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Insider spills on Liza Minnelli's condition

After spending years in the limelight entertaining people, Liza Minnelli now lives her life secluded, according to an insider. The 77-year-old is receiving round the clock care while she's living alone at home surrounded by her dogs, favourite movies, and the memories of her stardom. The actress, known for her role as Sally Bowles in the movie Cabaret, reportedly doesn't leave home much because her condition has deteriorated. "Liza doesn't leave home much anymore," an insider told the National Enquirer. "She's surrounded by her dogs, her favourite movies and her memories. "She has spent a lifetime making other people happy, now it's time to focus on herself." However, there is still some hope that the actress might return to the stage for one last goodbye. "She does have plans to return to the stage one more time to say goodbye, even if it's in a wheelchair," the same insider said. Minelli has dementia which is reportedly getting worse, and in 2000 she was diagnosed with viral encephalitis, which is an inflammation of the brain which causes weakness or loss of movement in parts of the body, difficulty speaking, confusion or disorientation, among other things. She hasn't been seen in public for nearly a year. "Liza often fidgets, her hands shake, and she looks look horrible," a source said about the star's condition to RadarOnline.com at the time. "She sometimes doesn’t know who she’s talking to and has a hard time focusing." Images: Getty

Caring

Lionel Richie spills the one thing “no one knows” about King Charles

Lionel Richie has spilled the tea on his interactions with King Charles over coronation weekend. The American singer, who attended the coronation and headlined the concert at Windsor Castle on May 7, shared some of the highlights in an interview with Extra. Richie praised King Charles’ “amazing” sense of humour, and shared how he convinced the Royal Couple to make a guest appearance on American Idol last Sunday. “I think the highlight for me was that I actually walked up to the King the day after the coronation and said, ‘Would you like to be on “American Idol?” he told Extra. Surprisingly, King Charles replied: “Yeah” and asked if it was alright to “bring the queen?”. “I've known the King for quite a long time. He does have this amazing sense of humour that no one knows about. “He's a secret comedian, I'll put that out there,” Richie added. “For him to actually take the step and go out of the comfort zone — that was actually his comfort zone, he was hamming it up… It’s so good for the world to know.” Thanks to Richie’s little quip, the surprise cameo made headlines and gave viewers insight into the Royal couple’s playful rapport. The cameo, which was streamed live in the palace’s Throne Room, occurred shortly after Richie performed at the coronation concert. “I just wanted to check, how much, how long will you be using this room for?” King Charles quipped, suggesting that he wanted Richie out of the throne room as soon as possible. “We have to give the room up right away,” Richie replied. King Charles and Richie’s friendship came after the latter was appointed the First Global Ambassador and First Chairman of the Global Ambassador Group for The Prince’s Trust in 2019. Image: ABC American Idol/ YouTube

Music

"We got in trouble a lot": Fergie spills all on Princess Diana arrest

Sarah Ferguson has opened up about the time she and the late Princess Diana got themselves arrested in 1986. The pair were celebrating at a nightclub when they were arrested for impersonating law enforcement officers. The two had decided to dress up as police for Fergie’s bachelorette party, unaware that they were setting themselves on a path to trouble in an event described by Royal Expert Tom Quinn as a “riot”. Speaking to The Sun, Fergie claimed that once authorities came to the realisation that she and Diana were actually royals, it wasn’t long before they were released. And while appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show, she expanded on the tale, outlining exactly how the two had gotten themselves into such a situation in the first place. “It was extraordinary,” the 63-year-old Duchess of York said, “because we went to a nightclub, of course, you go to a nightclub with the Princess of Wales. “We sat down, and the waiter came up to us and said ‘excuse me, this is a members club. It’s for fun, and we don’t serve police officers here’." “They thought you were real police officers?" host Kelly Clarkson exclaimed. Fergie confirmed the detail with a confident "yes!" She explained that once they had been arrested and ushered into the police van, they opted to hide their engagement rings. Fergie went on to recall that Diana had been told off for eating some chips - “smoky bacon-flavoured” she’d found in the vehicle. Their brief encounter with the law didn’t ruin their fun though, with the party continuing on into Annabel’s nightclub - an establishment known to be one of the world’s most exclusive. And their fun reportedly wasn’t limited to their own celebration, with Town and Country Magazine claiming that the two got up to some more mischief when they decided to lock Andrew out of Buckingham Palace after his bachelor party. Their fun kept the two close over the course of their friendship, and Fergie has admitted that she carries Diana everywhere she goes, telling Kelly, “she’s with me all day”. “She and I, we laughed a lot,” Fergie reminisced, “we got into trouble a lot. “You know what she used to do? She used to tell me the worst story, joke story, just before I had to be serious." Although, despite her admiration for Diana’s sense of humour - and her belief that Diana would be “incredibly proud” of her grandchildren - Fergie did once share on Good Morning America that if the two had had the chance to go head-to-head as grandmothers, she believed they’d “have a ‘Granny-off’. Because she would run faster in the races, I wonder … she’d probably be funnier. No, I think I’d be funnier.” Images: Getty

Relationships

Thomas Markle Jr spills secrets on Big Brother

Appearing on Big Brother VIP in the UK, Thomas Markle Jr has begun to share intimate details about his half-sister Meghan. He claims that since marrying into the Royal Family in 2018, Meghan treats her family as if “she’s embarrassed of where she comes from”. Thomas said he was once close to his sister, but the last time he saw her was at their grandmother’s funeral in 2011. “She took off after that anyway and went to Canada... What happened to her? Nobody can figure it out,” Thomas said of his half-sister. “Money changed her I guess. Money and fame just went to her head really bad.” Thomas also went on to discuss Meghan’s first marriage to American film producer Trevor Engelson, who she was married to between 2011 and 2013. According to their divorice papers, the pair split due to “irreconcilable differences”, as Trevor described the way Meghan handled the divorce as “cold”. “The thing that gets to me is the guy that she was married to the first time, Trevor. This guy just took care of her like, man she was adored by him and she just walked all over him and dumped him, that fast... after being married,” Thomas told his fellow Big Brother housemates. “Sent the ring back in the mail. Is that cold or what?” “But Harry’s next, Harry’s on the chopping block next,” he told them. “He doesn’t seem like a bad guy,” Bernard Curry told Thomas. “The only difference between now and then is all the photos prior to that he had a smile on his face, all the ones after he doesn’t,” Thomas replied. Meghan’s family have repeatedly slated her in the media, with her father, Thomas Markle Sr, repeatedly giving incendiary interviews about the royal family. In the 2021 interview with Oprah, Meghan said she has felt “betrayed” by her family’s actions over the years. Image credits: Channel 7 / Getty Images

Family & Pets

Hermann Rorschach spills the ink

Splash red wine on a white tablecloth and, along with receiving a scolding, you might also be invited to partake in an impromptu Rorschach test, a method of psychological examination created 100 years ago by Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach and detailed in his book <a rel="noopener" href="https://journals.lww.com/jonmd/Citation/1922/09000/Psychodiagnostik.64.aspx" target="_blank">Psychodiagnostik</a>. <div class="copy"> The Rorschach test involves a subject being presented with a set of 10 ambiguous inkblots printed on card paper, each with a near-perfect symmetry to them. They are then invited to offer their perceptions of them, which are recorded and analysed by an administrator. It was a technique widely used, particularly back in the 1960s, as a way to help a person reveal hidden emotion and internal conflicts which they presumably project through their interpretation of the shapes. In his 2017 book <a rel="noopener" href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=OYxIDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=hermann+rorschach+biography&ots=HFGJtff0kn&sig=b7JqgVP6O4HnAvCYaybiyJOhliw#v=onepage&q=hermann%20rorschach%20biography&f=false" target="_blank">The Inkblots: Hermann Rorschach, His Iconic Test, and the Power of Seeing</a>, author Damion Searls says the psychologist’s now famous inkblots are “probably the 10 most interpreted and analysed paintings of the 20th century”. “Of the large number of diagnostic tools available to clinicians today, perhaps none has been so widely used yet remained so controversial as the Rorschach test,” says Rorschach scholar John E. Exner Jnr, with Beth Clark, writing in a 1978 edition of the journal <a rel="noopener" href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4684-2490-4_5" target="_blank">Clinical Diagnosis of Mental Disorders</a>. Exner and Clark report that, since the publication of Psychodiagnostik in 1921, dozens of books and more than 5000 articles have been written on the test. They note that during its existence, “five major systems of Rorschach administration, scoring, and interpretation have arisen. Each approach offers its own unique postulates, yet each unavoidably adds to the confusion about the uses and the philosophy of the test.” Hermann Rorschach was born in Zurich, Switzerland, on 8 November 1884. His father was a painter and art teacher, whose young son “showed great interest in drawing from a young age”, according to <a rel="noopener" href="ttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7077865/" target="_blank">Ricardo Vieira Teles Filho</a>, a researcher from the Federal University of Goias, in Brazil. Filho says Rorschach was especially fond of klecksography, “a popular game among schoolchildren at the time, which consisted of filling a piece of paper with ink and then folding it, thus obtaining singular and fun figures”. Searls adds: “In a twist of fate that seems too good to be true, Rorschach’s nickname in school was ‘Klex’ [or klecks], the German word for ‘inkblot’.” Searls says that when it came time to move into secondary education, Rorschach had the choice of art or science. Having made the acquaintance of Prussian academic <a rel="noopener" href="https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/ernst-haeckels-biogenetic-law-1866" target="_blank">Ernst Haeckel</a>, Rorschach was inspired by the renowned proponent of Darwinism to take up the study of medicine. Rorschach enrolled in medical school at the University of Zurich, graduating in 1909, which, Filho notes, coincided “with the widespread dissemination of research on the new ideas of a then unknown psychiatrist, Sigmund Freud”. He then went to work at a local mental hospital while he finished his doctoral dissertation in 1912, under psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, who coined the term “schizophrenia” and <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eugen-Bleuler" target="_blank">is regarded</a> as “one of the most influential psychiatrists of his time”. His dissertation didn’t focus on inkblots, but rather examined hallucinations in schizophrenia. Also in 1912, Rorschach published <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/63fd5edc9ef665dbd354c3ef3e64f5fa/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1820903" target="_blank">a paper</a>, “Reflex Hallucinations and Symbolism”, and was a co-founder of the Zurich Psychoanalysis Society. In 1914, he specialised in psychiatry at the University of Zurich, and from 1915 to 1922 he worked in a hospital as chief physician. It was between the years 1917 to 1920 that Rorschach created, refined and studied his inkblots, developing his approach after studying more than <a rel="noopener" href="https://x7a7w8w2.rocketcdn.me/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/what-is-the-rorschach-inkblot-test-2795806.pdf" target="_blank">400 subjects</a>’ responses to early versions of them. His final set of 10 stimuli was published in 1921. Before publication, Rorschach experimented with 40 or more versions of inkblots, many of which appear to be less complex, nuanced and detailed than the final set. Researchers agree they were artistically embellished by Rorschach himself to ensure that each figure contained numerous distinctive features that could easily be identified as similar to objects stored in the memory traces of any individual. “Thus,” <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.utoledo.edu/al/psychology/pdfs/meyer/MeyerViglione2008IntroRorschach.pdf" target="_blank">write Gregory Meyer and Donald Viglione</a>, “despite common belief to the contrary, the images are not arbitrary, haphazard, or accidental inkblots. Instead, they are purposively altered images that were refined through trial-and-error experimentation to elicit informative responses.” They describe the inkblots as each having a white background: five are grey or black, two are “achromatic” red, and three are “in an array of pastel colours without any black”. Just a few months after Psychodiagnostik’s publication, Rorschach died, on 2 April 1922, of peritonitis, by several accounts the result of a ruptured appendix. Despite its popularity, the Rorschach test has attracted considerable controversy, much of it based on the many and various methods of scoring and analysing responses. Writing in 2001 in the journal Psychological Assessment, Donald Viglione says, “A large body of empirical evidence supports the reliability, validity and utility of the Rorschach. This same evidence reveals that the recent criticisms of the Rorschach are largely without merit.”  <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=158859&title=Hermann+Rorschach+spills+the+ink" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> </div> <div id="contributors"> <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/hermann-rorschach-spills-the-ink/" target="_blank">This article</a> was originally published on <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/jeff-glorfeld" target="_blank">Jeff Glorfeld</a>. Jeff Glorfeld is a former senior editor of The Age newspaper in Australia, and is now a freelance journalist based in California, US. Image: Flicker </div>

Mind

“Prince Charles wasn’t happy”: Royal cake-maker spills on Charles and Diana’s wedding creation

Dave Avery, the man who designed and made Prince Charles and Diana's wedding cake for their big day, has revealed it was the prince who called him to make changes to the design – after Diana had approved it. The head baker of the Royal Naval Cookery School, Avery designed the couple's five-tier fruit cake which stood at 165cm for the July wedding 40 years ago in 1981. Avery, then 37, had been selected to bake the royal wedding cake – an auspicious task but one that he was more than capable of. Avery, now 78, told 9Honey via Zoom from the UK, he still clearly remembers walking into Buckingham Palace for his first meeting with Princess Diana – known at the time as ‘Lady Di.’ “I’ll never forget it," says Avery. "She was beautiful. She was very pleasant, very polite, we had a few little chats.” Avery had been given the task of designing the wedding cake and he’d gone to the palace to show his plans to Diana. She had approved the designs with no changes but when Avery arrived back at the Royal Navy Cookery School in Chatham, he received word from the palace that Prince Charles was not happy. "I got a phone call that Prince Charles wasn't happy," says Avery. But thankfully, it wasn't a criticism but rather – something the Prince wanted added. "We hadn't put on the Red Dragon," says Avery. Once we added the Red Dragon symbol of Wales, which was Prince Charles' call sign when he was flying helicopters with the Navy, the Prince was happy. The cake’s design included hand-painted symbols representing Prince Charles' military roles, the Prince of Wales emblem, St Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace and Highgrove – one of which took eight hours to complete. How big was this Wedding Cake of the Century? The five-tier cake stood at 165cm and took some time to bake with the bottom tier alone taking Avery 12 hours. As well, Avery used a spirit level and set square to ensure the dimensions were perfect. He was sworn to secrecy during the 14-week process of designing and making the cake and says the pressure was on to get everything perfect: "If there was anything wrong, the whole world would have known about it, not just me," he says. When it came to the baking of the cake, Avery turned to a favourite recipe he had from his mother for a rich fruit cake. "But I had to take things out and add things in to improve it. I had worked on that recipe for up to five years until I got it absolutely perfect." As perfect as it is, Avery says he won’t be sharing this recipe: “I’ve been asked many times, but no,” he adds. The Wedding of the Century 2021 marks 40 years since Prince Charles married Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral on July 29th - a wedding which drew a global television audience of more than 750 million people. A new documentary has been made to mark the occasion which will screen on BritBox Australia, aptly titled Wedding of the Century. The original documentary includes remastered footage of the wedding plus never-before-seen interviews with those closely involved in the wedding planning, including the florist and one of the photographers. Was it all successful? After the wedding, Avery received a letter from the new Prince and Princess of Wales saying "how thrilled they were with the cake." They even saved the second tier to use at Prince William's christening on August 4th, 1982. Diana loved Avery's work so much she asked him to make William's first birthday cake, too, "a sponge with nursery rhymes around it.” These days Avery has retired from the Royal Navy after serving for 22 years. He went on to open a cake shop, baking wedding cakes (naturally) before going back into teaching. As Avery says: "It's the wedding of the century, it's the cake of the century.” Image: Getty Images

Food & Wine

Kmart worker spills three secrets that’ll save you cash

A Kmart worker has spilled three shopping “secrets” she claims will get you better discounts and treatment in store. Georgia Cook from Sydney shared three tips on TikTok, where it received a lot of attention from bargain hunters. The 23-year-old answered questions from those who wanted to know more, much to the delight of bargain hunters. “We give a 20 per cent or more if something is damaged, just ask,” Georgia said in the video, which was her first tip. She went on to say that “half the workers don’t know where stuff is either”, which is the second tip. The third and final tip was the one that delighted bargain hunters the most, with Georgia saying that “if you ask us if something is out of stock, we will say yes if you’re rude and annoying”. One woman was quick to dispute Georgia’s claims, saying that she was only given a 5 percent discount for her damaged goods. “All Kmarts are different for damaged items, that’s what we do with ours. It’s more if you accidentally bring a damaged item up and you still want it, you can ask for a discount,” Georgia replied. Not everyone was happy with the tips, saying that it was “your job” to show people where items are, even if they were unkind. “I worked retail and even if someone was rude I’d check because that’s what I was getting paid to do,” one said. Others warned she could “lose her job over this” to which she replied: “I didn’t expect it to blow up.” Georgia’s TikTok is now on private and it is unknown if she has lost her job due to the popularity of the video.

Money & Banking

Michael Schumacher’s former teammate spills on what the F1 legend is really like

A former Ferrari teammate has lifted the lid on what it was like to work alongside Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher. Rubens Barrichello was Schumacher’s right-hand man for six seasons and explained what it was like working alongside him. Drivers know there’s a hierarchy within teams and despite being on the same team, drivers can sometimes be competitive with the men they call teammates. Barrichello says that Schumacher wasn’t always a supportive and open teammate. “I’ve always made friends and had a great relationship between my teammates. I do (include Michael), but he was never supportive … it’s not the right word. He would never be there to offer help so I never asked because there are teammates to go and ask,” Barrichello said on F1’s <a rel="noopener" href="https://youtu.be/3MvXyr7p4_E" target="_blank">Beyond the Grid</a> podcast. “For example Eddie Irvine, you ask him and he says ‘I don’t know which gear I take that corner’. I got p****d one day because I couldn’t understand how the hell he doesn’t know what gear and he doesn’t really know, he just doesn’t think, he did it naturally. “So you have to learn people with Michael it was different, he was a bit naive in a way that he worked his way.” He also spoke about meetings with just Schumacher, even though they were a part of the same team. “So many times I grabbed my chair because the meeting was already finished and then they started another meeting with just Michael there and I said hmm this is funny. “I took my chair and I just would sit there, say nothing and just stay there.” Eventually, Barrichello said that figuring out that the team was essentially Schumacher’s didn’t change his own ambitions towards the championships. “Eventually I felt that (it was Schumacher’s team), eventually I felt that the team was his,” he said. “It never dropped my emotions, seeing as I had to overcome my emotions to get better and to race against the best it wasn’t that ‘oh ok this engine was for him and this engine is for Rubens’. “I think they’d done such a good job on the year 2000 already that the engines had the same amount of power, but one is special and would have a choice to go to Michael but I think at the end of the day it was not a problem for me to race the same car as him.” Barrichello said that the thing that set Schumacher from the rest was his courage at high speeds. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5a4aIyFGYk/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5a4aIyFGYk/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">#tbtFerrari Badoer era magrin magrin 😂 /// #tbtFerraridays. 50kg for Badoer.... #forzaschumi @michaelschumacher</a> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/rubarrichello/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> Rubens Barrichello 1️⃣1️⃣1️⃣</a> (@rubarrichello) on Nov 28, 2019 at 10:58am PST </div> </blockquote> “He was super, super on high speed like very courageous. The way I drove on the low speed was actually I was taking more speed out of it than him,” he explained. “I remember so many times Ross (Brawn) telling him that he had too do something different. I became so much better on the high speed because of him. “I think we both went to another level of pushing each other so it was good. “It’s not that easy to make Michael Schumacher go to another level. “Mine had to be mental. How do you go to a racetrack knowing that you have a B option of a pit stop and this and that and still be ready to win?” Barrichello said that he would have walked away with “at least one” championship had the time been split equally between Schumacher and himself. “If you put myself against Michael, I think it was a 70-30 split, lets put it this way he was better than me. “He was more complete, and Michael didn’t have bad days, whenever he had a bad day or he was vulnerable the team around him prepared him to be back up. They knew how to affect him positively. “But if it was run straight, just the same strategy for everyone I might have won at least one championship … at least one. “It doesn’t make a difference now, it’s part of the past. I didn’t and I’m happy with that because I tried.”

Body

Expert advice: How you should clean up a paint spill

Painting, by definition, is a job that requires you to get your hands dirty. Putting it on is fairly straightforward; removing it, not so much. So what do you do if disaster strikes and a mess of paint lands on your floor, furniture or clothes? We talked to the experts for a few tips on how to remove unfortunate spills. Play it safe The saying "safety first" might be a cliché but seriously, take all precautions. In much the same way that the secret to a smooth and even paint finish lies in the prep, a spotless post-painting environment lies in prevention. "Prevention is the best option," said Karen Warman, marketing manager for Resene. "Always move furniture, remove drapes and cover whatever you can't move to ensure errant paint splats don't end up where they shouldn't. It is much faster to move items than it is to try and remove paint later." What to do with a spill Warman advised that if disaster strikes, clean up the paint while it is still wet. "This is your best chance of getting out all of the paint," she said. "If you wait until it is dry, it is very unlikely you will be able to remove all the paint." Do this by scooping up as much paint as you can using a spoon or a piece of cardboard. "Make sure you scoop towards the centre of the paint spill to avoid making the spill bigger," said Warman. Once you have scooped up as much excess paint as possible, you have two courses of action. If the item is easily moved, for example a cushion cover, rug or piece of clothing, take it straight to a dry cleaner. "Time is of the essence," said Warman, "but in most cases you may not have time to get the item somewhere else before the paint dries." Your second option is to clean it yourself. Here's how to approach the below. Water-based paint "Most interior paints are waterborne, so if dealt with while wet, usually all you need is lots of water and clean cloths," said Warman. "Refer to the side of the paint container for the recommended 'clean up'. We recommend testing on an inconspicuous area first to ensure the cleaning method does not damage the fabric or upholstery." If you can't read the instructions on your tin, here's a basic guide. Mix one part dishwashing liquid to one part warm water. Sponge the stain with a solution and a cloth until all paint is lifted. "Dilute the leftover stain with water and keep soaking up the residue," said Heather Goode, technical manager for Dulux NZ. "Get mild detergent in lukewarm water and give the area light abrasion. Keep soaking up the spill, this should remove most of the paint." Oil-based paint When it comes to solvent-borne paints, what you need for clean up is turpentine, commonly known as turps and "many very absorbent cloths". Warman recommended that towelling works well for this part of the job. "Dab on the cleaning material and work it through the paint to remove it. Rinse and repeat using a clean area of the cloth or a clean cloth." "Always work towards the centre of the stain so you are not spreading it further. Repeat this step many times until the stain is removed, staying with it as long as possible is the key to removing the paint." "If you are cleaning up with turps, ensure the area is well ventilated and ensure all cloths used are allowed to dry out thoroughly before disposal to avoid spontaneous combustion." If the stain is already dry, soften it first using the paint thinner recommended by the manufacturer (check the label). Acrylic Paint The easiest of the lot. First wet the stain with warm water, then sponge it with a solution of one part dishwashing soap and one part warm water. Repeat until it's lifted, then rinse. If it's on a textile you can put the washing machine, do that. Upholstery After removing the excess wet paint, mix a solution of one part cold water to one part hand dishwashing detergent. Use the solution to intensely sponge the stain, then rinse. Repeat this process until all the paint is lifted. Your last resort is try try blotting the area with acetone (a common ingredient in nail polish remover, it's available at DIY stores). Carpet When it comes to carpet, the size of the spill really matters. "If you drop a decent amount, you're going to need the help of a professional," said Simon Cornwall of Upholstery cleaning specialists. "Your first chance is your best chance. We have a lot more success when the client does absolutely nothing." "After that, you start diluting the spill and pushing it deeper into the carpet." So if your spillage is sizeable, get on the phone in a hurry and let the experts advise you on your course of action. Otherwise, for tiny droplets, you might be best to let it dry. Once dry, Goode advised that you may be able to put ice on the stain and then peel it off. Or take a tip from Warman and "depending on the type of carpet, use a razor to shave off the top of the carpet to remove it." Written by Anabela Rea. Republished with permission of <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/" target="_blank">Stuff.co.nz.</a>

Home & Garden

Royal ex-staffers spill on family secrets

They have a whole army of staff to help them get through royal life, but what happens when royal aides go rogue? Here, some ex-staffers reveal what really goes on behind-the-scenes of the British royal family. Private secretary Patrick Jephson <img width="452" height="318" src="https://s.yimg.com/iu/api/res/1.2/BlDziE09m4REIuH_k3RvOA--~D/cm90YXRlPWF1dG87dz05NjA7YXBwaWQ9eXZpZGVv/https://s.yimg.com/iu/api/res/1.2/suFqhSbBY_52j5.Iu35t2w--~D/cm90YXRlPWF1dG87dz0xMjAwO2FwcGlkPXl2aWRlbw--/https://s.yimg.com/ea/img/-/180108/5a52d772766cb_patrick_5a52d71ac7526.jpg" alt="Princess Diana Patrick Jephson" class="article-figure-image" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/> He was Princess Diana’s private secretary for seven years and after hand-delivering his resignation note to the princess in 1996, Patrick released his tell all memoir Shadows of a Princess in 2000, detailing how angry Diana was at her treatment by the royal family. Patrick’s book not only claimed the royal jewellery Diana received was reward for “years of purgatory with this f***ing family", his book also revealed that Diana smuggled one of her lovers into the Palace in the boot of her car, as well as how she was “becoming paranoid about non-existent plots to bug her conversations or even assassinate her”. The Queen and Prince Charles slammed Patrick's tell-all book. Valet Ken Stronach <img width="461" height="313" src="https://s.yimg.com/iu/api/res/1.2/Z.7PgPmZWvH9JR_mVeqOfA--~D/cm90YXRlPWF1dG87dz05NjA7YXBwaWQ9eXZpZGVv/https://s.yimg.com/iu/api/res/1.2/0rFquYJU9sUQz7ElL5FYuQ--~D/cm90YXRlPWF1dG87dz0xMjAwO2FwcGlkPXl2aWRlbw--/https://s.yimg.com/ea/img/-/180108/5a52d77236478_ken1_5a52d71a46306.jpg" alt="Prince Charles Princess Diana" class="article-figure-image" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/> He was responsible for Prince Charles’ wardrobe and travel arrangements but royal valet, Ken Stronach also spilled the Duke of Cornwall’s secrets. Not only did he reveal the prince likes to take a teddy bear to bed, Ken also spoke about how he had to scrub grass stains out of Prince Charles’ pyjamas after a night-time tryst with Camilla Parker-Bowles – while Charles was still married to Diana. “Prince Charles made love to Camilla Parker Bowles in the bushes of his Highgrove mansion while Princess Diana slept inside," News of the World reported in 1995. "It was a big risk and a stupid thing to do but he's blind to everything where the lady is concerned." Prince Charles got a High Court injunction to stop Ken from revealing more details on his life with Diana Secretary Sarah Goodall <img width="454" height="683" src="https://s.yimg.com/iu/api/res/1.2/2h_5SZgKHinaudNWxD2.og--~D/cm90YXRlPWF1dG87dz05NjA7YXBwaWQ9eXZpZGVv/https://s.yimg.com/iu/api/res/1.2/XuIvUxl6yxjubfJ.eWeqwQ--~D/cm90YXRlPWF1dG87dz0xMjAwO2FwcGlkPXl2aWRlbw--/https://s.yimg.com/ea/img/-/180108/5a52d7712d940_gettyimages_81599865_5a52d714b0f7e.jpg" alt="Prince Charles" class="article-figure-image" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/> After 12 years as Prince Charles’ secretary, Sarah Goodall was let go in 2000, reportedly with a jealous Camilla the reason behind the sacking. Goodall not only attempted to sell the Duke of Cornwall’s private diaries to the British press, she also wrote a book The Palace Diaries: The True Story of Life Behind the Palace Gates. Goodall, who had access to Prince Charles’ private journals and often travelled on his private plane with him, claims she had a close, sometimes ‘flirtatious’ relationship with her boss, which took place during his marriage breakdown to Diana and throughout his romance to Camilla. "If having affairs when one is married is something to be seriously condemned, then as many rotten eggs should be flung at the memory of Diana as at the persons of Charles and Camilla," she wrote in her book.

News

This flight was diverted over a spilled drink

A passenger claims a fumbling flight attendant who drenched him was to blame for a plane having to make an emergency landing in the US but the airline says it was his fault. The American Airlines flight from Miami to Chicago was diverted due to a drink mishap. Roughly 150 people were aboard the Boeing 737 when the plane landed safely in Jacksonville after a soft drink splashed on an electronic device in the main cabin The flight crew decided to make an emergency landing, according to Matt Miller, spokesman for American Airlines. Miller said the plane is undergoing inspection to see if it will be able to continue or if another aircraft is needed. The incident, which is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, left passengers stranded at the airport until their journey was expected to resume about 10pm. The airline and at least one passenger are split about who's to blame for the blunder. Miller attributed the spill to a passenger, but Preston Wake doesn't remember it happening that way. Wake, 43, said he was seated in row 7 on the flight taking him home to Chicago when a flight attendant fumbled a soft drink and inadvertently drenched him. "I can't really tell you how far it went, but I was soaked," said Wake. "I had to change my clothes and everything." The next thing he knew, Wake said the crew was preparing to land in Jacksonville. "The reaction time was very good – we had to go where we had to go," he said. Despite the inconvenience, Wake praised airport staff for accommodating passengers. They were treated to snacks while they waited. "They've been taking care of everybody and I'm very pleased with that," Wake said. Tom Francis, spokesman for Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, said the department had units on standby after receiving an alert about the unexpected stop but the plane landed without incident. Written by Garret Pelican. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/" target="_blank">Stuff.co.nz</a>.

Travel Tips

Fun pictures of spilled flower pots

If you’re looking for a fun and creative way to display your gorgeous flowers, the “spilled flower pot” look could be for you. The artistic idea turns your flowers into streams of colour spilling out of your flower pot. Above is a gallery of pictures to inspire your creative gardening endeavours. Related links: <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/home-garden/2015/12/homemade-remedies-for-the-garden/">Homemade remedies for the garden</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/home-garden/2016/01/natural-fertilisers/">5 natural fertilisers that can be found in your house</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/home-garden/2015/12/how-to-create-peaceful-garden/">6 steps to a peaceful garden</a>

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