Australian Women’s Weekly NZ November 2020

On the eve of my 40th birthday, someone I know and love sent me l a message. It read, i“Enjoy the final victory lap of your 30s, life will never be the same again.” It was sent in jest, a lighthearted jab at a significant moment that has always been a milestone in a woman’s life, but for a time I was thrown. What if that’s right? What if it’s all downhill from here? What if the best of life has been and gone? What if? What if? What if? And then I got a grip – what if… this was just the beginning? You see, ageing is a funny old thing until it’s actually happening to you and then you’ve got a couple of choices – embrace it or…

Vale Ruth Bader Ginsburg 1933-2020 RUTH BADER GINSBURG was born into a world where women were not seen as equal to men, and worked her whole life to change that. She laid the foundation for gender equality, case by case, starting with a lawsuit that demonstrated that sex discrimination hurts everyone. As the second woman to sit on the US Supreme Court, she fought for equality for other minorities. Her pointed, dissenting judgments earned her the nickname Notorious RBG. She was 87. Lisa Curry honours loving daughter AS LISA CURRY mourns the loss of her “caring and bright” daughter with the “loving soul” she has written some touching words about Jaimi, who passed away last month, aged 33. “So loved, so beautiful, so kind to everyone,” a heartbroken Lisa wrote.…

FRIENDS FOREVER Jennifer Aniston (centre) left the Emmys when she was done presenting, but she and friends Lisa Kudrow (left) and Courteney Cox (right) made the night special by watching the ceremony together. WELL-SUITED Emmy presenters donned hazmat suits and went to the homes of nominees this year. Catherine O’Hara (above left) received one of seven Emmys shipped to Canada for the Schitt’s Creek nominees. AS GOOD AS GOLD Emmy nominee Sarah Snook crafted her own silver trophy. When Ozark actress Julia Garner was named the best supporting actress, beating Sarah and Meryl Streep, Sarah said she’d post it to her.…

“I had all these ideals about what marriage would be like – these dreams.” Don’t get Renee Wright wrong – she really loves this stage of her life. It’s just that she can’t quite believe she has reached it already. The TVNZ weather presenter has celebrated two milestones recently. First the 10th anniversary of her marriage to Charlie Waide and now her 40th birthday. Her days are busy, the years seem to be flying by and, like most of us, when Renee looks back, she doesn’t know where the time has gone. Facing 40, she admits, has been particularly mind-boggling. “I remember when my parents turned 40 and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s old.’ And now I’m 40 and I don’t feel old, but I guess I am. In the TVNZ…

Dawn French lets out a throaty hoot of laughter as she describes her latest project, which will reunite her and comedy partner Jennifer Saunders on screen for the first time in three years. The award-winning stars were cast by the legendary actor and director Kenneth Branagh to star in a multimillion-dollar movie adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile – a move which Dawn admits “came as something of a shock” to both of them. “Well it’s the great Kenneth Branagh, isn’t it?” she says, settling into a comfy armchair for a chat. “And it’s a very big-budget serious movie, so to put Jennifer and I in as a sort of double act was very brave of him. We were worried – on his behalf – that by having…

To celebrate the end of their holidays Crown Princess Mary, Crown Prince Frederik and their family sent a special message to the people of Denmark along with a beautiful set of portraits no doubt designed to lift spirits in these uncertain times. The communication from the Crown Prince Couple was light, breezy and upbeat: “Another summer went by. All six of us enjoyed it around Denmark, and here on the last summer day of the year we send a late summer greeting.” When COVID-19 first hit, the family of six was in Switzerland where the royal children were part way through a 12-week school stay at the prestigious Lemania-Verbier International School. Mary had paused her royal and extensive humanitarian work so she could accompany the children, while their father went…