Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O’s 2DayFM radio show in Sydney, Roberta revealed the distress the police investigation created in her children’s lives when they realised their luxury home was bugged.

“It’s just sad in a way that my children, in the end, were stressing about the fact they couldn’t have a personal life because the police were listening all the time.

“It got to one point where my girls were stressing about having a shower because they were worried the police had cameras in there watching them.” Roberta has previously told Melbourne media of her dismay over what she called an “ugly baby” chosen by producers to portray Dhakota in Underbelly.

“My Dhakota’s glamour,” she told Melbourne’s Herald Sun. “She’s the next Megan Gale.”

She complained on radio last week about actress Kat Stewart’s portrayal of her as “some real Aussie chick who comes from the slums of God knows where”.

The only character in the show Roberta approves of is Andrew “Benji” Veniamin, played by Damian Walshe-Howling. On screen Roberta and Andrew have an affair, which Roberta says is false. “Andrew and I were like brother and sister. We never had a sexual relationship,” she said on 2DayFM.

For the full story, see this week’s Woman’s Day (on sale April 14).

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