The Australian Women's Weekly September 2020

It seems fitting, given where we still find ourselves six months after the start of the pandemic, that this issue of The Weekly ended up being all about love. Not just the butterflies-in-the-pit-of-the-belly kind, but love in all its many guises. It is a primal, familial love that’s at the heart of our story about the remarkable Sam Bloom. The mother-of-three talks candidly about how it was the pull of her devoted husband and sons that drove her to fight the crushing despair that came after breaking her back (page 18). Author Hugh Mackay tells of another life-changing kind of love in his exploration of compassion (page 102). And we sit down with a man whose picture would sit comfortably underneath ‘compassion’ in the dictionary – former NSW fire chief…

MEETING ROYALTY Your article about Princess Anne brought back fond memories of meeting her at a ball at Sydney’s Government House, in April 1970. In those days, the press often described Anne as “horsey”, but my impression was that she was slim and attractive with beautiful skin – and, judging by your recent photos, this still applies! She also wore trendy clothes, even to a ball – but, unlike the rest of us who were trying to be very formal, she wore no gloves. She also demonstrated a keen sense of fun. When I told her I was a 19-year-old student nurse granted special leave from night duty to attend, she chuckled and said she hoped it would be worth the effort. It certainly was! A very memorable occasion for…

Happy birthday, George! IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE it has been seven years since the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge introduced the world to a tiny bundle who would one day be King of England. Since then, Prince George has grown into a happy, confident big brother to Charlotte and Louis. Kensington Palace released two photos, including a shot snapped by mum Kate, to mark his seventh birthday. Picture of modernity As we continue adapting to a socially distant world, the Queen has attended the unveiling of a portrait via Zoom. The piece, by Miriam Escofet, was finished in lockdown after seven months of work. With the Tokyo Olympics being bumped to 2021, Aussie pentathlete Chloe Esposito is looking forward to defending her title, after bowing out at the start of…

Two weeks before it went on sale, Finding Freedom was already an Amazon UK bestseller just from pre-orders and, thanks to sneak peek early media extracts, the most talked about royal book since Andrew Morton’s 1992 Princess Diana biography. It’s one of a glut of exposés about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but from the moment it was first announced, the authors – reputed and seasoned royal reporters Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand – have been besieged. For while the heady romance of the union between Prince Harry and US actress Meghan Markle and their subsequent explosive split from the House of Windsor is innately fascinating, the most urgent issue for royal watchers has been the provenance of the book’s narrative. With no sight of the whole text, commentators…

At night, when Sam Bloom has her most glorious dreams, she’s upright on her surfboard riding the big waves of Sydney’s northern beaches, travelling through remote Africa talking to “amazing people” or mountain biking with her family. And then she wakes up and all that “happiness and excitement” melts away. This was Sam’s world. “I had a great life,” she sighs. “But then I open my eyes and look in the mirror and see that I’m not her.” Sam says that in that moment when her brain resets to the pain of her new normal, the reality that she can no longer do any of these things, that she is paralysed from the chest down, confined to a wheelchair, “I die a little bit”. Sam is a fighter, but she’s…

Like many couples around the world, coronavirus restrictions compelled Princess Beatrice and her fiancé Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi to postpone their nuptials – and in the end, their more lavish plans were replaced with a small family ceremony at The Royal Chapel of All Saints at Windsor’s Royal Lodge. But from the looks of sheer joy, love and happiness on the newlyweds’ faces, the intimate occasion on a glorious summer’s day on Friday July 17 was pure magic. Prince Andrew walked his eldest daughter down the aisle watched on by the couple’s closest family and friends, including parents, siblings and Edoardo’s four-year-old son Wolfie, who doubled as both best man and pageboy. Bea embraced the ‘something borrowed’ bridal custom in a very special way, wearing a stunning vintage dress by the…