The Australian Women's Weekly digital subscription

Thank you for helping break the silence of stillbirth (We need to talk about stillbirth, AWW, October). Our first child was born sleeping just short of 42 weeks’ gestation, perfect in every way except a heartbeat was missing. I didn’t stop being her mum 32 years ago when we said goodbye. Nor did any subsequent ‘rainbow’ children replace her or ease the pain. While the world carried on and has long forgotten who made me a mum, I never will. I carry the pain like a badge of honour because it is just love for a missing piece of my heart we named Emily Louise Hawkins, the little girl I dreamt of since I was a little girl. via email.…

I resonated with Chrissie Swan’s heartfelt article (What I’ve learnt about … children and grief, AWW, October). July 12 was one of my saddest days as I said goodbye to my beautiful mum, Rosie, at 89 years of age. She was courageous, funny, loving, a great cook and a special friend to so many. My six amazing grandchildren have been my rock in coping with grief. Tears have been, and still are, free-flowing as we are reminded daily of Mum’s presence in a wonderful way. Chrissie’s closing paragraph said it all – we have been so incredibly lucky and she will forever be worth missing. D. Roesler, via email. Birthday treats On my 80th birthday weekend, I celebrated with 15 family members. Lots of sweet slices were made to enjoy…

Celine Dion’s Paris residency has hit all the right notes. Having stepped back from performing in 2020 to battle debilitating stiff-person syndrome, the 58-year-old chanteuse’s triumphant return lit the fuse on a 26-show run at Plenitude Arena in Nanterre, which was filled to the brim with hit songs and custom couture. King’s FUNERAL Royal News A nation mourns Tens of thousands lined the streets of Oslo to farewell King Harald V of Norway. European royals and world leaders saluted the 89-year-old monarch following 13 days of national mourning. Despite recent scandals, the Norwegian royals remain hugely popular: more than 46,000 mourners filed past the king’s casket. Seaside SWING Kate and Wills hit Scotland With Prince George safely ensconced at Eton College, the Prince and Princess of Wales took an away…

MOVING HOUSE?About 1800 volunteers in Japan’s Aomori prefecture used the hikiya method (rollers and rails) to drag Hirosaki Castle’s 360-tonne keep a little over 2m for repairs. England The Lady in Blue London’s Trafalgar Square has a new resident. Tschabalala Self’s striking bronze sculpture shows an ‘everywoman’ in full stride. The Lady in Blue will be on show until 2028. Thailand Feathered fest Every year, women of the southern Thai province of Narathiwat showcase their local culture and show community pride with a parade in which they carry poles bearing local flowers, fabrics and ornaments that mimic birds’ tails. Taiwan Banana split Two chimpanzees staged a great escape from Taipei Zoo when builders on smoko left an exit door unlocked. The duo capered happily, visiting the giraffes and lions, before…

An extraordinary collection of costumes, photographs, props and instruments has arrived at the Arts Centre in Melbourne. ENCORE! brings together 170 years of Australian performing arts history, including Kylie Minogue’s gold hot pants (bought for 50 pence!), Dame Nellie Melba’s satin cloak, Olivia Newton-John’s gown from her gig with ABBA ... and Ossie Ostrich. First look Austen POWERS Pride & Prejudice comes to Netflix Jane Austen’s caustic 1813 novel, written when she was just 21, has delighted generations with its razor wit, social barbs and romantic drama. Now, a fresh six-episode series will revisit Austen’s classic for a new era. Written for the small screen by novelist Dolly Alderton, whose spiky prose evokes Jane’s, the Netflix version has an all-star cast of Emma Corrin (The Crown) as heroine Elizabeth Bennet,…

It’s a Saturday night, any time in the mid-to-late 1970s. Seven kids from two families, bathed and fed and in their PJs, playing Monopoly on the floor. Mum pours herself a Campari soda. Her best friend, our Aunty Jude, has an après-dinner Cointreau on the rocks. They crank up the stereo: Neil Diamond’s Hot August Night, recorded live at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in 1972. Dat-dat-de-dum. Dee-dee-de-dum-dah. Dee-dee-deduuum. We’re all on our feet. He gets to the line about the tree people and we kids have heard this album so many times, we shout it in unison – “Tree people, God bless you, I’m singing for you too.” The best disco in town is in our suburban lounge room – and millions like ours all around the country.…

Harry Styles is touring the country, and I am going to see him perform because he is one of my all-time favourite artists. Yes. Harry Styles. The guy from the group of teen dreamboats One Direction. And no, I haven’t lost my mind. My affection for Harry certainly isn’t sexual, and it isn’t maternal either. No. What I have for this young man is admiration. Affection. Appreciation. Respect. Harry released a new album earlier this year and performed lead single ‘Aperture’ at the BRIT Awards. When he burst onto the stage that evening, all curls and dimples and unabashed joy and excitement, I was mesmerised. I loved the song. But I had missed him. His energy. The way he was so generous with it. I became so inspired that I…

Beyond the rows of sturdy oaks that line the long approach to Althorp House lie soft, green meadows, where sheep graze and geese – alerted by the scrunch of leather soles on freshly raked gravel – honk in warning. It is a reassuringly peaceful English scene, but through it moves a ghost – an inescapable, restless presence, whose story has never been fully told. Diana, Princess of Wales, spent much of her early life here, at her family’s 500-year-old ancestral home, and today lies buried on an island in an ornamental lake guarded by a flotilla of black swans. For 29 years, since the princess’s shocking death in a Paris car crash, the faithful have come to gaze across the lake at a tomb resembling a Greek temple, contemplating a…

There was a weekend at Althorp, in late 1977 or early 1978, when our elder sisters’ regular troupe of friends came to stay. I noticed how they all looked at and listened to Diana quite differently from how they had previously done so. To them ‘Duch’ was no longer a younger sibling of the house, who had to be humoured and tolerated, but a highly intriguing personality in her own right. She had a fresh confidence, allied to a terrific sense of humour – offbeat, quick and very, very, funny. Diana now demanded to be noticed through force of personality. It was as if, free from the regular chiding of teachers for the academic shortcomings that were never her fault, she suddenly – for the first time – found herself.…