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A Queen without a King is still a Queen. And before Pia Wurtzbach controversially won Miss Universe, the crown was all she had in her head. “The focus was the crown, 100%,” she says. Love was the farthest thing from her mind. In fact, winning the crown meant her entire happiness. I asked her to recall the top five moments she felt the happiest in her life and of course, winning Miss Universe was one of them. After all, it’s a joy only very few and select women will ever experience. And in true beauty pageant fashion, the other four, she laid out in random order. “Okay, in no particular order. I don’t want people to think na‘Oh, that was happier than this moment,’ so of course, winning Miss Universe was one of them. I worked…

Just a month after putting on a united front with Alex Rodriguez following a swirl of breakup rumors, Jennifer Lopez is officially moving on. The superstar and the baseball player turned entrepreneur released a joint statement on April 15 announcing the end of their engagement—“We have realized we are better as friends … [and] wish the best for each other and one another’s children,” said the exes—but multiple sources confirm it was Lopez, 51, who ultimately broke up with Rodriguez, 45. “She insisted on it. There are too many issues that are unresolved,” says a friend of Lopez, who’s been filming her upcoming comedy Shotgun Wedding in the Dominican Republic over the past few months. In the end, sources say, Lopez could no longer fully trust Rodriguez, who flew to…

…WE LIVED IN A RENTED FLAT When my parents met, Dad had close to zero income. He, Mum, my dear Granny Molly and Mimi, my mother’s pet monkey, shacked up under one roof in a rented flat in London’s South Kensington. …MY FATHER WAS A MILD MAN My paternal grandfather was a keen amateur musician. As a child, Dad got music scholarships all over the shop. At an unprecedentedly youthful age he won a gong to the Royal College of Music. But for all his talent Dad wouldn’t say boo to a goose. He was content in his academic roles such as Professor of Composition at the Royal College of Music. Mum found his lack of ambition infuriating. …MUM’S MONKEY DISLIKED ME When Mum got pregnant, her pet monkey Mimi became horrendously…

Like many couples, Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen have had to adjust to an unusual amount of quality time together during the pandemic. “We’ve been alone for the last nine months, and we’ve decided to stay together,” jokes the actress, snuggling close with Danson in the backyard of their L.A. home in early January. Adds the actor: “Every morning we get to choose. It’s a rule.” The couple, who have been married since October 1995, began dating after costarring in the 1993 film Pontiac Moon—but admit it wasn’t love at first sight. The Cheers alum, 73, had just gotten out of his very public relationship with Whoopi Goldberg and finalized his divorce from his second wife, Casey Coates, with whom he shares daughters Kate and Katrina; Steenburgen, 67, was divorced…

In a quiet suburban neighborhood of well-kept identical townhomes in Palm Harbor, Fla., 85-year-old Anthony Tomaselli had his predictable routine. Every evening after watching Wheel of Fortune, he went to the nearby beach to catch the sunset. Returning home, he would read his prayer cards, in Italian and English. And before bed he would drink his favorite cocktail, a vodka and Diet Coke. But in the weeks after his live-in girlfriend had died, the widowed man’s two daughters, Mary Beth Tomaselli, 65, and Linda Roberts, 64, said he often seemed confused and forgetful and urged him to move into assisted living. He wanted to stay put. Their arguments became moot when Linda, a doctor’s office receptionist, called 911 on the morning of March 6, 2015, and told the operator that…

Nurturing Our Brain Health In an age where we’re expected to live longer, I found Sari Harrar’s article, ‘How to Build a Better Brain’ (November), compulsive reading. Living longer is one thing, living longer with a better, healthier brain is paramount if we want to enjoy quality of life. Meditation, engaging in pleasurable activities and fuelling our bodies with healthy ‘brain food’ are some of the simple changes that can have beneficial effects on brains of every age. Brain health is in our hands. JUDITH CAINE Keeping Languages Alive I am very encouraged by the article ‘Preserving Lost Languages’ by Raphael Garcia (October). Knowing one’s language is knowing one’s mind. Learning minority languages also means learning the traditions, culture and getting to know the people of specific groups, which can be a great help…

GOLDEN WARRIOR Receiving the Cecil B. DeMille award in person at the ceremony in L.A. on Feb. 28, Jane Fonda, 83, shone a light on inequality in Hollywood—amid controversy over the Hollywood Foreign Press, which awards the Globes, having no Black members. “Let’s all of us, including all the groups that decide who gets hired and what gets made and who wins awards… make an effort to expand that tent,” she said, “so that everyone rises and everyone’s story has a chance to be seen and heard.” STUCK ON MUTE We’ve all been there! During his acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor for Judas and the Black Messiah, tech glitches muted Daniel Kaluuya. “You did me dirty!” he joked when the sound returned. TINA & AMY REUNITE—SORT OF Four-time cohosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler…

Cast in bronze, the new statue of Princess Diana unveiled on July 1 at Kensington Palace gardens was built to weather hundreds of years. But in just the four years it took from the 2017 announcement of the project to its much-anticipated debut on what would have been Diana’s 60th birthday, her sons Prince William and Prince Harry have suffered a painful public fracture. Yet despite the ongoing tensions, there was never any doubt that the brothers would unite to honor their mother, who died at age 36 in an August 1997 car crash. After arriving in the U.K. six days earlier from the California home he shares with wife Meghan Markle and their kids Archie, 2, and Lilibet, 6 weeks, Harry joined William at Kensington Palace 25 minutes before…

If you’ve ever winced after accidentally washing your delicates in the ‘cottons’ cycle, you’ll shudder over the beating ancient clothing took. Literally. Garments were bashed over rocks, scrubbed with abrasive sand or stone, and pounded underfoot or with wooden implements in an attempt to clean them. This probably gives a pretty clear indication of a) the coarseness of the fabric used and b) the extent of stench and grime that needed to be extracted. On the positive side, laundry day was a social event, with communities heading down to the local river en masse to have a good chat while pulverising their clothes into submission. Over time, the role of washing clothes became a primary occupation. This practice of public laundry services peaked in Ancient Rome, with those fancy Romans transforming the concept…

FROM THE BOOK MEDITATION FOR FIDGETY SKEPTICS If you had told me as recently as a few years ago that I would someday become a travelling proponent for meditation, I would have coughed my beer up through my nose. In 2004, I had a panic attack at work. Unfortunately for me, that meant I was in front of millions of people, delivering the news, live, on the US television show Good Morning America. In the wake of my nationally televised freak-out, I learned that I had undiagnosed depression. For months, I’d been having trouble getting out of bed in the morning and felt as if I had a permanent low-grade fever. The panic attack ultimately led me to embrace a practice I had always dismissed as ridiculous. For most of my life, to…

THE BUSY SEASON ON St. Simons Island, Georgia, typically runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day. But 2020’s tourist boom lasted well into November. A short detour off I-95, about halfway between Savannah and Jacksonville, St. Simons Island is known for golf and saltwater-based leisure pursuits. On one clear and breezy late-fall afternoon, people seeking a reprieve from their couches cruised the palm-tree-lined high street on foot or bikes; others sat on benches licking soft serve while staring at the fishing trawlers and cargo ships in the distance. The lower the sun dipped on the horizon, the more people drifted to the pier in pursuit of the perfect sunset snap. And amid all the smiles and poses, no one seemed to mind the giant shipwreck lurking in the background. If…

A COZY COCOON. THAT’S THE vision interior designer Elizabeth Cooper had for one family of four’s prewar apartment, located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. “Because the family spends most of the summer at their house on Long Island, and lives in New York City from the fall through the spring, we decided to make quite a bit of the color palette and materials a little richer—velvets, wool flannels, deep blues and greens, and chocolate brown, et cetera,” she explains. One color in particular became central to her scheme: “As we kept going, I was drawn more and more to the blues,” Cooper recalls. Inky de Gournay Temple Newsam panels (“absolutely the single largest investment of time and detailed effort in this project”) turn the entryway into a snowy woodland scene. The…

The previous week, fellow ten-figure mogul Richard Branson had kicked off the billionaire space race. Some people saw innovation and ambition. Others saw ego and hubris. Dell saw … opportunity. “We’re selling to a lot of the emerging space companies,” he says matter-of-factly. “You can’t do all those engineering feats without an incredible amount of computing power, data and artificial intelligence.” Dell has been publicly quiet for most of the past decade, muzzled by fierce takeover negotiations or simply uninterested in the spotlight, or both. His business has done the talking instead. Nine years ago, Silicon Valley and Wall Street alike had written off Dell, the person and the company, both tethered to the then-cratering personal computer market, as en route to the same technological irrelevance as Palm or BlackBerry. Yet even…

Laura Linney is having a good month. On Feb. 3 the actress nabbed a Golden Globe nomination for her role on the hit Netflix show Ozark. The following day she got a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for the same show. The day after that she celebrated her 57th birthday. She’s been earning acclaim for decades, but “I don’t take anything for granted,” says the New York native, who attributes her work ethic to her mother, Ann Leggett, an oncology nurse, and her father, playwright Romulus Linney. “I grew up around people who worked very hard with long hours under difficult circumstances,” she says. “They taught me that grit is an important quality to have.” Linney’s first love was theater. After graduating from the prestigious Juilliard School in 1990, she got…

POP STARS ALIGN Los Angeles, Nov. 6 Billie Eilish and Miley Cyrus caught up at the star-studded 10th Annual LACMA Art+Film Gala at the Los Angeles County Art Museum. JEN & BEN’S KISS GOODBYE Los Angeles, Nov. 7 After spending a weekend together, Jennifer Lopez and boyfriend Ben Affleck parted ways with a kiss on the tarmac before she flew to Vancouver to continue filming her Netflix thriller The Mother. JODIE’S STREET STYLE Los Angeles, Nov. 2 “I am still BUZZING from last night’s most epic fashion extravaganza,” Jodie Turner-Smith wrote on Instagram after walking the runway in Gucci’s Love Parade fashion show on Hollywood Boulevard. BEACH BOY Miami Beach, Nov. 3 Shawn Mendes flaunted his six-pack during a beach day with his girlfriend (and “Señorita” collaborator) Camila Cabello. PRIYANKA AND MINDY LIGHT UP THE ROOM Los Angeles, Nov. 4 Priyanka Chopra Jonas and…

MAN OF THE HOUR Musician Jon Batiste, who was the night’s most-nominated artist (11 nods), walked away from the Las Vegas show on April 3 with five wins, including Album of the Year for We Are. “I don’t really do it for the awards, [but] I really am so grateful,” he said backstage. Batiste also revealed on Grammy day that he secretly married author Suleika Jaouad, his longtime girlfriend, in February, shortly after she was diagnosed with leukemia for a second time. “Life has ups and downs. And sometimes the ups and downs occur at the same time,” said Batiste. “It puts it in perspective.” MORE STARS WIN BIG! STARS SHINE BRIGHT TREND ALERT: PINK! From blush to fuchsia, pink was the hottest hue of the night STARS ON-SET SUITE LIFE New York, March 28 Spouses Sarah Jessica Parker…

It seems we can point the finger waaay back to the Persian cavalry in the tenth century. Yes, the first heels in history were a strictly male phenomenon. As those manly Persian horsemen galloped across the plains, wielding their bows and arrows, they found that wearing a delicate heel kept their feet stable in their stirrups. Since only the wealthy owned horses, heels became a debonair display of just how rich one was. Persian couture spread to Europe at the turn of the 17th century, when charismatic Persian king Shah Abbas I sent a delegation of soldiers to Russia, Germany and Spain to gain support in defeating the Ottoman Empire. ‘Persia-mania’ ensued, as a boom of interest in Persian goods saw European aristocrats embracing heels, hoping some of that virile Persian…

Can a whole country agree on something? At Christmas time, anything is possible. We asked editors of our international editions to share the special treats and classic drinks enjoyed at their tables at the end of each year. ARGENTINA SAVOURY DISH: VITEL TONÉ This is one item that makes it onto almost every festive table. A cold veal steak served with a creamy anchovy and tuna sauce, vitel toné was brought over by the three million Italian immigrants who arrived in Argentina at the turn of the 20th century. It is garnished with hardboiled eggs and capers and arranged in slices on a large platter. “It’s a perfect meal: easy and quick to make, and great when feeding a crowd,” says editor Leonardo Schiano in Buenos Aires. MEXICO SWEET TREAT: LOS BUÑUELOS When a dessert is…

At the start of a recently acclaimed feature film, an exacting conductor is seen picking out fabrics for a series of custom shirts, suits, and coats. The tailor’s dressing room oozes luxury, but a logo is nowhere in sight. Lydia Tár doesn’t wear labels on her sleeves. As if. In her soft-pedal bespoke finery, she is the spiritual lodestar of an increasingly visible type, the woman who doesn’t need to use fashion to broadcast her power—or deep pockets. Call her the low-key rich bitch. Look around and you’ll spy her everywhere: pushing a cart around Erewhon in Los Angeles in a buttery nappa leather bomber. Is that the new…Loewe? Yep. Or slipping into an afternoon screening of The Conformist at New York’s Film Forum in a broad-shouldered, floorlength trench that the…

In the wild world of cryptocurrency exchanges, one strategy never seemed to pay off: embracing regulation. Take Gemini, started by twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. While it was plastering posters in New York subways a few years ago, declaring there was “Finally, a regulated place to buy, sell and store crypto,” an exchange called Binance—with no clear headquarters and a mysterious structure—quietly took the top spot among the world’s crypto venues. Suddenly, touting adherence to the rulebook looks very smart. Although Binance Holdings Ltd. turns away American customers, it’s now said to be facing probes from U.S. agencies. In late June the financial watchdog in the U.K. told a Binance affiliate it wasn’t authorized to carry out regulated activities in that country. The pressure on Binance raises the odds that several…

After a winter morning gym workout on January 21, Brooke Shields was putting away the balance board—a piece of equipment similar to a small seesaw on which a user must engage their core to keep from wobbling to one side or the other—when the unthinkable happened. “This very sweet guy said how easy I made it look,” she recalls. “It had taken me a year to learn how to use it—I said, ‘Here, let me show you.’” The actress and beauty icon, 55, had recently returned to New York from Scotland, where she’d filmed the Netflix rom-com A Castle for Christmas. After 10 months of at-home workouts during the pandemic, she tells People’s Liz McNeil, “I was feeling so good and so strong.” But as she got up on the balance…

After a decade of marriage Russ and Elizabeth “Betsy” Faria had been through their share of ups and downs in their relationship. But when Betsy was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 and doctors told them she likely had just three to five years to live, the couple decided to make the most of the time they had left together. They went ahead with a planned cruise as “a celebration of life,” Russ says, and Betsy fulfilled a long-held dream to swim with dolphins. “Betsy had an award-winning smile and one of the biggest hearts of anybody you ever met,” he says. “I know she loved me, and I loved her. You just never forget the people you love.” So, too, would Russ never forget what he saw the moment he…

Freshness Extender Removable vented baskets in the GreenSaver Herb and Produce Keepers pair with carbon filters to trap gases, promote airflow, and prolong the life of your fresh groceries. From $12. oxo.com. Ultrasharp Peeler A detachable brush on the Swiss Easy Clean Peeler makes cleaning its carbon steel blade a breeze. $7. kuhnrikonshop.com. The Everything Pan The 14" Hybrid Pan, made from a combo of even-heating stainless steel and nonstick, works on all cooktops—including induction. $190. hexclad.com. At-Home Barista Preset the entire family’s morning beverages on the De’Longhi Dinamica Plus, then just press a button when you’re ready for your order. $1,500. williams-sonoma.com. Tropical Serveware Add a bright vibe to your daily food prep—and tabletop—with this colorful Pakkawood Utensil Set by Island Bamboo. $35 to $50. amazon.com. Nesting Cookware This set by ENSEMBL has two saucepans, a steamer, stockpot, braiser, fry…

WINTER GREENS Here’s an idea you’ll tip a party hat to: Plant these conical conifers on your holiday table, sideboard, or mantel. Drizzle their tops with clear gel glue, let it drip down the sides, and dust with white glitter. Then arrange them on a blanket of faux snow. MINTY FRESH Turn plain packages into conversation pieces with flashy store-bought bows and decorative items like garlands, stickers, and candles. GLITZY BUSINESS Gold confetti puts the “fest” in the Festival of Lights. To set this jubilant Hanukkah scene, spray-paint a simple menorah with matte white paint, let it dry, and adhere the confetti with craft glue. Glue metallic flakes (cut from sheets of easy-to-melt edible gold) onto candles. Then let gold-fringed paper cups, Mylar-tied straws, and gleaming gelt complete the theme. BLUSHING BEAUTY This modern wooden dowel tree…

ONE early January day in 1999, 51-year-old Georgene Martin, née Huber, received a delivery of red roses. Her husband had recently passed away, so the flowers didn’t seem completely out of the blue. But the name on the note that came with them did. The last place she had seen that name, Jerry Zimmermann, was in her high school yearbook – from 1965. “Dear Georgene,” Jerry’s card read, “I was a classmate of yours, though I don’t believe you knew who I was. I was painfully shy, and you were the prettiest girl I had ever seen.” It was true that Georgene hardly remembered Jerry. Nearly four decades had passed since their paths first crossed in the hallways of Farnsworth Junior High School in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where she still lived. “Though I now…

CUTE COUPLES! NAOMI’S STREET STYLE New York City, April 8 Naomi Campbell stunned the streets of Times Square in the Michael Kors fashion show in a sparkling, long-sleeved navy gown and a matching trench coat. GREATNESS ON THE GREEN Augusta, Ga., April 11 Golf pro Hideki Matsuyama became the first male player from Japan to claim a major title when he won the 2021 Masters Tournament. ANDREA’S FATHER-DAUGHTER DUET AlUla, Saudi Arabia, April 8 Andrea Bocelli’s daughter Virginia, 9, joined him for a duet at the first-ever modern concert at the historic Al-Hijr Archaeological Site. HE WEARS SHORT SHORTS! West Hollywood, April 5 It must have been leg day: Milo Ventimiglia flaunted his impressive gams when he left his gym in shorts. LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER Madonna shared a rare selfie with daughter Lourdes Leon, 24, on April 11. “Like pieces of your heart…

Your mother is not well at the moment,” Firdaus Abdul Hamid heard his father say during a visit to the Singapore prison where he was incarcerated. It was 2003, and 23-year-old Firdaus was a reluctant inmate. The young repeat offender was no stranger to prison life but learning of his mother’s illness, with father and son separated by a thick glass panel and speaking through a corded phone watched over by guards, was devastating. “Please pray for her,” his father said. Back in his cell, Firdaus’s thoughts turned to his mother resting at home, enduring the pain and discomfort of a breast cancer operation, diabetes and heart disease. Despite her illness, she made a point to visit him every week, walking the one kilometre from the prison bus stop to the…

Horacio Gutierrez made his name in U.S. corporate law two decades ago defending Microsoft Corp. against charges of anticompetitive behavior in the first major antitrust case of the internet age. As the tech industry is once again dominated by talk of monopolies, Gutierrez, now Spotify Technology SA’s chief legal officer, has switched sides. For the past five years he’s led Spotify’s campaign against Apple Inc., one of a series of antitrust actions with the potential to make an even greater impact than the Microsoft litigation. While the shift in public opinion about the tech industry in recent years has been stunning by any measure, the change in the perception of Apple may be the most improbable. When Gutierrez started accusing the company of anticompetitive behavior in 2016, many public officials had…

Speed and positive vector are definitive markers for development. Although some may argue that it is a mere social construct, growth and advancement have been humanity’s collective battle cry. Of late, though, progress seems to have taken the backseat in favor of a life well lived—a life that is anchored on a more profound purpose that looks beyond material wealth and tangible achievements. Color conjurer and interior designer Wilmer Lopez knows the value of quality in everything—from furniture pieces and artworks, to design elements, living spaces, and homes. “I think each one of us has a vision of what an ideal home should be or should look like. If you are after the aesthetics, I do not see anything wrong with that. For me though, since the renovation of this Antipolo…

Rob Ashford needed a break. In 2013, as the director was preparing to helm both his first opera, The Barber of Seville at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and a production of Macbeth in Manchester starring Kenneth Branagh, he and his partner Kevin Ryan decided to vacation in Tangier, Morocco. During the visit Ashford, who won a Tony in 2002 for choreographing Thoroughly Modern Millie, first heard about Joe McPhillips, the late headmaster of the American School of Tangier, who each year would stage and direct an unusual play at the high school for international students. “He did some crazy productions,” Ashford says. “For instance, Yves Saint Laurent did costumes and Paul Bowles composed the music for the Euripides play Hippolytus.” When McPhillips died in 2007, the productions stopped. Hearing this,…

“WHEN THEY’RE HOME, THEY REALLY WANT TO BE AT HOME,” SAYS RICHMOND-BASED INTERIOR designer Janie Molster of her clients, Ammar and Sara Sarraf, two full-time doctors with three young kids. “They’re so committed to their careers, and they also have this busy growing family that, you know, needs full attention!” The couple called on Molster to help them turn an outdated 1950s cottage in a leafy Richmond neighborhood into a fully functional family retreat. “They did have a long wish list,” Molster recalls. “They wanted to be able to spread out.” This meant the house would need to be renovated “down to the studs,” per Molster, then expanded to include a more comfortably sized kitchen and dining room, plus larger living spaces and bedrooms. “We definitely almost doubled the square footage,” Sara…

For Jamie and Elijah Snow, a kid-free vacation to Mexico’s all-inclusive resorts was an annual summer treat and a way to celebrate their June 4 wedding anniversary. This year, in honor of their 10-year milestone, the Texas couple—he a firefighter, she a special-education director, both 35—splurged on the Royalton Chic Cancún, a higher-end resort than their usual bargain spots. Their plans for the week? “Sit back, relax and not have to worry about anything,” Jamie says. So they didn’t sweat it when, after they’d awakened at 2 a.m. to make their flight out of Dallas on July 18, Elijah realized halfway to the airport—too late to turn back—that he didn’t have his phone. And they rolled with it when they arrived at the Royalton’s front desk hours before their room was…

Last year Jamie Lee Curtis’s daughter Ruby sat down in the family’s Los Angeles backyard with her mother and her father, comedy director Christopher Guest. Ruby had something to say. She was going to come out as trans. But she wasn’t able to. “It was scary—just the sheer fact of telling them something about me they didn’t know,” Ruby says with a small laugh. Instead, “I texted my mom later.” Says Jamie Lee: “I called her immediately. Needless to say there were some tears involved.” But today Ruby, 25—who works as a video editor for a gaming personality on YouTube—is more at ease as she, alongside her mom, talks about her journey publicly for the first time. And Jamie Lee, 62—still with a few tears—remains ready to listen. Ruby, for many…

In the last ten years, ‘gluten’ has become a buzzword – and a bit of a dietary demon. For most people, gluten – a protein found in many types of grains – is totally harmless. But for others, foods with gluten can cause a number of problems ranging from abdominal discomfort, diarrhoea and bloating, to anxiety and fatigue. “Gluten is a challenge to our guts because it can be hard to digest,” says nutritionist Beth Trimark-Connor. “In people with coeliac disease, gluten damages cells in the intestine and provokes an attack response from the immune system. When the immune response doesn’t stop attacking the gluten, it may turn on the body itself.” Some people without coeliac or a gluten intolerance or sensitivity have reported experiencing benefits from going gluten free, including decreased…

STARS ON-SET FIRST LOOKS! MICHAEL & KATHLEEN REUNITE Nearly 40 years after they first starred together in Romancing the Stone (inset), Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner will team up onscreen once again in The Kominsky Method when Turner’s character, Roz, returns for the show’s third and final season (streaming May 28 on Netflix). “It was fun just to fall back in the rhythm again of our working together,” Turner previously told People about playing her three-time costar’s ex-wife in the series. DEREK HOUGH GOES BACK TO HIGH SCHOOL Pro dancer and choreographer Derek Hough takes on a new role as a rival drama teacher—and Miss Jenn’s (Kate Reinders) ex—on season 2 of Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (premiering May 14). “It was fun to lean into being a little smug,” Hough says.…

There’s only one health story in town, of course, and that’s my ongoing foot injury. This is because I have just discovered that nasty red hump under my big toe wasn’t tendonitis at all, but gout. Gout! I know, shocking news. Pour yourself a stiff drink to recover! Or don’t, if you’re susceptible to gout. Which you might be. I didn’t think I was. But after six weeks of waiting for a foot X-ray, I buckled and consulted a GP, who diagnosed it in an instant. In as much as I had ever considered the condition, I had imagined that gout was strictly for portly Victorian gentlemen with sideburns, or blokes in tracksuits who subsist solely on beer and crisps. But then the doc scribbled down a list of trigger foods, and…

“IT’S JUST A REALLY SPECIAL LITTLE JEWEL.” Set atop a hill in Marin County, California, the 1925 home had great natural light and good bones—and was designated as a historic landmark. Practically speaking, this means “the front of the house and the size of the house can’t really be changed, but internally, you’re able to do pretty much whatever you like,” explains designer Mark D. Sikes. He worked with Ken Linsteadt Architects and Denler Hobart Gardens to give the place a spirited remodel for a young family of four, all while respecting the original architecture. “[The clients] wanted something that was timeless,” Sikes says, “but also happy and colorful and fun.” The first order of business was to turn what was originally two separate rooms for living and dining into one large…

Queen Elizabeth has witnessed countless historic firsts during her nearly 95 years, from the first men on the moon to the first royal great-grandchild to grow up in America. But the monarch who is most comfortable as a stoic observer is rarely an active participant, as she was in early January when she and her 99-year-old husband, Prince Philip, were among the first in the U.K. to receive the new COVID-19 “jab,” as the Brits call the vaccination. Although some wondered if she would wait to learn whether the vaccine caused any adverse reactions in the wider public, those close to her say she never hesitated in her desire to help others feel less afraid. She and Philip, who were administered the vaccine at their Windsor Castle home, “were on…

At the start of their astonishing 73-year marriage, Prince Philip and then-Princess Elizabeth enjoyed two blissful years on the Mediterranean island of Malta, where Philip was stationed as a British naval officer. “That was the only time my mother was able to see them as a normal married couple, and the Queen was able to have the life of a normal naval officer’s wife,” says India Hicks, whose mother, Lady Pamela, was the daughter of Philip’s uncle Lord Mountbatten and a longtime lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth. When Philip was off duty, the newlyweds enjoyed picnics, sunbathing, ballroom dancing and waterskiing on the sun-dappled island—“with freedom and privacy,” says Hicks. But soon after, in 1952, the couple’s world was turned upside down with the death of Elizabeth’s father, King George VI. In…

Of all the lessons Cindy McCain learned in 38 years with Sen. John McCain, one of the most useful was to lighten dark times with laughter. So when her “superhuman” husband, weeks after emergency surgery to remove an egg-size tumor from his brain in July 2017, insisted on traveling to a conference in Italy—despite his doctor’s warning that changing air pressure in flight could be lethal—Cindy bit her lip, boarded the jet and stared at him through takeoff. “What are you looking at?” John asked. Cindy replied: “I’ve never seen a brain explode. I’m wondering how much of a mess it will be.” John returned volley: “Don’t worry. I packed the dustbuster.” The Navy war hero would soldier through another year before dying of brain cancer on Aug. 25, 2018. In…

Two years ago, before The Time of the Virus, my husband and I spent a wonderful New Year’s Eve ringing in 2020. We drank sparkling wine and played charades with good friends at their country house. Our two kids were off at parties with dozens of their friends, as one would expect from young adults. Celebrating the start of 2021 was more like a hastily-assembled family meeting of Neurotics Anonymous. How swiftly times had changed. Although he would rather have been stuck in a lift with bees, Geoffrey, our 20 year old, came to stay for New Year’s Eve because he had literally nothing else to do without breaking the law. No gatherings allowed. Our 24-year-old daughter, Clara, who hasn’t lived with us in years, spent the evening in our guest room…

Despite her almost 40 years in Hollywood, Holly Hunter relishes just being a neighbor out for a daily stroll. “Self-care” for the actress during the pandemic has meant “monstrously long walks,” she explains in her unmistakable Southern drawl. “It’s just charting the course that I find kind of energizing.” The same could be said of her career. Starting onstage, the Georgia-raised Hunter, 62, quickly segued to the screen with breakthrough roles in 1987 in both Raising Arizona and Broadcast News before winning an Oscar for 1993’s The Piano. The notoriously private actress, who’s raising her teenage twin sons with actor Gordon MacDonald, insists she has stayed grounded simply by “being a participant” in her own journey. “It’s not like, ‘Oh wow, now I’m a success,’” says Hunter, who is currently…

Sarah Ransome’s troubles began long before she met Jeffrey Epstein. The granddaughter of a British nobleman, she grew up in Johannesburg, raised mostly by a divorced mother who struggled with alcohol. At 11, Ransome was raped by one of her mother’s boyfriends; by 18, drinking heavily herself, she had dropped out of college in Scotland and was working as an escort to pay her rent. So in 2006, when the 22-year-old moved to New York City with dreams of attending the Fashion Institute of Technology and starting anew, she was just the sort of prey Epstein liked to target. “I was naive, I was vulnerable, I was broken,” says Ransome, now 37. “I was literally the perfect victim.” In her new book Silenced No More: Surviving My Journey to Hell and…

WILL & KATE RELIVE THEIR LOVE STORY Scotland In late May Princess Kate and Prince William embarked on a weeklong royal tour of Scotland, the country where they first met while studying at the University of St. Andrews nearly 20 years ago. Before visiting a local fishing community in Fife on May 26, William and Kate snagged haddock and chips at Anstruther Fish Bar, just like they did during their college years. According to the bar owner Alison Smith, Kate called the stop “a real trip down memory lane.” The royal pair then topped off their meal with some ice cream. FIRST LOOK! JESSICA CHASTAIN TAKES ON TAMMY FAYE BAKKER Jessica Chastain spent four hours daily in the makeup chair getting prosthetics and wigs to fully transform into fallen televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, who died…

When it came to capturing Queen Elizabeth’s storied life and record-breaking 70-year reign, royal biographer Robert Hardman kept coming back to the same simple notion: The Queen likes being Queen. “It’s not just about longevity or clinging on,” says the author, who spoke with dozens of friends, palace courtiers and insiders for his new book Queen of Our Times: The Life of Queen Elizabeth II. “Yes, she’s by far the longest-lived monarch in our history. She remains very much center stage, with an appetite and enthusiasm for the job. She really enjoys what she does.” Hardman’s book comes at a tumultuous time for the 95-year-old monarch: She recently recovered from COVID—“She is very good at taking doctor’s orders,” he says—and she’s dealing with personal issues within the royal family, including the…

When your eyes feel like they are not producing enough moisture, you may have dry eye syndrome. Symptoms can include a stinging or scratchy sensation in your eyes, a feeling that something is caught in your eye, sensitivity to light or eye redness. Normally, a film of tears covers the surface of the eye to keep it moist, and glands in the eyelids secrete oils to slow evaporation of these tears. An insufficient supply of tears can result in dry eyes. We explore some of the possible causes of dry eyes, and how to soothe the irritation. YOUR AGE If you are over 50, you may have noticed that, along with your vision becoming increasingly worse, your eyes feel more irritated and dry. Tear production tends to diminish as you get…

BEAUTY TIP Go for the glow with bareMinerals Original Liquid Foundation Broad Spectrum SPF 20 ($35). Somewhere in Los Angeles, Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) is sheltered in place in a deep white chair before a fire. Her little buddy Oscar, a blonde Yorkie, a Christmas present from her husband, is himself sheltered in place in her lap, which is arranged in a kind of modified lotus pose, one knee akimbo. It’s chilly for Southern California. For our interview over Zoom, Hailey, 24, is dressed all in black—her oversize sweater and sweatpants are from Baserange. Because she’s sitting a few feet back from the camera that connects us, I cannot tell if she’s wearing any makeup. Likewise, it doesn’t appear that her straight, clavicle-length hair—about six inches of brown leading to a longer run…

I WAS ECSTATIC when my mom figured out a way for me to attend the School of Visual Arts in New York City for college. But what I didn’t realize at the time is that financing my education didn’t mean I could actually afford it. We never sat down and crunched the numbers on what my repayment would look like. I honestly don’t know how much debt I had when I graduated in 2013, but I’m sure it was well over $100,000. I took full advantage of the six-month grace period, but it was crushing once I started making those $1,000-plus minimum payments. I was nannying full-time and taking photography jobs on the side, and not even making a dent in the loan balances. Most were private, high-interest-rate loans—up to…

On July 10, 1980, I was aboard the destroyer USS Oldendorf DD-972, in transit in the South China Sea from Singapore to Subic Bay in the Philippines. The day was grey and dreary, with threatening clouds all around us. The wind was blowing at 20 knots with about three-metre swells. There was a typhoon 320 kilometres east of us and heading our way. All of us were looking forward to arriving in the Philippines as quickly as possible. Suddenly, the lookout spotted an object adrift about 16 kilometres east. He looked at it through the large telescopic binoculars we called ‘the big eyes’ and announced that it was a boat with many people on it. We all knew right then that they were refugees adrift in an area dangerous with reefs…

‘A GROWN MAN DOES NOT ENGAGE IN INAPPROPRIATE TEXT MESSAGES TO A TEENAGER’—JUDGE TIMOTHY McCORMICK Dressed in a suit jacket and tie, former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell appeared via Zoom before Cuyahoga County Judge Timothy McCormick in a Cleveland courtroom July 12 to face sentencing. A month earlier, on June 23, he pleaded guilty to a felony—attempted endangering children—and a misdemeanor charge of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles for behavior that involved a teenage fan who had once idolized him. “My conduct was wrong,” Bell told the court. “I’m sorry that the victim was harmed in any way. … I have taken this matter very, very seriously.” But his wasn’t the only voice—or face—onscreen. The young woman at the center of the case, now 19, detailed the trauma she says she…