New Zealand Woman’s Weekly Issue 44, 2022

It was a starry, starry night in Los Angeles when the stars came out to shine for the Academy Museum Gala. Brooklyn Beckham and his wife Nicola Peltz dressed soberly in black, but The Help star Jessica Chastain brought nothing but colour to the red carpet in her Oscar de la Renta chiffon gown. Alicia Vikander and Emma Stone created a stir in their Louis Vuitton twinned dresses, and Jurassic World: Dominion actress Laura Dern arrived with daughter Jaya. Tilda Swinton was honoured for her impactful work in cinema and she also made an impact in her gold-buttoned creation. Olivia Wilde glittered in a daring see-through dress, while Emily in Paris star Lily Collins looked fab in a risqué, thigh-split skirt matched with a sheer, lacy top. Diana Ross sparkled as she entertained the…

There are many Kiwi women with powerful stories in this week’s issue. Well-known presenter and podcaster Petra Bagust gave me a call a few months ago to tell me about an upcoming visit to Cambodia and Thailand with her friend and photographer Nikki Denholm. Their August trip wasn’t a holiday but a chance to shine a light on the horrors of human trafficking. I asked if she could share her experience with the Weekly upon her return, and from page 14, she does. She met girls trafficked at just 14 years of age who now have hope and a brighter future thanks to the work of organisations such as Tearfund NZ. Meanwhile, Theresa Gattung, who is well-known in both the business and philanthropy worlds, has joined forces with her sister Angela…

It was supposed to be the dream deal between the young royals starting a fresh life away from the confines of the palace and the giant streaming platform with more than 220 subscribers around the world. But the $150 million agreement between Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Netflix looks like it could be turning sour, thanks to fears that both the couple and the company are about to make the royal family very, very angry. The docuseries the Sussexes have been making was due to screen in December, but it has been pushed back to next year because of worries on both sides that it’s going to cause ructions among the royals. But the two parties have different reasons for wanting the fly-on-the-wall show to be held back. Harry and…

As a new monarch kicking off his reign during a cost-of-living crisis, the King has vowed to slash expenses where he can. And he’s started by selling off a third of the Queen’s beloved racehorses as he begins to wind down her horse-breeding operation. It’s been revealed that 12 of the 37 horses he inherited from his mother will be sold at auction later this month, including two that won top races in recent weeks. Although the Queen did sell a handful of horses every year that had been bred at her stables, getting rid of almost a third of them is not usual and a sign that the King has different priorities to the former Monarch. A source familiar with the operations of the Royal Sandringham stud says this is the…

As Dame Angela Lansbury’s loved ones gathered together to celebrate the life of the beloved star, more details have emerged of the trials and tribulations she suffered behind the scenes in the early days of her career. And nothing was more traumatic for the Murder, She Wrote actress than her daughter Deirdre’s association with infamous cult leader Charles Manson. Manson and four of his followers were convicted of murder following a frenzied killing spree in the Hollywood Hills in August 1971, and in the lead-up to those shocking crimes, a then-teenaged Deirdre – known as Didi – was caught up in the cult. Lynette Fromme, another member of the cult, recalled in her 2018 memoir that Didi used to raid her parents’ cupboards to feed Manson and his followers. “They’ll never miss it,” she…

From her days in squash advocating for equality in the sport to speaking out against racism as New Zealand’s race relations commissioner, Dame Susan Devoy has never shied away from making her opinions known. It’s the same attitude she has carried with her since arriving as an intruder on Celebrity Treasure Island. But watching those sometimes blunt observations back on TV has been confronting for the former world champion. “I’ve found it really hard – it’s a bit cringeworthy,” admits Susan. “I know I’m opinionated, and I shoot from the hip, but I didn’t realise I was quite that direct.” That forthrightness has seen Susan end up in a number of conflicts with her teammates, most notably with former Shortland Street star Lynette Forday. Susan says it was a no-brainer that after their…