You South Africa 25 Mar 2021

VOICE NOTES – you either love them or hate them. These audio messages have become more and more popular in the past year and it’s not often that you’ll find people who don’t have strong opinions about them. Fans love the intimacy and feelings of connection the sound of someone’s voice can create. There’s a sense of togetherness no amount of words and emojis in a text can convey. Others are irked because they can’t quickly take in the message at a glance – you’re forced to stop what you’re doing and take time to listen to what the person on the other end wants you to know. But as our story on page 100 shows, you can quickly swing either way. It all depends on whether the sender is being thoughtful and…

WHAT ARE YOU TEACHING YOUR KIDS? I’M A white woman with two fair-skinned, blond, blue-eyed, mixed-race boys. I know the pressure is on to teach my children to embrace and celebrate who they are. But I also need to teach them to be prepared for a world that might discriminate against them. Ultimately, what I teach my children is that they aren’t half-coloured, half-white. They aren’t half anything. My children are a beautiful combination of both races and I want to help them embrace the best of both worlds. My hope is that they’ll grow up feeling proud of their mixed heritage and loved for who they are. Powerless isn’t a word I want to describe me as a parent but after collecting my 10-year-old from school today I was confronted with that powerlessness. I’m so…

Reading Young YOU, it was so sad to see that the Hillbrow Tower, Ponte City and Carlton Centre among other places are dilapidated because of crime and decay (YOU, 11 March). WEND, MIDRAND Bob Gillies, your letter about the problem with demerits is so true (YOU Say, 25 February). The police, trucks and taxis are all a law unto themselves, especially the taxis. The police see what they’re doing and just ignore them. As you said, the government is once again targeting innocent and honest drivers. DAWN, SMS Newlands is rugby and always will be. Cape Town Stadium is soccer. SPORTS FAN, SMS I was annoyed by the comment that Angelina Jolie is “healing after her split with Brad” (YOU, 18 February). She deserves everything she gets. She stole another woman’s husband. Does this inspire sympathy…

Harry and Meghan’s whingeing seems endless (YOU, 18 March). So many people have sorrow, suicidal thoughts and dysfunctional families. And they deal with life the best they can. Life happens to us all. And we deal with it, without the super-wealth and privilege Harry and Meghan have. It almost seems as if they might have to spend their lives conjuring stories of their woes just to boost an income. Some people have it so much worse. They’re the true heroes. They continue to find inner strength and stand up. Life happens to us all. Get real. TRUDY, SMS When I saw the Oprah interview I asked myself, “Why did Harry and Meghan do it?” Yes, things didn’t go well for them in the royal family and they were hurting. But they’d left…

JUST four years ago, the world was transfixed by a glossy-haired young woman with a smile as sunny as the state of California and American confidence oozing out of every perfect pore. It wasn’t hard to see why Prince Harry fell for her – the rest of the world was in love with her too. She was a breath of fresh air in an institution regarded as stuffy and set in its ways, a woman of the world who would propel the family into the 21st century and help cement its place in the future. But oh, how profoundly it has all come tumbling down – and now the monarchy faces one of the biggest crises in its history. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s explosive tell-all with Oprah Winfrey has divided the world firmly…

KING EDWARD AND WALLIS SIMPSON What happened Wallis was an American socialite who fell in love with the king. However, her status as a divorcee caused a constitutional crisis and led to Edward’s abdication in December 1936 to marry “the woman I love”. At the time the Church of England and the British parliament didn’t allow high-ranking royals to marry divorcees. How The Firm dealt with it Edward was stripped of His Royal Highness status and demoted to the Duke of Windsor. Wallis became the Duchess of Windsor. They moved to France where they were essentially exiled: they couldn’t return to the UK without the permission of Edward’s brother and the new king, George VI. PRINCESS MARGARET AND PETER TOWNSEND What happened Soon after the death of her father in 1952, the queen’s younger sister fell in…