helena frith powell

As Kirsty Bertarelli – newly crowned Britain’s most eligible divorcee – surveys the £400 million settlement that marks the end of her 21-year-long marriage to Swiss businessman and pharmaceuticals heir Ernesto Bertarelli, one could be forgiven for wond …

By Helena Frith Powell Rather than arguing about who is going to empty the dishwasher, in our home we have endless fights about filling it. I stand alone (unless Rishi happens to pop in for lunch) in the ‘everything has its place’ corner. In the opposi …

If I were his wife, would I ever trust Dominic West again? Here I am, at home with our four children, when pictures are beamed across the globe of him gazing adoringly at a clearly besotted Lily James, as well as kissing her, stroking her cheek and snu …

YES  By Libby Purves So eyebrows have been raised at the newly appointed matron of a boarding house at St Edward’s School in Oxford.  Not only, gasp, is the new ‘Matey’ not a looming Hattie Jacques figure in a big starched apron — he’s a …

Thank goodness for the French. The actress and political activist Catherine Deneuve, along with 99 of her countrywomen, has denounced the #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment as ‘puritanism’ fuelled by ‘hatred of men’. Meanwhile, many in Britain, …

NO By Helena Frith Powell How would you feel if you had to sign a ‘no romance’ clause when you started a new job? Astonishingly, this is now common practice in the U.S. Meanwhile, BlackRock, one of the world’s largest asset-management firms which has a …

YES By Jenni Murray   My old man isn’t likely to be among the first in line at the new John Lewis make-up counter for men, but would I find him less attractive if he were? Certainly not. Why shouldn’t he pop a smidgen of Touche Eclat over his …

The news that Manchester students have defaced a mural of Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘If’ and replaced it comes as no surprise. Anything seen as even remotely linked to an ‘ism’ is a target – no matter how long ago it was or what the circumstances were. Th …

Sainsbury’s thinks it can help the one in three Brits who are not happy in the bedroom by selling cheap sex toys. So now you can buy a dildo with your duck and all will be well. I don’t think so. Can you imagine anything less sexy than something called …

Ernest Hemingway once said: “There is no friend as loyal as a book.” Over the summer I made some good new friends. I have been trying to decide whether one of them became ‘best’ friends, but it’s tricky to compare them. A bit like real friends they all …

I have been totally amazed by the TV critics’ unequivocal praise for the latest BBC series; Bodyguard. Every single review I’ve read has been positive bordering on fawning. It’s almost as if the whole of the press has come together and decided to say n …

They say that when the gods want to punish you they answer your prayers. At the beginning of this World Cup I was thrilled (being half Swedish) to have two teams in it. If Sweden don’t make it past the group stages (and why would they?) I’ll have Engla …

There are certain things I will never try, and I can confidently say that this is one of them. Penoplasty, or to give it its more colloquial name, penis enlargement, is not quite the complicated procedure you might assume. It has at least one thing in …

The key ingredient is parmesan. Think of an amount and double it. At least. The first time I cooked Pasta alla Nonna, or grandmother’s pasta, I was 12 years old and had never tasted parmesan. That may sound ridiculous, especially as I’m half Italian, b …

I am reading, well listening to, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. Part of the novel is told in diary form. The protagonist not only tells the story by means of her diary, but she goes back into her diaries to confirm facts or assess feelings she h …

Thank goodness for the French. The actress and political activist Catherine Deneuve, along with 99 of her countrywomen, has denounced the #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment as ‘puritanism’ fuelled by ‘hatred of men’. Meanwhile, many in Britain, …

By the time it got to Saturday evening, none of us could remember exactly when we’d last seen him, we only knew he was missing. We’d rolled in at 2am that morning after an evening of wine and music with an octogenarian friend of ours (these 80 somethin …

I first went to Paris when I was 14 years old. I was travelling with my father who introduced me to a “friend” of his, a dancer at the Lido called Sophie. Something she told me has remained with me ever since. “All you need to be a French woman,” she s …

  Helena Frith Powell has spent decades trying to eradicate stubborn stomach fat and tries the new Tripolar machine as it is able to ‘sculpt’ any tummy. The fat-busting treatment costs £300 a session but for Helena it is worth it… By Helena Frit …

Not even Scarlett Johanssen could do it. Hang on to a French husband that is. Two and a half years after she married Romain Dauriac the father of her daughter Rose, the actress is filing for divorce. She doesn’t give a reason, but in an interview a few …

Emmanuel Macron’s wife is 24 years his senior. Do the French care about the age gap?   There’s a sudden spring in every older Frenchwoman’s step. Being over 60 was never an obstacle to being attractive. In France there is no age limit to wearing m …

I am reading The Leopard at the moment, Don Fabrizio reminds me so much of my father, he’s almost a literary incarnation of him. It is just over three years ago since my father died. I wrote some of this at the time, and have added to it. We miss you b …

As if this year hasn’t been traumatic enough. Not only have we had the shock of Donald Trump being elected president, the Brexit vote and David Bowie dying. We have men with beards. Beards are everywhere, they are ubiquitous, they are trendy, they are …

HELENA FRITH POWELL dared try it for a month – vampire facials and all Have you wondered what it would be like to have all the money and time in the world to spend making yourself look younger? That’s the life former TV presenter Trinny Woodall, who’s …

An email from the school headed ‘important news – please read urgently’ was the first I heard about the hideous events of last Wednesday. It went on to say that there had been a serious sexual assault in the Summertown area at 8.30am “involving a stude …

A survey in France has found that relationships between older women and younger men are on the rise. French couples explain the benefits of an age   During my last visit to France I visited my beautician. I have known Chantal for 15 years. She wor …

It was while I was explaining to a French friend the rules of public school exeats that it hit me. “Term starts on September 6th,” I told her. “And then he’s not allowed out again until September 29th. I can go and watch him play in matches though.” “A …

It all starts with a phone call. “Mummy,” Olivia yells. “It’s an emergency, I came off my bike and my tooth has come out. There’s blood everywhere.” It is impossible to work out from the hysterical rant where she is but we rush out of the house at 11.3 …

My husband’s and my reaction to the images of Hugh Grant doing a great impression of a beached whale in Mallorca were very different. “How disgusting,” I said, pushing away my breakfast. “There’s no excuse for that.” “How marvellous,” said my husband. …

In France I learnt how to eat, dress, drink in moderation and live well. So although my knee-jerk reaction is to support Brexit, when I consider that link, I’m suddenly not so sure…  Photo: REX By Helena Frith Powell 7:23PM GMT 23 Feb 2016 For someon …

I have been meaning to do this for days and I guess it’s now or never. Having read a lot of fairly dreary lists of books of the year I would like to share my own hopefully not so dreary list…. A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal by …

People go to Paris to be happy. They go to drink champagne, to eat delicious food, to sit in cafés discussing philosophy, to shop for matching underwear and to make love. Paris is not a city you go to if you’re on a diet, metaphorically or literally. I …

Can an affair actually save a marriage? Helena Frith Powell argues for the continental approach to fidelity   I have a vivid memory of my grandfather sitting at the kitchen table, being consoled by my grandmother. “What’s wrong?” I asked my father …

Has anyone else found that the more choice we have on TV the less there is to watch? Last night I scrolled through the channels. At the last episode it really was too late for me to get into The Great British Bake Off. I love The Simpsons but just wasn …

As we prepare for the rugby world cup without the world’s greatest living Englishman, I thought I would bring back some fond memories of the 2007 tournament. I covered it for the Sunday Times from deep in the heart of French rugby-playing territory. He …

News reaches me that Swedes recycle 99 per cent of their rubbish. Never one to be outdone by my compatriots, I am recycling this column first published in the Sunday Times. You will be pleased to hear that since this exciting episode things have calmed …

As Miss Knightley laments the fact that she misses out on roles because she is too pretty, one writer says she should be grateful   There are certain events in my life that I know never would have happened if I’d been born ugly. Real life-changing …

  It was the week before I was due to give birth to our first child that I got the call (Helena Frith Powell writes). “My date has pulled out of the party,” wailed my best friend. “Please, please lend me your husband.” The party in question was so …

At the end of a very stressful and long football season, I think I have stumbled upon a universal truth. Everything that is wrong with football could be corrected by adopting the ethics, morality and general good-bloke-ish-ness of rugby. (Cue picture o …

It’ll infuriate feminists but HELENA FRITH POWELL – who once lived for her career – says she’s stumbled on a basic human truth At first, Helena was too scared to admit she was a stay-at-home mother, now she sees it as a ‘liberation’ Two years ago I sud …

Last night I dreamt that Petr Cech had cancer. Most you won’t know who he is, and there’s no reason why you should unless you’re a football fan. He is Chelsea’s brilliant goalkeeper, has been since 2004.For some reason I was with him when he discovered …

I was slightly surprised that my aunt was up so early. It was half past eight and normally she doesn’t surface until around ten. I had been up since seven watching the Chelsea game from the night before, which I missed as I was in the hospital with my …

François Hollande’s love life has highlighted French attitudes to extra-marital affairs. But what is it really like to be the ‘other’ women in France? In my next life, I want to be a French mistress. I know quite a few of them. They don’t have the same …

Last night we went to see The Wolf of Wall Street. I had a conference call at 10pm our time so was trying to work out what time the film would end. In the rest of the world it is three hours long. Here it is two hours and twenty minutes. “Why such a di …

Should female MPs make an effort with their looks? Absolutely, argues Helena Frith Powell   When Segolene Royal, the former leader of the French socialists, was standing for president I went to interview her. In front of her on the table she had a …

Yesterday as I was clearing out the attic at home in France I stopped myself from throwing away one of Leo’s favourite baby toys. My reasoning was that it might come in useful for my grandchildren. At the time, it was a terrifying thought. Not that I a …

A friend of mine told me recently that moving to the Middle East saved her marriage. “There is no doubt,” she said, “that if we’d stayed in England we would have been divorced by now.” My friend is a working mother. Her husband is useless around the ho …

Last night I dreamt about Ashley Cole. The night before I dreamt that we were no longer in the Champion’s League. They say that women discover either God or gardening. I have discovered goals. More specifically goals scored by men wearing a dark shade …

Perish the thought of stripping off and showing builder’s bums. Gallic men don’t let style slip even in the heat   While the heatwave rages in England, bringing out more moobs and orange six-packs than anyone should have to deal with in a lifetime …

TV star Vernon Kay’s admission to having text sex affairs with five girls, including a page 3 model, is nothing short of political correctness gone barmy. How can you have an affair via a mobile phone? Call me old-fashioned but to me the word ‘affair’ …

It is a truth universally acknowledged that only a foreigner (like me) can have such a ridiculously romantic view of England. I am at my happiest when in England, especially now with Wimbledon in full swing, the sun shining and Pimm’s flowing. When I a …

I am getting old. The reason I know this is not the wrinkles or the aches and pains, but that I have discovered landscape. Landscape was a word that used to make me switch off as soon as I heard it. I found people droning on about land (yawn) scape was …

Helena Frith Powell’s new novel, The Ex-Factor, is about first love   There’s something so powerful about first love. As Bob Dylan put it so beautifully: ‘The future for me is already a thing of the past – you were my first love and you will be my …

I wrote this article in 2007 for the Sunday Times. Denise died earlier this month and I am posting it with much sadness but happy memories of meeting her. When Irene Némirovsky was sent to Auschwitz she left behind a hidden literary sensation – and a l …

Happily married with three kids, Helena was shocked by her reaction to a chance meeting with her long lost teenage flame   When I was 16 I fell madly in love with a handsome rascal called Willie Harcourt-Cooze. I remember the first time I saw him. …

I once met Mrs Thatcher at the British embassy in Paris. The year was 1989 and I was staying with my friend Iona, the daughter of the then ambassador. He is a lovely man called Sir Ewen Fergusson, who was and remains my idea of a perfect ambassador, ta …

It all started with an email entitled ‘worried’ from my mother. No one had heard anything from my father for two days. “He’s not answering the door, or the phone,” she wrote. “The lady who lives below him hasn’t heard anything at all. And he’s locked t …

Just after Christmas we went to a party at the home of a French family we are quite friendly with. Like us, they have three children aged between nine and 13. Unlike us, these children look and behave like they have leapt straight from the pages of a ‘ …

Should we raise the age of consent? Helena Frith Powell argues a law will make no difference at all   When I was fifteen years old a boy stayed the night with me. Once he had left the following morning, my mother popped her head around my door. “D …

Several years ago,when I was still editing the magazine Central European (a must-read) I used to travel to Russia every few weeks to write a supplement we ran called Russiamoney. This was back in the early 1990s when Russia was just opening up, and the …

Cherie Blair, the wife of Middle East envoy and former British premier Tony, is a power in her own right. A high-flying lawyer, she is now dedicating more time to her foundation, which helps women in the region achieve their potential. Helena Frith Pow …

Brash and gaudy? Mussolini’s Margate is being revived RIMINI will always be a special place for me because it is where I first saw my father. My parents divorced when I was a baby and I had no contact with him until I was a teenager. When I was 12 my m …

Should you forgive an affair? Yes, argues Helena Frith Powell Ronan Keating’s wife Yvonne says she finding it difficult to forgive him for having an affair. Well here’s a thought, maybe it’s just not about her.  There are children involved here and may …

At 15 years old, the British diver Tom Daley is already a world champion and is the face of the 2012 London Olympic Games. Helena Frith Powell met the young star when he visited Abu Dhabi for the Laureus World Sports Awards. Tom Daley is a diving sensa …

Tim Butcher has joined a project that draws attention to the plight of young women across the globe by writing a story of abuse and degradation in Sierra Leone – where he went to banish some of his own demons. Helena Frith Powell reports. “Do you know …

Lewis Hamilton is a driven man, and knew when he was a young boy that he wanted to race for McLaren. The rest is history. Helena Frith Powell meets him When Lewis Hamilton first met Ron Dennis, then the team principal of the McLaren Formula One team, h …

The legendary cricket commentator Henry Blofeld is president of the Emirates Palace Gentlemen’s Cricket Club. He was here last week to cover a match between local England and Australia sides competing in their own Ashes at the Emirates Palace cricket g …

I hated being a teenager. I was utterly angst-ridden. Not so much in the existentialist ‘why am I here?’ department, but just about everything else. I was too skinny, too foreign (at the time practically the only brown-haired, brown-eyed girl in the wh …

She is one half of Egypt’s cinematic power couple, but Mona Zaki tries to shy away from the spotlight. Helena Frith Powell sits down for a rare interview with the national film star. For a woman who has become famous this year for being beaten by her h …

Reports of the First Lady Valerie Trierweiler’s former affairs are scurrilous even by Gallic standards Two lovers, allegedly, and a husband waiting at home: the multi-tasking Valerie Trierweiler Photo: AFP/Getty Images By Helena Frith Powell 8:03PM BST …

Nawal El Saadawi has returned to Cairo where intends to stay until she dies. Not that she feels particularly at home there. “Home is not about where I am. I would not call Cairo home. I feel at home wherever I meet people I feel at home with,” she tell …

Earlier this week I was chatting to one of the trainers at my gym about six-packs. “I hate this flab,” I told him, grabbing my mid-riff. “I want it gone. I want a six-pack like Fernando Torres.” “If you come here three times a week, you will have one i …

A couple of weeks ago I ranted on about what not to read, namely 50 Shades of Drivel. Meaningless, humourless, trite, sentimental and badly written. I have just finished a book that is the exact opposite and I urge you all to read it. I am not the only …

Everyone has settled in extremely well to London life. I guess it’s not difficult to do if you”re living in the middle of Chelsea. We are in a tiny street just off the King’s Road, where the houses are painted various pastel shades. In fact opposite i …

Whenever people ask me where I come from, I say England. This is of course not strictly true, but the truth would take far too long, and when people ask you where you’re from, as is the case when they ask you how you are, they don’t really want to know …

OK I promise I won’t go on about the AMAZING Champions League victory on Saturday, I realise most of my readers are not obsessive Chelsea fans. But today is George Best’s birthday, so it would be rude not to mention football at all. Even those of you w …

When people ask me where I’m from, I just say England. I’m not English of course, I’m half-Swedish, half-Italian, living in Abu Dhabi and with a house in France. But no one really wants to know all that. Added to which, England is where I feel most at …

Exactly a week ago today I was made redundant. I was called up to an office in the HR department (never a good sign) and “let go” along with two of my colleagues. We were told they were closing the magazine as a result of a focus group investigation in …

There is a famous saying that women of a certain age discover either God or gardening. I would like to add a third discovery, every bit as all-encompassing and obsessive: Tennis. I have loved tennis since I was a child. I was never much good at it, the …

Known to skiers but largely unexplored by British buyers, this part of France has plenty to offer all year round Travel guide: Six of the best French regions undiscovered by Brits Call it love at first sight — or, as the French would say, un coup de fo …

No, I am not going to drone on about Downton Abbey again. The best soap opera in the world is football. I am utterly addicted to the progress (or lack of it) of Chelsea Football Club. And not just the performances on the field. If David Luiz gets a hai …

I have the perfect answer to getting through an eight-hour flight in economy. Watch seven hours of Downton Abbey. I have been desperate to see it ever since all my friends in England first mentioned it and raved about it endlessly and lost the will to …

My friend Floss just left today, she has been staying with us for the past week. When I first met her some 30 years ago at a pizzeria in the King’s Road there were two things that differentiated her from everyone else. One, she had a red mohican, and t …

A week ago today I spotted a rare and beautiful creature in my gym. Many women have sighted him before me, but it still felt very special. It was none other than the ‘casually sweaty Tiger Woods’ creature, former world number one golfer and reason that …

There are many things you can do when you wake up in the middle of the night. You can lie there and try to get back to sleep. Sometimes that works, but not, as was the case with me just now, when there is a little person next to you who has just had a …

When I was buying Christmas presents for the girls this week I was struck by how very different the kinds of things I was looking at were from last year. There is nothing in a toy department that would interest them now, for example. Gone are the pet s …

 The Swedish professional golfer shares his life’s wisdom The golfer Robert Karlsson was born in Sweden in 1969. He has won 11 European Tour titles and in 2008 became the first Swede to win the tour’s Order of Merit. He will defend his crown in the sea …

Thirty-eight years ago, Randa Habib landed an interview with King Hussein of Jordan, a meeting that would change the course of her life. The veteran AFP news bureau chief talks to Helena Frith Powell about her life and her book on Jordan’s royal family …

I have just got back from Italy where I was visiting my father, who is ill in hospital. He will be 87 in December, but it was still a shock to see him so weak and, well OLD, for the first time ever. I wrote him a letter on the way back to the airport b …

The head of human development at Abu Dhabi media hub twofour54 offers her philosophies on life 1. Try to learn from all those around you, from the driver in your company to your colleagues, as well as the young. At some stage we all reach an age where …

Ever since we have been visiting our friends Norrie and Mary in the Savoie, I have been in love with a beautiful old farmhouse on the top of a hill in same hamlet as they live in. I call it THE house or La Belle Maison. It is actually very English in a …

For about an hour this week, I could have been in Wiltshire. I went to Leo’s Harvest Festival at the church next to his school. The children sang hymns and harvest songs, we said a few prayers of thanks and the head of the primary school made a little …

Baby Bea (almost 11) has a boyfriend. Rather confusingly he is called Leo, but apparently has lovely curly black hair and is very cute. They have so far carried out a rather Middle-Eastern style relationship, in that it was arranged, and they never rea …

Rafael Nadal is already one of the all-time greats of tennis. As he prepares to play here in Abu Dhabi, Helena Frith Powell speaks to the world No. 1 about winning and losing, and how his solid home base in Majorca makes him the most grounded of sporti …

Last week, in fact most weeks, was dominated by sport. First Leo became a class rep at school and proudly shared with us the suggestions he is going to make to improve the life of his classmates. First up, change the astro-turf pitch to grass. Second, …

When we lived in France, we would go for around three walks a day. One mid-morning, one late afternoon and one after dinner. Mostly we would up to “the cross”, as we called it, the end of the small road we lived on, marked by a metal cross at the edge …

The former England rugby star reveals a few of his favourite things and places to Helena Frith Powell Jeremy Guscott, a former England rugby player, is considered one of the most thrilling centres ever to grace the game. His smooth running style and sp …

I was at university with Will Carling, who used to be the captain of the English rugby team, back in the days when it was all amateur and there really wasn’t any money involved, just occasional glory. Will went out with Iona, my best friend at uni, and …

We went on holiday with four children and a yoga teacher. Ria, as our teacher is called, is also a good friend. I have known her since we first moved to Abu Dhabi. It was Amanda, a friend I was in touch with via email before we even got here who sugges …

The house we are staying in here on the beach in southern Sri Lanka is one of the most beautiful places I have ever stayed in. It is called Thalassa and, as the name suggests, is by the water. It is a big sprawling house with high ceilings, wooden floo …

The most wonderful memory of my trip to Italy this summer is from a party that my mother had. She billed it “an evening of poetry and magic” and it was held at a friend’s house next to a river in Umbria. The magic was the atmosphere, as well as a charm …

When I was a little girl, we lived at a place called Home Farm, just outside Newbury in Berkshire. We rented part of a house on the farm. There was a lot to do in the English countryside; making houses with bails of straw, for example, and cycling arou …

Once the haunt of movie stars and royalty, the tiny island of Sveti Stefan off Montenegro’s coast has just reopened its doors to well-heeled guests. Helena Frith Powell explores   In Norman Lewis’s Voices of the Old Sea, he recounts how a small Ca …

Cheryl Parsons moved to Dubai from the UK in March 2005. After working as a radio news presenter for three years, she decided to become a yoga instructor. Since completing her training in India in 2008, Parsons has been teaching with Dubai’s Zen Yoga s …

OK so I know I said in the last blog that it’s amazing how little you can get done on holiday, but after a week in Europe I’m amazed at what we have actually achieved. Yesterday we drove from Pezenas to Rome (I use the term ‘we’ loosely, I drove about …

We are on holiday. I don’t know why we don’t spend more time on holiday, it is quite wonderful. As soon as we got to our friends Norrie and Mary’s the children did what they long to do in Abu Dhabi bu can’t, ran through a lush green field. It was one o …

OK, so I would have preferred him to become a tennis player, but it seems that if he is destined for sporting greatness Leo will be a footballer. But it will not be an easy journey. I just thought that people were born with amazing talent (which he cle …

Twitter, facebook and all that is all very well, but if you really want to know what’s going on, read the Daily Mail. That’s how I found out, literally seconds ago, that John Terry (Chelsea and England Captain) is here in Abu Dhabi, staying at the Emir …

Five years ago, Dianne Reed barely survived a militant attack on her compound in Saudi Arabia in which 22 others died. Helena Frith Powell meets the American who moved back to the Middle East to prove that peace can win over violence What would you say …

I am almost at the end of the most brilliant book called Persepolis by an Iranian woman called Marjane Satrapi.I know it’s not new and everyone else has probably already read it, but it has really brought home to me several things. First, the joy of a …

I am hoping it is a little but like the early stages of a romance. You know those first heady glorious weeks when you want to know EVERYTHING about the other person and spend EVERY second of the day with them, preferably in bed. I am, of course, talkin …

Rupes and I were discussing football managers this morning, like you do…. Obviously changes are being planned at Chelsea, yet again. One of the reasons we are lagging behind Man U is that we lack the consistency they have achieved in part by holding …

We had planned tea at the Qasr al Sarab. Happily the Swiss contingent was in charge of most of it, we just had to make a chocolate cake The rendezvous was at 11am outside the Grand Mosque. “At the VIP entrance,” said our Swiss friend. Not being a VIP, …

I have decided that, as a busy working mother, if I want to spend time with my children, I need to find things I can do with them. I mean things that I would also otherwise be doing, such as playing tennis. The obvious candidate for tennis is of course …

I went to a baby shower last week, and just to give you an idea of how they tend to do these things in Abu Dhabi, I am uploading a photo. Understated, eh? My first thought as I walked in was of the film Batman, when the duck turns out to be carrying gu …

So Chelsea are out of the Premier League and Rafa (cue vast pic) lost to Djokovic in Miami. I fear that in terms of the tennis, it is the end of an era. Federer doesn’t even seem to pose much of a threat any more and even Rafa seems rattled by the Serb …

Well, not really, but for the first time since I started this blog in November 2006 someone has paid to advertise on it. And I still have to set up the PayPal account to actually get the money, but I feel this is a bit of a  breakthrough. Rupes will be …

I rarely need an excuse to post a pic of my favourite sporting heroes, and a lucky win over Scotland is more than enough reason to….so here he is again, Jonny Wilkinson, the greatest living Englishman….(not to mention one of the cutest). PS Could a …

With its designer spa and pretty Alpine setting, the Tschuggen Grand Hotel in the scenic resort town of Arosa is the perfect place for a rejuvenating break, says Helena Frith Powell   A few hours into our Swiss holiday and I am beginning to feel l …

Helena Frith Powell always thought that having an affair would be a relationship deal breaker — until she moved to France   It was during a perfectly pleasant Sunday lunch with lots of wine and good cheese that I first realised that French marriag …

I have been worried that Leo is far too nice for his own good. He never does anything remotely mean or nasty, is constantly kind and considerate and generally just gorgeous. But yesterday he proved that he has a little more mettle than I credit him wit …

Just read the following in an excellent article from today’s New York Times (www.newyorktimes.com). It is so tragic that these outdated despots can’t see that change is inevitable, with or without bloodshed. Rupert was in Bahrain last week and said the …

I have been trying in vain for years to turn one of my children into a potential tennis pro, or at least to engage them in the game enough to ensure I always have someone to play with . Until yesterday, I had not been successful. Then came the breakthr …

I am officially a tennis bore. I play four times a week, more if I can. A day without tennis feels somehow sad. I talk about it all the time. I wept today when Rafa and Federer were knocked out of the Oz Open. I am reading Andre Agassi’s autobiography. …

There are times when pictures speak louder than words….. But let me tell you about it anyway. WHAT a weekend. Three days of tennis and a drinks party with Rafa and Federer as guests of honour (along with Soderling, Tsonga, Berdych and Baghdatis). I m …

In an ideal world, it would be the temperature it is now in Abu Dhabi all year round. As most of Europe freezes under a hideous cold spell, we spend our time outside playing tennis, walking, even doing yoga on the beach. For the children, especially li …

As Christians around the world celebrate one of the holiest days of their year we talk to three western women who have embraced Islam and how it has given them a fresh perspective on life. As Christians around the world celebrate one of the holiest day …

This week Leo has excelled. He has been football team captain, as well as Man of the Match, and he scored a double hat-trick. At school he won not only the Principal’s Award for his project on snakes, but also table of the week in class. Last night he …

I thought very hard about whether to write this blog before or after I meet Lewis Hamilton at the Abu DHabi Grand Prix this weekend. Logically it might be better to write it after, but I often think the anticipation of something is almost better than t …

There are only three roads out of Abu Dhabi. How hard can it be?” I told my husband and ferals happily as we left home one Friday morning aiming for the seaside town of Mirfa in Al Gharbia. “I think we head towards Mussafah and then we’ll see the road. …

Ronald Perlwitz, 39, is the director of studies for international languages and business, at the Paris-Sorbonne University, Abu Dhabi. Originally from Germany, he has lived in the capital for four years. He also gives the pre-concert talks at the Abu D …

Dr Jamal R Saadah is a consultant physician at the department of emergency medicine, Mafraq Hospital. Originally from the West Bank city of Ramallah, he is a US citizen and has been living in Abu Dhabi for a year, prior to which he lived in Dubai. …

Ali F Mostafa, 29, was born in London and grew up in Dubai. A writer, producer and director, he made short films before his 2009 feature debut, City Of Life, broke box office records for an Emirati movie. He is now working on a new UAE-based film. No o …

Some of you will have seen this, but it is so funny I am posting it in case any of you have missed it. A real man is a woman’s best friend. He will never stand her up and never let her down. He will reassure her when she feels insecure and comfort her …

The expat ladies who lunch are feeling the credit crunch. With ‘hubbies’ losing their jobs, these women face losing their privileged lifestyles. Helena Frith Powell goes looking in the old haunts for the last of this endangered species.   Never mi …

It was Shakespeare who said that no traveller returns, meaning that when you go away you come back a different person. We are now well into our holiday and I have learned a few things about myself and life in general. I have learned that I want to live …

I suppose if you have to be awake at 3am there are worse places to be. I am sitting on a rooftop terrace in Paris with an (albeit limited) view of the Eiffel Tower. Our hotel room is a tiny attic room at the rather oddly named Hotel Wo on the rue de St …

Sometimes when travelling with your children they ask questions that make you truly proud. This was not such an occasion. Helena Frith Powell visits Atlantis with her family Sometimes when travelling with your children they ask questions that make you …

Tonight we head off to Europe. All being well this time tomorrow we will be in the Swiss Alps at the Tschuggen Hotel where we spend four nights (working hard on a travel piece) followed by Paris, London, Abersoch (it’s in Wales), then home to Sainte Ce …

I am having a nice time hanging out with Leo, while the girls are away in Italy visiting Roman ruins and avoiding my aunt. Hanging out with Leo means not only learning to love the Beautiful Game. It means learning to live, breathe, dream, think and tal …

I may be accused of writing a spurious blog about the summer just so that I can post this picture of Rafa that a kind-hearted work contact sent me yesterday. I deny this accusation. Summer is a very interesting topic and should be written about often, …

I don’t know what it is about popular culture but I seem to get onto it about a year after everyone else. Take Lady Gaga for example. Our magazine had her as the cover story last year. I naturally thought my story should be on the cover as opposed to s …

  Helena Frith Powell tests the Scuderia 250 Supercar Club, the first and only high-end sports car club in the Middle East WHAT WE TRIED: The first and only high-end sports car club in the Middle East. For info, email info@scudiera-250.com or visi …

So the most shocking one was that I found myself supporting Germany against Argentina. It started with a nasty foul by the Argies and then a game of football played by the Germans the way it should be played. Totally magical and heavenly to watch. The …

One of the advantages of living here is that you can pop to Oman for the weekend, which is what we did last week. We drove from Abu Dhabi over the border to the Musandam Peninsula and the exclusive, gorgeous Zighy Bay resort. Arriving there from the ci …

So I finally get a good night’s sleep, in Bangkok. Probably not what most people come here for but it made me happy. We are here for three days; Rupert is writing a cover story for the Travel section about it. I did not pack any red clothes, nor any ye …

Living in the Middle East I see a lot more news about Gaza than I did in France. Here it is a huge story. And of course there is only one ‘right’ side from here. I am becoming increasingly pro-Palestinian. Obviously I do not condone terrorism or extrem …

On Saturday I went along to my favourite yoga teacher’s class to do 54 sun salutations in a row. Why on earth would you want to do a thing like that you may wonder, but I was scarily excited by the challenge and wanted to see how tough it was. I was un …

French Open time…..maybe they would like to be in my book? here is one I will miss this year…. finally, here is another one for the road…. (that’s enough semi-naked tennis players, Ed)

I have just spent four hours in my kitchen, washing up, murdering cockroaches, preparing dinner (Sobu noodles with vegetables along with baked salmon which is marinading as I write) and baking a cake. Unlike a lot of houses here in Abu Dhabi, ours has …

There are not many upsides to Leo coming into our bed at 3am but here are two. First at 6am I was woken up by him laughing in his sleep. It was a rather delightful way to be woken up, by a little toothless chuckling boy. Then when he woke up he told hi …

This morning Leo talked to me about “the other France”, by which he means the France where Norrie and Mary our friends in the Savoie live and not the Languedoc where we are. It got me thinking about how different a child’s world is. England is waking u …

I have decided that the point of being rich is not how many designer handbags you can buy, although of course that is a perk, but that it makes your life much easier in many ways. If you are rich, you can employ someone to do all those things that make …

Despite my new high-powered role I still have time to watch films and TV shows on my bed with the girls. The other night we watched Vicky Christina Barcelona. A great film and how beautiful is Scarlett? Luminously beautiful I thought. “Did you see,” as …

This is getting ridiculous. I have no time to blog. So many things happen that I want to talk about and then suddenly another day has gone by and I haven’t had a chance. So here is a quick summary of recent events… Most upsetting moment – the Wikilea …

So this ex-boyfriend thing has now reached ridiculous heights….not that Heathcliff (as you may remember him from blogs of years ago) was ever my boyfriend. No, he was the first love of my life. I was all of 17 when I met him at Pucci’s Pizzas in Chel …

I am still incapacitated. Not completely of course, and nowhere near truly serious, but it feels bad. I am longing to exercise; to run, so stretch, to swim, to move. From being able to put my hands flat on the floor with my legs straight, I can now onl …

Leo is still terribly in love. “I have a heart broken,” he told me last night. The cause of this is still Eloise who has now apparently fallen in love with a boy with dark hair – can you imagine? “It’s not about how cute you are mummy,” he told me angr …

I have never before cut and pasted something to share with you, and I hope I am not in breach of any copyright laws, but this is one of the most brilliant, tragic and thought-provoking articles I have ever read. It is from the New York Review of Books …

Charming personal embroideries by rural Pakistani women that now adorn chic handbags and purses will be on display at Al Bastakiya Art Fair in Dubai. Helena Frith Powell reports. The embroidery is flawless and the image charming. It is of a little girl …

Picture the scene: I am doing yoga looking out over a 90 degree view of Jumeirah Beach in Dubai from the comfort of the 34th floor. Someone is pressing the dress I am going to wear this evening to dinner with my husband in a private dining room. Two cl …

I am the victim of a hate campaign from an otherwise peace-loving nation. It is not a nice experience. I am being inundated with emails, comments and facebook messages from extremely angry Swedes. The reason for their anger? An article I wrote for the …

While I was in India last week I interviewed the writer Amit Chaudhuri. He was charming and interesting and terribly middle-class. He comes from a middle-class Bengali family, grew up with “servants” as he called them (interesting note we PC Europeans …

Finding a partner for life is a formidable task. But help is at hand, whether from your closest relatives, singles groups or even the Merchant of Marriage.   He calls himself Dubai’s celebrity matchmaker, the one and only “Merchant of Marriage”. W …

Carla said this morning at breakfast that we should always remember this trip and how wonderful it has been. For example, if we get captured by Somali pirates we should think about how happy we were at Shreays and how beautiful it is. I think these pas …

Office romance can work out says Helena Frith Powell   I sympathised with Philip Taylor and Kate Walsch. Falling in love at work is one of the best things about having a job. It makes the whole nine to five thing so much more exciting. You spend h …

It is said that women of a certain age discover either God or gardening. I have instead discovered yoga. I can’t imagine life without it. And in fact looking back, one of my earliest memories of my mother is of her with her arms under her legs in some …

So far the Shreyas retreat has come as close to my idea of an ideal way to live as I have ever experienced. Set in the lush Indian countryside it has beautifully landscaped gardens, a yoga pavilion, lovely swimming pool and little tree-houses where you …

Ria Haffar is an interior designer turned yoga teacher. She is half-Lebanese and half-Czech and has lived in Abu Dhabi for 14 years with her daughter Iona. 1. Live life without expectations. This is the most important thing I have learnt. If you expect …

All went well. The Egyptian scarf was a huge success. Leo lent it to his girlfriend during the mid-morning break when she complained that she was cold. “Then I kissed her,” he told us proudly over lunch. “But not on the lips.” “Er, does she know she’s …

I returned from Cairo last night to sad news. Leo apparently came home from school yesterday weeping. “What’s wrong?” asked Rupert. “She broke my heart,” he wailed. “Who?” “My girlfriend,” Leo told him. This girl is the reason he was all dressed up on …

I travelled to Cairo last night with my friend Joy who is the wife of the Swiss Ambassador in Abu Dhabi. I am never travelling without her again. We get to the airport where she checks in at the business class counter (despite the fact that we have eco …

Every week in the magazine we have a back page interview called Life Lessons where people I interview give their five life lessons. I have thought long and hard about what my life lessons would be and can only come up with a couple. Treat everyone as y …

There are many things I would describe myself as; efficient, busy, prone to car-sickness, grumpy when tired to name a few, but not a party animal. In fact my ideal evening would normally include being in bed by 9.30 and often asleep before the children …

For me it began with my birthday party – fabulous fun – and ended this morning when my in-laws went back home. Christmas Day was great; lunch around 4pm by which time Noch (see self-portrait below) and I had danced to most of the 80s hits on her i-pod. …

There is much to report on family life as the school holidays have begun. For some reason even the weekend seemed busier. I think we probably have only just recovered from the birthday party. And poor Rupert is business editor for two weeks so rarely o …

Just in case you were wondering what to get me…..it’s the new Ferrari California. Apparently it’s very versatile. Although there isn’t much room for the kids. Oh well, never mind. I wouldn’t mind it for my birthday either, which is tomorrow by the wa …

Some things children say you never forget for some reason. Like when Hugo my stepson was about three and in a very solemn tone of voice declared that he was tired because “it’s been a long day”. Or Julia my stepdaughter would wake us up and say “it’s m …

This year it is 20 years ago since I left university. I cannot believe it is 20 years, that makes me feel ancient, wrinkly and generally depressed. But 20 years it is and there was only one way to get through the landmark, celebrate with some old unive …

Helena Frith Powell meets Henning Mankell, the Swedish crime writer, ahead of his visit to the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair and explains what lies beyond doom and gloom that characterise his books. The Swedish language consists of a relatively sma …

Thirty years ago, women in the UAE would have hardly left their homes. Times have changed. Helena Frith Powell meets some of the women making the most of both their careers and family life in a careful balance between opportunity and tradition. The thi …

There is a rather old-fashioned English expression to describe two people that are extremely similar. They are peas in a pod. I think one could safely say that Olivia and I peas in a pod. She looks like me (or rather like I used to) and we have scarily …

Bea and Leo entered their first-ever tennis tournament today. The prize for the winner of the tournament was to play with Rafa and Federer when they come over for the Capitala Tennis Tournament at the end of the year. I realised very quickly neither of …

It’s over. All the preparations, the building, the publicity, the hype and the actual race. As I write the drivers are probably boarding their private jets on their way home to Monaco or wherever it is they live. At the last minute I got a ticket to th …

As the world wakes up to a new Formula 1 racing champion in the shape of England’s Jenson Button – which is a bit of a blow to Abu Dhabi’s upcoming race in a couple of weeks – I bring news of another champion. Olivia the golfer. She set out today to th …

The girls have been very difficult recently, arguing about anything and everything. Olivia has moved in with Leo and they sleep together on the spare double bed like a young married couple, while Bea now starts in our bed and is carried through to hers …

As if you haven’t had enough of me and my encounters with celebs….anyway, in the light of the fuss surrounding his arrest I wanted to share this with you. Back in, I think it was 1977, I was sitting in the Opera Cellar restaurant in Stockholm with my …

Am I the only person out there who isn’t saving any money? A financial advisor came to see me the other day and suggested we put away some cash every month for our future. “Even if it’s only 500 pounds a month”. Only 500 pounds?? I almost fell off my c …

You couldn’t make it up. The trial of former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin for allegedly plotting a smear campaign against the man he affectionately calls “the dwarf” and known to the rest of the world as Nicolas Sarkozy, President of Fra …

It may be a stupid question, but you can’t help wondering as you wander through the Egyptian museum looking at the remnants from what was one of the world’s greatest ever civilisations: Where did it all go wrong? How come thousands of years ago they we …

Ken Hom has turned his ancient tower in southwest France into a retreat for relaxing, entertaining and writing cookbooks, he tells Helena Frith Powell of The Sunday Times   In Ken Hom’s wine cellar there is an oversized bottle of Cristal champagne …

I have arrived in Egypt. As always my departure was not easy. The morning I was leaving Olivia’s ear infection came back, Bea had a “hurty tummy” and she lost her blue exercise book. Leo had the worst problem of all; a bad hair day. Anyway I managed to …

A couple of days ago after he was knocked out of the US Open Marat Safin retired from tennis. He is 29. Tennis will never be as much fun to watch again. I loved Safin. In a world where everyone is so perfect and determined and single-minded he was a br …

Today was the first day back at school; “la rentree” as the French call it (with an accent which I cannot find here). In France it is akin to Christmas in importance. It is something you prepare for weeks in advance. I remember once a French friend of …

Helena Frith Powell makes her first visit to Lebanon and finds humour and familiarity in the landscape   I had been living in the Middle East for more than a year by the time I finally travelled anywhere else in the region. A friend invited me to …

We leave the day after tomorrow. In fact Hugo and Rupes left yesterday. We are staying on until the last possible moment to let Olivia’s ear infection clear up and also to enjoy some last-minute walks around the green fields. Yesterday we spent the day …

While we were still at the lakeside hotel in the Savoie last week Olivia and I had an interesting conversation. “Mummy,” she began. “Not that you’re very old, but when you die would you like to be buried or burned?” “I think probably burned,” I said. ” …

Today as I was about to board a plane to Stockholm my mother sent me an email saying “safe flight home”. It made me think, as the concept of home has been uppermost in my mind over the past few days. Sweden is clearly no longer home. I love it here. I …

The National Rehabilitation Centre offers those with drug and alcohol problems a chance to transform their lives. Helena Frith Powell reports on how a new facility is helping the fight against addiction in the UAE. Hidden away behind a bakery somewhere …

We drove over to dinner last night with my friend Regine and her husband Jean-Claude. The children stayed with Norrie and Mary. The drive was beautiful; I am more and more taken with this region. We had the GPS plotter leading the way and when she said …

So we showed up at the airport last night at midnight, ready for our 2am flight to Geneva and our holiday. “Geneva?” said the young man at the Etihad counter. “There is no flight to Geneva tonight.” “Ha ha,” I said. “Very funny.” Sadly he wasn’t joking …

I remember being shocked in France when our childminder, among others, would tell the children things that were plainly not true in order to calm them down. So, for example, if I dropped them off before I was due to go off on a trip and they started cr …

I was really heartened to read today that there is a beauty contest for victims of landmines called Miss Landmine. Not only does it raise awareness of this dreadful weapon (which costs about $15 but ruins a life in less than a second), but it also mean …

….Leonardo and er, some girl at summer camp. Yes, he is a little sketchy on the details but, he is in love and engaged. “Why?” I asked him. “Mummy, you know I’m going to have dark hair when I grow up. She’s got dark curly hair. That’s the thing,” he …

It was a scene you seldom see. We got back last night from five heavenly days in Lebanon and I had actually LOST a kilo. When did you last lose weight on holiday (unless it was deepest India)? Exactly. Well I have the answer. You go on holiday with my …

We are staying with our friend Ghada on top of a mountain. I am writing this on the terrace of her parent’s house looking out over rocks, trees and, in the distance, the sea. Around us the countryside is like the Languedoc, we went for a walk and for t …

Six years ago today Rupert was watching the final of the Open and I was giving birth to Leonardo. To be fair, he did manage to tear him away in time to see the little man come out. My main memory is trying to remain elegant looking until a midwife told …

The murder of Natalia Estemirova, a human rights activist based in Chechnya, is so brazen and so appalling I can hardly believe it is true. This is a woman who worked tirelessly to expose human rights abuses, to protect people and help them. Her kidnap …

There are many reasons to have children. They make you laugh, they love you, you love them, they might look after you one day when you’re old and incapacitated and they are generally jolly lovely to have around. But one reason not to have them is their …

As I write the girls are on their way to Lake Como with my uncle and aunt. They flew at 2.30 am from Abu Dhabi and landed in Milan this morning. Olivia said she was tired (possibly the first time she has ever admitted it) whereas Bea was totally overjo …

On the shores of Austria’s picturesque Lake Worth lies a private clinic that has achieved an almost cult-like status among its loyal devotees, who include celebrities, business execs and Russian oligarchs. In the five years since it opened, an array of …

Last week we won a competition for free golf lessons for the children. Rupert was working so I took them up to the Abu Dhabi Golf Club. I was slightly nervous as the minimum age was seven, which Rupert had them Leo was. He is only five. They were put i …

In the heart of the Swedish countryside the guests shed their inhibitions and their clothes By Helena Frith Powell My husband looks doubtful. “Why the suitcase?” He has a point. I am going for two days to the first naturist B&B in Europe. I normall …

Today is out 11th wedding anniversary. Eleven years ago today we were married in a beautiful white church in Hedemora, deep in the Swedish countryside. It is the same church I was christened in, by my grandfather who was the vicar then. Sadly he was no …

Sorry for the long silence. We are back after an amazing trip to England and France. I absolutely loved it. OK so it rained most of the time, but on Sunday we were in Herefordshire and it was the MOST glorious day. On a sunny day there is nowhere as be …

Not the book by Erica Jong, but real fear. After the Air France crash I have it even worse. And it was pretty bad to begin with. It is just one of those things I have always hated and always dreaded. At one stage (when I was about 19) it got so bad tha …

This weekend Leo made his big-stage debut at Abu Dhabi’s National Theatre. He played the King in his dance school’s ballet performance. I was totally over-excited the minute I saw the programme. There was his name, up at the top, among the stars. When …

I had a great time. The other people on the press trip were fabulous fun. I haven’t laughed so much for years. It was tough: three countries in four days, and all that shopping, as well as luxury hotels and slap-up meals, but what’s a girl to do? I hav …

Swift, Shaw, Wilde, Yeats, Joyce and Beckett: the list of great Irish literary figures is long and extremely impressive. Yesterday as I wandered around the Museum of Writers I started to wonder why this ’emerald isle’ has produced so many literary grea …

I am in Munich where I have not been since I lived here for a year more than a decade ago. It is lovely to be in Europe; the sky is grey, the food seems fresher and the wine does not taste like boiled sweets. This morning I start my gruelling shopping …

Olivia and I are addicted to Brothers & Sisters. We lie on my bed under the blanket and watch it on a portable DVD player. We have watched Grey’s Anatomy together, along with the first season of Desperate Housewives, before I decided it was too grown-u …

There is something compelling about wrapping a scarf with jingly bits around your hips – the minute you tie the knot you are overcome with an overwhelming desire to wiggle. There is something compelling about wrapping a scarf with jingly bits around yo …

There is nothing more tiring than people telling you look tired. I have had three people tell me I look tired over the past three days. Yesterday it was our neighbour Ali, who is a policeman. “You look tired,” he said. “I can see it in your face.” One …

It is easy to forget as you sit sipping your Starbucks in a shopping mall surrounded by shops you have shopped in for years that you are living in the Middle East. But sometimes there are reminders. The other day for example, we saw a camel in the back …

As I said, Bea and Olivia could not join Facebook because they are too young. Instead they joined the BBC’s social networking site for kids. This is Bea’s bio, which was sent to me as I had to approve it before it went live: my name is bea and i love s …

Ever since I heard the message on my answer machine back in 2003 telling me that the baby I was carrying was a boy, I have had day dreams of Leo becoming a sporting hero. At times when I can’t sleep I imagine myself at Wimbledon on a sunny day watching …

There was an Oscar party last night at the Intercontinental Hotel here in Abu Dhabi. Three friends and I decided to go, mainly because the dress code was “red carpet” and I can resist no excuse to wear my full-length sequinned dress which now looks eve …

Never mind the Vikings, Stockholm is a city designed for children. The days of rugged bearded men and plunder are over; today, this is a city of gentle, safety-conscious people. You need only look at a zebra crossing and the cars screech to a halt. The …

I have long maintained that the Nobel Prize for Literature should only be given out every four years. I don’t think there are enough writers around to warrant such an accolade every year. Now, having met one of them, I wonder if it should be cancelled …

Yesterday evening Olivia fell down some steps at the music school chasing Bea. Being Olivia everyone thought she had broken her  arm in about seven places. We rushed off to hospital and the doctor thought the same. “I will get you an injection of pain …

Yesterday I really did have breakfast at Tiffany’s. I was invited to an editor’s breakfast to promote the launch of their flagship store in the UAE at the new Dubai Mall. It was not a bad way to start the day but then it got better…. Fast forward (li …

This morning in my yoga class our focus was ‘what you are good at’. We had to go around the room, saying who we were, where we were from and what we were good at. I watched and listened to everyone else. “I am a good mother,” said one lady. “I am good …

The other night we went to see a lovely film about the Moroccan 14th century explorer Ibn Battuta’s epic journey to Mecca. He risked everything to get to a place he had long dreamed about and which he felt would complete him as a person. It was not a q …

Can you believe it? We got home to Abu Dhabi after a long and rather hellish journey and headed straight off to a tennis tournament. Not just any tennis tournament. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in ONE AFTERNOON This is the tennis equivalent of buying …

Today is my birthday. So why am I not elated? I don’t know. I have woken up with a splitting headache and grumpy as hell. “I think you must be in your forties by now,” said Rupert when he woke up, which didn’t help matters. I suppose the fact is it is …

Paul, a friend and veteran of the Leap Of Faith, explains: ‘It’s just like bungee-jumping or paragliding. Have you ever tried those?’ Now you mention it, I haven’t. And I have never had any desire to do so. But as soon as I heard we were going to the A …

Getting into bed last night with my laptop and my newly-purchased box-set of Sex and the City it occurred to me that happiness is all about little things. Like getting into bed at 9pm with over 100 episodes of Sex and the City and a green tea. I have t …

Friends — I know this election of ours has almost felt like an election of yours but I suspect you believed more in your minds what we have felt in our hearts, that a rejection of change would have hastened America’s demise. But that hasn’t happened a …

One of the side-effects of moving to Abu Dhabi, apart from learning to pole dance and belly dance, is meeting interesting people and going to glittering events. It is true that in Gabian the most glittering event was watching Italy beat France in the f …

I am about to interview a handsome young man called Ben Barnes who is in Abu Dhabi for the Middle East International Film Festival. He stars in a great new film called Easy Virtue with, among others, Colin Firth. Tragically Colin is not here or I would …

John D Rockefeller said “I have tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity.” So I tried yesterday to overcome the disaster of losing our dream apartment by buying a car. “Wouldn’t a dress do the trick?” suggested the charming man who is going to …

I am back at my office at the Kempinski, gazing at the ski slope. The skiing the other day began badly. We all got to the top of the slope and the children refused to go down it. “I’ve forgotten how to ski,” declared Olivia. “How do we get down?” asked …

I am in my new office. It is in the cafe of the Kempinski Hotel which is in the Mall of the Emirates. The luxury villa we have been lent by my old university chum doesn’t have internet access, so I have to come here to check my messages. There is an in …

It is a well-known fact that no one outside Sweden speaks Swedish. I have found this particularly useful when it comes to dealing with the children. To outsiders they seem seamlessly polite, with their pleases and thank yous and please may I get down f …

This is the conversation the children and I had in Suda’s car yesterday. “Are you all happy to continue our adventure, or would you prefer to go home?” I asked. “I’m happy to continue my adventure,” said Olivia. “Abu Dhabi is my best village ever,” sai …

A month ago, our French Mistress bid farewell to France for a new life in the Gulf Helena Frith Powell August 31 2008, 1:00am, The Sunday Times So, we said au revoir to our lovely farmhouse in the Languedoc (we’re still trying to let it out) and the fa …

So we’re here. The flight was good, despite Olivia’s fury that we were not “in the best bit” of the aircraft. Having prepared myself for seven hours in the air with my children by drinking a glass of Barolo at the Rhubarb Cafe in Terminal 3 I fell asle …

It is tough being back. No calming lake, no one bringing me food every meal, no massages, no doctor monitoring my progress. But I am trying my best to keep up the good work I began. The enemy lurks around every corner in the form of alcohol, chocolate …

Alexander Solzhenitzyn, the Russian Nobel laureate and former prisoner of Stalin’s gulags, has died in Moscow aged 89. I can’t pretend to have read any of his books, but I have at least heard of them and I am aware of what a huge impact he made exposin …

Although I have at times been tempted to eat my lip-gloss due to extreme hunger pangs, I am really loving the Viva Mayr Clinic (www.viva-mayr.com). It is very different to Renew Retreats, much more medical and not a mention of matching underwear, but a …

Because we travel so much for work, Rupert and I have never really been on a proper family holiday until now. I can’t believe how nice it is. This is my routine: I get up, I do some writing (I am working on a novel), I do half an hour of yogo (as Leo c …

Stockholm seemed a fitting place to see the film version of Mamma Mia! Julia and I saw the musical a few years ago in London and loved it. As it was raining yesterday I took the four children off in search of a cinema. We eventually found one and settl …

Rupert was lying in the sun having just enjoyed a swim when I broke the news to him. “Three weeks today you’ll be in an office,” I told him. “It’s Sunday,” said Olivia. “They work in a Sunday in Abu Dhabi,” I replied. Rupert seemed calm, in fact he did …

So I show up, wondering if I should undress in my car before being greeted by the owners who are charming and fully dressed. Then they take me to my room. En route we pass one of the clients. I have only been to one other naturist in my life; Cap d’Agd …

I am on a train speeding through the Swedish countryside en route to yet another tough assignment. I am going to write an article about Scandinavia’s first nudist B&B for The Times (www.hyltebergagard.se). I have covered (being the operative word) some …

Although I lived here as a child and teenager, there is much I had forgotten. Here are some of the more remarkable things about this country. In the summer it gets light at 2 in the morning In the winter it gets dark at 2 in the afternoon Most people i …

We have embarked on the next leg of our European tour. As I write I am looking out over silver birches, pretty red wooden houses and the sea in the distance. We are in Sweden in our rented house in the Stockholm archipelago. As we were settling in here …

We are in London, it’s great to be back. Yesterday I visited my favourite haunts; the Blink Bar at Harvey Nichols and HB Health where Botox Brenda worked her magic needle. On the way back to the hotel (Rupert has managed to get us into The Connaught, a …

The life of a goldfish is not an interesting one, even if you happen to be Olivia’s goldfish and more perky than most. But Sushi Sam, as he is called, has now discovered a whole new world. Deciding what to do with the animals was one of the most diffic …

Jean-Claude Benguigui aged five, Albert Bulka aged four and Paula Mermelstein aged 10 have one thing in common. They were three of 105 Jewish children, rescued by a Polish lady called Sabine Zlatin and bought to a country hideaway high in the hills abo …

Remind me to avoid Geneva airport in the future. Coming back from a meeting about an exciting new book deal in London (which I will tell you all about once it is signed) I flew into the scene of my handbag abduction episode. When I parked that morning …

It’s that time of year again, Wimbledon time, which means I get to put pictures of Marat Safin on my blog, oh joy! Last night he played an incredible match – we were all literally on the edge of our seats. Except Bea who declared the whole thing “borin …

By 9am this morning as I was on the phone to the British Consulate in Lyon the Swiss police had left a message for me at home to say that my bag and the passports had been found at a railway station. Amazing. It is safe at the lost and found in Geneva. …

It was all going swimmingly. We’d had lunch in Geneva, got soaked under the fountain on the lake (it was a boiling hot day) and got to the airport in good time to drop Olivia off for her flight to Italy where she is going to stay with my mother for thr …

There are few things that make me as angry as the situation in Zimbabwe. I read this morning that 60 or so women and children have been removed from the opposition party headquarters for “hygiene reasons”. They were hiding there for fear of beatings, a …

It is not often that reality turns out to be better than one’s fantasy. For example those red croc stilettos from Fratelli Rossetti are great, but they have yet to change my life. And a cream cake rarely tastes as good as it looks. But here I am, in th …

A shocking new Ad campaign in the usually pro-thin country has prompted calls for a law to combat the eating disorder   Alongside the catwalk shows, the gossip and the glamorous parties, Paris fashion week was dominated by a billboard this year. I …

I had many visions of where I would spend my 10th wedding anniversary: Le Byblos in St Tropez, Hotel de Toiras on the Ile de Re, Hotel Costes in Paris, some ritzy restaurant in London, a beach in the Caribbean, a luxury spa on Lake Geneva. After all, t …

I have been to the Ile de Re on France’s Atlantic coast three times and every time it has rained. Notwithstanding this, I love it. In fact I’m sure after two months in the desert I will be dreaming of its green coastline and soft showers. To me it sums …

I had no idea where Abu Dhabi was until Rupert told me he had been offered a job there. He likes to get a proper job once every ten years or so, so he’s off to work on the business desk of a new newspaper called The National (www.thenational.ae). “I’ll …

So we have said goodbye to Sainte Cecile and begun the European tour. We drove away from a calm-looking Max (being looked after by the tenants) with the car jam-packed with our belongings. For some reason I have four bags of bathroom products; there ar …

The makeover begins before I even get on the plane. I’m in a small cubicle wearing nothing but a black paper thong, being sprayed with fake tan by a girl called Sian. I’m at Heathrow, about to board a flight to New York for a makeover weekend so I may …

“I hate Sarkozy,” Leonardo told me this morning. The reason? He makes him go to school. “Does Sarkozy go to school?” he demanded angrily, throwing his Spider-man school bag across the room. “No,” I said. “He has a job. Either you go to school or you ha …

What the hell is Robert Mugabe doing at the World Food Summit in Rome? This man belongs in jail, not at some international convention. Added to which the irony could hardly be more poignant. He has sytematically starved his people for years. So while h …

We are in Cadaques, where normally at this time of year the children would be swimming in the sea and playing on the beach. But it’s raining. Not the sort of rain you can avoid. Sheets of rain that hit you like a bucket of water. We are here because Ru …

As other markets crash, British buyers return to our old favourite, France. Even with the strong euro, there are bargains to be had Helena Frith Powell May 25 2008, 1:00am, The Sunday Times Can anything put the British off buying property in France? Yo …

I would like to give you all an insight into my hard working life. Rupert and I are in St Tropez at the chicest hotel in town, Byblos, which has been the best address in St Tropez since 1967 when Mick Jagger married Bianca on a terrace here. Guests inc …

I admit it, I am a fattist. Every time I see a fat person I want to throw up. I can’t stand the sight of that blubber blubbering around. If I see a fat person walking into Burger King I am tempted to make a citizen’s arrest. Now I see that Britain is o …

I am in the Richard Kay column in the Daily Mail today (see below for text of article). This is thrilling news on many counts. First they have made me younger than I am (always useful for an anti-ageing guru), second they call me “pouting” and finally …

I am risking life and limb to head to Chelsea. Some of you may not be aware that police yesterday had to shoot a lone gunman within metres of Marks & Spencer. Can you imagine, you pop out to buy some matching underwear and the next thing you know some …

They say your wedding day is the most important day of your life. Preparation often starts a year or more before the big day with dress fittings, gym memberships and debates about whether or not to risk falling up the aisle in your the seven-inch stile …

For Helena Frith Powell, having a third child was a luxury she could afford only by moving to France. She and her husband left their native Sussex, in England, to live in a converted farmhouse in the Languedoc region, in south west France. France is fa …

I have a friend of a friend who is on the UK soap Coronation Street. He told her an amazing fact the other day which is that the scriptwriters are forced to come up with something exciting every eight seconds in order to prevent people from switching c …

The irony of returning from a trip to the French Lakes and find we have no water in the house was not lost on me. But what is surprising is how life drastically changes without running water. No lavender baths, no easy way to brush your teeth, no clean …

So I barely had time to stroke Max and say woof to Wolfie before we were off again. This time with the children to the Savoie where Rupert is researching an article for The Times. This gave us an excuse to come back to one of my favourite places in the …

It really was to hell in high heels when I finally left the launch party wearing my gorgeous red snakeskin Fratelli Rossetti stilettos. After three days of tottering around London in high heels there is not a part of my feet that doesn’t hurt. But it w …

The call came in just over half an hour ago. “They want you on BBC breakfast tomorrow morning,” said Rina the Arrow Books publicist. “And GMTV in two weeks.” After breakfast TV we have several local radio stations and LBC tomorrow evening after the lau …

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a piece for the Guardian’s book blog about how the literary heroes of our youth never change. For example, I was in love with Heathcliff and Darcy when I was 16 and I probably still will be when I’m 60. Spurred on by Ruper …

Today is the publication date of To Hell in High Heels. When my first book came out I was close to bursting with excitement by the time it came out. I counted the days, rather like a child counts the days to his birthday. The same went for the second a …

When I went to collect Leo from school today he ran at me, threw his arms around me and started giggling hysterically. As this is something he often does, I didn’t pay any attention. We left school, went to the park, chatted to friends and then came ho …

Which was worse – facing the needle, or her husband afterwards? Helena Frith Powell grits her teeth and goes for the face freeze   Wednesday, midday “You’re not going to get any Botox done, are you?” my husband, Rupert, asks as I leave the house t …

It was the Greek philosopher Heraclitus who said that ‘no man can step into the same river twice, for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you’. I had hoped that when Carla showed up for the state visit to England that she might have brought a bit of …

I promised I would never betray Jonny, but that new boy is damn good. And cute. And listen to this; his mother drives a London black cab, she used to work all day, get home and give him his tea, then go out to work again at night so she could pay to pu …

Looking eternally young is every woman’s Holy Grail — and we spend millions in pursuit of it. So can anything truly banish those wrinkles? The author of a new book sought out experts around the world to find the answer…   Ageing is something of …

Never mind the arrival of the Daily Mail in the region, the big news yesterday was that Louis has a girlfriend. “She’s called Elisa. They even kissed on the lips,” Leo told us when he came home from school. He was more scandalised than my mother was wh …

So it’s finally happened. Well I say finally, she is only seven, but it was only a matter of time. Bea has a boyfriend. She came home yesterday from the leisure centre where French schoolchildren spend half-term if they’re not skiing glowing with the n …

An hour is a long time in French politics. Two hours feels like for ever, but that’s the total length of time I have been in the business. My husband says the only reason to become a politician in France is so you can get your hands on Carla Bruni, but …

Helena Frith Powell February 24 2008, 12:00am, The Sunday Times An hour is a long time in French politics. Two hours feels like for ever, but that’s the total length of time I have been in the business. My husband says the only reason to become a polit …

Some of you may think this blog is just an excuse to get yet another picture of Jonny Wilkinson up. And your problem with that is…? Last night he proved yet again that he is the greatest living Englishman. The Six Nations match between England and Fran …

I was on a yoga mat in my M&S pink polka-dot underwear when the police arrived. I am genetically pre-disposed to panic as soon as I see a policeman. I spent my childhood watching my mother shout ‘help’ every time one came anywhere near us, even if he w …

I have been struck down with a horrible flu. I must have sneezed around 700 times during the last two days. I dread to think how many brain-cells I have killed. All around the house there are bins filled with tissues. My head hurts, my body hurts, my n …

One of the most common complaints I hear from harassed housewifes and mothers is that they don’t have the time to do any exercise because they are with the children all day. I have great news. A young child is the perfect exercise tool. I present you w …

So the news that Carla has married Sarko has of course devastated Rupert. “How could she?” he wailed down the phone to me as I stood at the supermarket check-out. I excitedly shared the news of the wedding with the people queuing with me at Carrefour. …

Before I start my rant, for those of you who noticed I was missing, I am sorry. The server had to changed for reasons I am not clever enough to understand. For those of you who didn’t, where the hell were you? Anyway it’s not just servers that are driv …

When I was a younger my stepfather would often say that the problem with me is that I am always waiting for a suitcase to show up and solve all my problems. He was referring to a suitcase of money which would magically transform my life. I need that su …

The Australian Open is on at the moment and every morning I switch on the television to be greeted with images of French players battling it out down under. And every morning I ask the same question: Why are there no British players playing? There was …

Yesterday Bea and I had a ballet class. Well, I say class, but it was less professional than that. I taught her the steps and arm movements with the help of a book written by Darcy Bussell called The Young Dancer. As I moved with not much grace from fi …

Sir Edmund Hillary died today. He was 88 and died of heart failure at the Auckland City Hospital. The reason you will have heard of him is that in 1953 he and Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest. I have never h …

A teenage bride who came to Leeds for an arranged marriage has been beaten to death during a “prolonged and vicious attack” by her young husband over a three-week period, all with the collaboration of his relations who apparently took an instant dislik …

As Hillary Clinton gets bitter in a televised TV debate with Barack Obama, the singer Amy Winehouse is frolicking on a beach in the Caribbean with her ex-boyfriend. Who do you think does more to further the cause of women? Most would probably say Hilla …

We are home. I spent much of our last day skulking in the woods while my estranged aunt visited the children. As usual, she was two hours late, so by the time she finally arrived my planned “walk” had turned into a mini-marathon, it was pitch-dark outs …

The New Year is traditionally a time for looking forward. But thanks to some old school reports from Shaw House Grammar School for Girls I found at my mother’s house, I have been looking back, all the way back to my teens….. My English report does no …

Yesterday it was Bea’s turn to see Rome. We got off the train and headed straight to the Vatican. Bea wants to be an artist and I thought the Sistine Chapel might inspire her. She is also very keen on religion. We passed a shop with lots of pictures of …

Not since Audrey Hepburn was there has there been such a pretty visitor to Rome. Yesterday Olivia and I took the train (and the strain, it was 30 minutes late) and went into town. “Do you realise that since we got to Italy we have eaten pasta every lun …

We are finally here after what feels like several days on a train. All was going relatively well until the night train was delayed. First they said 20 minutes. There we sat among the alcoholics and the homeless at Nice station (not so nice), praying fo …

Relaxing, snoozing, reading a book, enjoying a glass of wine by the fire….but that’s just my husband. Me, I am on a train bound for Italy with the three children. As I write (after four and a half hours) they have finally lost the plot and are runnin …

“Are you a goer?” I overheard a man asking at a party the other evening. The man posing the question was my husband. The person he was addressing was my friend and business partner Mary. I agree that with her tight red dress and hair curly as kale she …

My journey home was marvellous. We got on the Eurostar at the newly revamped St Pancras Station. When the train stopped I thought we were in Ashford in Kent or at best Lille. Turns out we were at the Gare du Nord. Here at home it is a winter wonderland …

I am pleased to annouce that I am incredibly posh. The reason I know this is that none of my friends have central heating. It is a well known fact that the posher you are, the colder your home is. In fact one of the friends I stayed with in London duri …

So I discovered the happy medium the night before last. Two glasses of good champagne and one glass of wine. So pleased was I with my discovery that I drank rather more last night and now remember why I hate drinking. I spent the moderate night with my …

While Hamlet was thinking of death, I am thinking only of sleep. Never mind the Diana conspiracy theory, what about the international conspiracy to keep me awake at night? It is now 5.30am and I have given up on sleep for the night. I was woken at 1am …

I brushed my teeth this morning as the Ligurian countryside flashed by. I am on a night train bound for France after two days in Florence. The night train does not compare with the luxury of the Grand Hotel, and the view of Liguria may not be as dreamy …

There are worse places to spend a morning. I am at the Grand Hotel in Florence. My room looks out over the city and the Arno River. Inside it is almost more impressive. There are frescoes on three walls depicting romantic scenes from too long ago to ev …

A man in London last week was arrested for trying to have sex with a fence. This wasn’t just any fence, it was in Leicester Square Gardens. I know the fence, and very attractive it is too. Apparently Daniel French, aged 24, told police “I’m going to ha …

Stefania Prestigiacomo, minister for Equal opportunities in the Italian government, has come up with ten commandments for female happiness: * Consider motherhood a value – it is the greatest experience for women * Follow your childhood dream * Keep fal …

We have just come back from Venice where we were invited to the launch of a joint venture between the estate agents Savills and a local company called Views on Venice. We stayed in a penthouse apartment overlooking the Grand Canal. The weather was amaz …

When I was a teenager living in Sweden my Italian aunt once asked me why I chose to live “in that periphery of the world”. She had a point. I could have lived in London or Rome and compared with either of those places, the Swedish countryside probably …

I see today that yet another “top” banker is about to resign or be pushed following record losses for the bank he runs. Citigroup chairman Chuck Prince has earned £27 million during his last four years at the bank, where he has presided over losses of …

We decided to stop for lunch at IKEA on our way home from the Savoie. Total madness. I have never seen so many French men desperate for Swedish meatballs. Haven’t they heard of onion soup or croque monsieur? “Mr IKEA must be sitting in his Swiss villa …

Twenty-four hours is a long time in childcare. My husband is back, the kidney infection is in fact a trapped nerve and the children are being saints. I can’t credit myself with their transformation. We have come to stay with our friends Norrie and Mary …

Oh for goodness sake. Where will this all end? Halle Berry has had to issue a groveling apology because when she was shown a distorted image of herself where her nose was over-sized she exclaimed “I look like my Jewish cousin.” “She must be punished,” …

“It has been suggested to me that it would be an awesome achievement if we win,” Jonny Wilkinson wrote in his column on the morning of the world cup final. “But I just can’t allow myself to think that way now, I can’t think beyond today. Because if we …

Teenagers, career women, even grandmothers, are going weak-kneed over the ‘come hither’ fly-half. THIS time last week I had a terrible hangover. I woke up at 6am wondering why my head was throbbing. Then I remembered. “We won,” I said to my husband. “I …

OK, so we lost, but it’s only a game. You have my permission to kill anyone who says that. It’s not only a game, it’s the WORLD CUP and we lost, rather unfairly I think. I was in a bar full of French people supporting South Africa. Helllooooo??? Aren’t …

Evelyn Lund and her husband sought a new life in France but now she is dead and he is in jail. Helena Frith Powell finds out where it all went wrong Helena Frith Powell October 21 2007, 1:00am, The Sunday Times Thousands of Brits move to France every y …

Teenagers, career women, even grandmothers, are going weak-kneed over the ‘come hither’ fly-half Helena Frith Powell October 21 2007, 1:00am, The Sunday Times THIS time last week I had a terrible hangover. I woke up at 6am wondering why my head was thr …

As I sat reading my story in the Daily Telegraph this morning (see www.telegraph.co.uk) and seeing my book plugged at the end it occurred to me that humans are essentially dissatisfied creatures. “I have just realised how lucky we are,” I said to Ruper …

As divorce looks imminent for the Sarkozys, Helena Frith Powell explains why few Frenchwomen condemn her French president Nicolas Sarkozy is finding that Jimmy Goldsmith’s famous dictum – that when you marry your mistress you create a job vacancy – wor …

I woke up at 6am feeling terrible. Hardly surprising as I was drinking champagne at 2am. “We won,” I said to Rupert. “I want to read the French newspapers,” he said. “I want to marry Jonny Wilkinson,” I replied. “I do too,” said Rupert. Never has a han …

Helena Frith Powell October 14 2007, 1:00am, The Sunday Times “I DON’T want anyone yelling ‘come on’,” says Arnaud, the owner of the bar La Maro 20 in Pezenas, a Renaissance town in the heart of rugby-playing France, when I walk in wearing my England r …

When my husband asked me if I wanted to come to Marseille to see England versus Australia I thought two things. One, I’ll see Jonny Wilkinson in the flesh and two, it will be a fun day out, although we will lose. I first became interested in rugby at u …

We got back yesterday evening from a perfect press trip. I did write and tell you all about it but the blog seems to have vanished. I can only assume the tourist board of the Var, keen to avoid yet more visitors to the magical islands of Porquerolles a …

I am back from a two-day whirlwind trip to London. The launch party for Ciao Bella was much more fun than Hell’s Kitchen, although that wouldn’t be too difficult. It even made it into the Peter Kay column of the Daily Mail, albeit a tiny story, right a …

I knew we’d arrived in Hell when I saw Tara Palmer-Tomkinson teetering about with a glass of cheap champagne on improbably high heels. We were in a semi-marquee where there was a make-shift bar and Z-list celebs waiting to be ushered into Hell’s Kitche …

I am not a big fan of reality TV shows, but as this one involves dinner cooked by a three-star Michelin chef and his two remaining celebrities, I am going. I doubt very much I will even get on camera, unless of course I dare to complain about the food …

“Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds; and until we know what has been or will be the peculiar combination of outward with inward facts, which constitute a man’s critical actions, it will be better not to think ourselves wise about …

At the Venice film festival a couple of days ago a young woman did what most of us have been yearning to do for years; pounce on Brad Pitt. As he walked down the red carpet she threw her arms around him and hugged him. Brad was not impressed; she says …

Forget the twinkle in his eye, his smile or even the size of his wallet – the way a woman determines if a man is good relationship material is in the first kiss. As the Mail reported yesterday, scientists this week claimed that women have learned to us …

I find myself in the Hotel Amour in the red light district of Paris. My room is called the Library room, the far wall is lined with French porn books and magazines. The remaining walls are painted black and the only piece of furniture in the room is a …

My aunt always told me there is nothing more boring than a young man when you’re young or an old man when you’re old. Scientists have now confirmed this and, what’s more, it’s not just cultural, it’s biological. Mature males who ogle young totty are no …

Olivia and I have been listening to a CD of African music. One of the songs begins with a quote from Nelson Mandela. “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities …

Last night at dinner Olivia asked Leo and Bea how many children they were going to have. “Three,” said Bea. “Called Manon, Rupert and Helena.” “What if you have three boys?” asked Olivia “Doesn’t matter,” said Bea. Leo rather worryingly announced he wa …

“Come to lunch,” he said. “My wife is away.” Whereas when we last saw each other twenty years ago this might have been an invitation to spend the afternoon in bed, now that we’re middle-aged it was not my body Heathcliff was after, but my children. His …

Teenagers may not be much use around the house, but they’re brilliant at everything to do with mobile phones. I now have a choice of funky new ring tones, thanks to Julia. My husband says this is yet another manifestation of my mid-life crisis. Accordi …

My arrival home has been dominated by cricket. My stepson Hugo has been watching the test match and Leo has become very interested. “One day you’ll play cricket for England,” Rupert said to him this morning. “Yes, now,” said Leo. “You can’t play cricke …

My laptop and I have been reunited and are on our way to Lake Garda where we are going to spend a week finishing To Hell in High Heels. I have left Rupert alone with five children. It was six, but one of them went back home today, so he really has noth …

I have arrived in the Savoie with a faulty outlook express. This means I can’t open any emails. This is the sort of thing that makes me so angry I want to throw my laptop at the nearest mountain, but instead I am going to try to stay zen and focus on t …

Summer is really here. I know this not just because it is extremely hot, but my house is full of children. In addition to the usual three I have my stepchildren Hugo and Julia here, along with Julia’s best friend Annabelle. My three-year-old son has ad …

I’ve never had it so good In my column last month, I argued that the only way to save France was to put some Brits in charge. This produced an extraordinarily large and rather critical mailbag. “Why don’t you go home to that wonderful utopia called Eng …

Home at last. Two things hit me as I walked onto my terrace; the sunshine and the sound of the cicadas. Both comforting sounds that mean heat. I am very happy to be home. My dog is alive and well, as is the cat. So far there are no nasty shocks in the …

So my Swedish fantasy has been fulfilled. This does not involve blond hunks or even meatballs; but my children playing in the Swedish woods and more importantly leaving the woods with dark blue mouths on account of eating too many blueberries. The weat …

After three days of trawling around various sights, museums and shops in Stockholm there is one clear winner. She has strange red hair, odd stockings and a monkey called Herr Nilsson. Yes, it’s Pippi Longstocking, who as far as I can see is the most en …

So, the journey started well. We had been driving for three minutes when Olivia announced she wanted to be sick. Once at Stockholm airport (which seemed like a lifetime later) we lost Leonardo. I had that awful pit-of-the-stomach fear that only losing …

Today is the last day of school. You would think the children would all be jolly happy and behave beautifully but no, this morning from the moment they woke up to the moment we left them in the care of their deliriously happy (I wonder why?) teachers, …

When I was a little girl I would spend hours hitting a tennis ball against a cement wall in a barn on the farm we lived. One of the few advantages of getting older is that I can now pay someone to hit a tennis ball back to me. I am sure that anyone who …

Yesterday I had the agony of watching Tim Henman almost lose at Wimbledon again. How many years have I been putting myself through this? And today there’s more to come as he goes into the second round. I have a vast pile of ironing and will steady my n …

Never mind globalisation; there is an even greater threat lurking. Sweden is on course for world domination. It is achieving this through subtle cultural infiltration at thousands of IKEA stores all over the world. You read it here first: the Viking sp …

In England the advertising slogan ‘go to work on an egg’ has been banned. Apparently an egg every morning is not a well-balanced enough diet. This morning we were late for school so Rupert gave Olivia an apricot for breakfast as she got in the car. “Yo …

When I was in London last I met Heathcliff’s wife. You may remember Heathcliff. He was the first love of my life and we were recently put in touch through a mutual friend. I have yet to see him again after more than 20 years but I have met the mother o …

In the film Amelie, each character is introduced with a list of what they hate and what they like. As I reversed the car up the drive today it occurred to me that the things we hate remain pretty much the same throughout our lives. For instance, ever s …

Today is Olivia’s birthday. She is eight. It is hard to believe that eight years ago today I was at the Crowborough birthing centre, lying in a tepid bath saying to my friend Doc “this really hurts.” Oh the naivety of first-time mothers who shun drugs. …

A beautiful young girl is raped, strangled with a bootlace and buried in a suitcase in a garden. This is not the act of some random psycho; the persecution and murder of this young woman was arranged and carried out by her own family. Twenty-year-old B …

Pity poor Paris Hilton. After three days in prison she is on the verge of a breakdown and has been sent home. You may think the reason for this breakdown had something to do with being incarcerated along with some pretty rough birds from downtown LA, o …

So Mother’s Day was good except that I got off at the wrong metro and then had to walk about two miles to the hotel. By the time I got there my feet hurt so I changed shoes to go walking in the Tuileries Gardens and then to the Virgin Megastore as I ne …

Today is Mother’s Day in France. All over the country responsible children will be taking their mothers and grandmothers out to lunch. It is the worst day of the year to try to get a table in your favourite restuarant. They are booked up weeks in advan …

I don’t know why I watched the football last night. Well, actually I do, it was because Beckham and Owen were playing and so it felt like the good old days when I used to enjoy football and England weren’t appallingly bad. You’ve got to hand it to Beck …

You have to wonder where our priorities have gone when two babies are left to die in over-heated cars by their “stressed” mothers in one week. We have all done stupid things. I once forgot I had three children shortly after Leo was born and almost left …

We had an unusual guest to stay as soon as Marguerite had packed her beret and headed off home. He is a laughter yoga coach called Jeffrey, whom I met on Laguna Beach (see blog in March). This is a man who spends most of his days laughing. The Laughter …

Olivia was home sick yesterday. She caught a cold by pouring cold water all over herself and then getting on the air-conditioned bus to come home after the school outing. I did tell her not to, but of course she took no notice. There are some days I fe …

An article in the Daily Mail today tells us that men are now too scared to flatter women or to flirt with them. Apparently in our PC times a compliment is all too easily seen as an insult. So a ‘you look nice today’ can be miscontrued as either ‘I want …

I have just come back from my friend Frank’s memorial service. It was the first memorial service I have ever been to, but I suppose from now on they will be as frequent as 21st birthday parties were twenty years ago. It was a moving and actually quite …

So it seems the Queen and I were in America at the same time. I wonder how different our visits have been. While I was recovering from a day of exhausting makeover treatments in my hotel room (actually I spent most of the evening trying to find a light …

So it’s all over for Sego. Even more disastrous than the hair-do is the news that Olivia is voting Sarko. On hearing this her godfather Jonathan, a keen Francophile who knows much more about these sorts of things than I do, pronounced Sego “yesterday’s …

So I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for my expert commentary on the Sego/Sarko debate last night (considering I am a prize-winning political commentator see Glass half empty or half full blog). Well here it is. Madame de Fontenay whom I interviewed for …

Here’s what I like about being home: Seeing the children Bea singing along to Mika as she falls asleep Olivia telling me she’s going to vote for Segolene Royal “because she’s a girl, do you want me to vote for a boy?” Telling Leo we can’t buy Batman sw …

It’s not often I am high at 8 o’clock in the morning, but our long journey home begins with a cab ride from Strawberry Hill to a small airport where we get a plane to Montego Bay to catch our Virgin (economy) flight. The driver is a rasta and the cab s …

Tomorrow we leave Jamaica. As I write I am sitting at Strawberry Hill (another one of Kate Moss’s hang-outs, does the woman do anything but travel to Jamaica?). I am on a terrace overlooking mountains that are slowly being covered in evening mist. I ha …

I have made an enemy more menacing than any Bond villain. His aim is not to take over the world, but to wake it up. He struts around the garden crowing at all hours. His most favourite crowing time seems to be 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am, 5am, 6am and then just …

On the way to paradise, otherwise known as Goldeneye, we were upgraded to Virgin Upper Class. I have never been upgraded before and was very excited. Rightly so it turns out. Flying first class is a different world. You have a dedicated slave to see th …

I have landed in Paradise. “Welcome to Goldeneye,” says a charming black woman dressed in white. “Here is the house cocktail, it’s just a little rum, fresh apple and lime. You’ll be staying in the Ian Fleming Villa. There is a private beach, pool, seve …

England is going to the dogs we hear. In fact it is one of the reasons we left. I couldn’t face a life surrounded by yobs, litter, child molesters and people who can’t speak English. The horrific news last week that a mother goaded her toddlers into wh …

I am at the airport on the first leg of my Jamaica trip. There is a mad woman next to me muttering to herself about her passport and where she might have put it. What is it about travelling that turns people into lunatics? For all I know she might be p …

They say that women of a certain age discover either God or gardening. What a choice. Why not fast cars or even faster men? Diamonds or sexy underwear? Lying around reading Elle eating chocolates all day and/or telephone sex with Colin Firth? For me I …

As I was doing my sun salutes this morning while swaying along to Mika, the new preferred album in the household which has knocked Take That off their number one spot after a record three months, my husband was recovering from a night of partying with …

I had always thought of myself as a glass half-full as opposed to half-empty type of person. Until yesterday morning. Yesterday morning a parcel arrived containing two large packets of things I had never heard of; one called a Pinnacle Studio Titanium …

It is Monday morning and as I start my stressful commute down the stairs to my office overlooking the pool, I am reminded of all those poor people stuck on trains, buses, tubes and trams. But I have a cunning plan to make their morning commute less pai …

I have finally worked out what it is that women don’t like about men. This revelation can be indirectly attributed to Leonardo who was found by a German at 11pm in the lobby of the hotel. “Please take better care of your children at this time,” read a …

The most distinguished Englishman to visit Zermatt was Edward Whymper, famous for being the first person to climb the Matterhorn. He made eight attempts to climb it, only succeeding when he realised he was about to be beaten by an Italian. He now lies …

We are in Zermatt on a skiing holiday with the children organised by a company called Powder Byrne. The concept is brilliant. They take your children away to places with lots of other children and people like a very nice man called Ed who like looking …

This morning was one of those mornings that make me even happier than I usually am that we moved here. For some reason the children were nice to me, and to each other. Even Max the cat was spared his normal morning tail-pulling from Leonardo. I took th …

It was one of those calls I’ll never forget. We were just finishing off lunch when my mobile phone rang. It was a UK mobile number. I wonder who this could be, I thought. But actually deep down I already knew. “Hi Helena, its Heathcliff.” We chatted fo …

According to yesterday’s Daily Mail Jemima Khan and Hugh Grant are back together. I’d like to give Ms Khan just one piece of advice. Never trust a man who has shoulders smaller than you do. When I was in LA recently I had the misfortune of seeing Hugh …

Apart from the pasta, the most exciting thing to happen to me in Monaco was almost being run over by Prince Albert. I was wandering up a little road towards the palace when a policeman shot round the corner on a motorbike and motioned to me to get out …

Last night I found what I have been dreaming about ever since I knew I was going to Monaco for an anti-ageing conference. A perfectly intimate, family-run Italian restaurant with more pasta on the menu than even I can eat. How sad is that? It reminds m …

If I’d known he was going to get him on the phone I might have prepared myself better. But just how do you prepare yourself for a conversation with someone you were madly in love with as a teenager and haven’t spoken to for over twenty years? No one ha …

I am pleased to report that unlike me, Olivia has fallen in love for the first time and he actually likes her too. The object of her affections is Quentin, brother of Maud, Leo’s girlfriend who apparently does love him after all (see Parental Truths Nu …

In the 1980s there was a group of young people who used out to hang out in the King’s Road trying to look cool. We went shopping, we went to clubs, we fell in and out of love. Evenings would start at Pucci Pizza, where we would gather to discuss where …

During my stay in LA I woke up one day to a disturbing message on my mobile phone. “I know you’re in America, Frith Powell, call me,” said a deep male voice. I didn’t recognise the voice and immediately feared the worst. “It’s already happened,” I thou …

Although some things in life are entirely predictable (like Air France losing my bag which did happen as I said it would) children are at times brilliantly unpredictable. As I stood waiting for my luggage which I already knew wouldn’t arrive Olivia bar …

I am getting ready to leave LA and head back home. I can’t wait to see them all, it seems I’ve been away for months. But there are things I will miss about LA. Driving around in my red convertible listening to 92.7 Jill FM for example. And just an asid …

You probably thought I couldn’t get any loonier, what with the smart-lipo, fake hair and convertible car. But this morning I find myself on a beach in southern California, running towards the sea, clapping my hands and mimicking a sea-lion. This kind o …

Those of you who have read my memoir Ciao Bella may recall that when I was 14 my father made an unusual bet with me. He bet me that a young man sitting at a table next to us in St Mark’s Square in Venice was American. I thought he looked Italian. “If h …

I am trying my best to fit in to LA life. I have rented a red convertible mustang, bought some gawdy gold shoes and even went to a Pilates class last night. My big hair and Smart-Lipo recovery corset also help. But still things are not quite right. The …

I think if I lived in LA I would never need to go to the movies (as we like to call them in downtown LA); I would just amuse myself watching people in the street. I only arrived four hours ago but I have seen more to make me laugh than you do in downto …

I haven’t even left France and already I’ve been through a turbulent landing (lots of green faces, including mine) a bomb scare at Charles de Gaulle airport (possibly the most unpleasant place on earth apart from Abu Ghraib) and an hour and a half dela …

Ever since I wrote the blog about the woman with the nasty neck I have been thinking about what other films would be in my top ten. Then the Oscars came and went and now I’m off to LA so a film-themed blog seems appropriate. One thing that strikes me i …

The other night when Rupert was away and the two smaller children were in bed, Olivia (aged seven) and I had what people rather nauseatingly call “quality” time together. We sat in a rose-oil scented bath, both wearing shower caps, and discussed life’s …

I know now why surgeons wear green. It’s to match their faces. I have just got back from “scrubbing in” as they call it in Grey’s Anatomy. I am at the La Prairie Clinic just outside Montreux researching my next book and having a perfect time. This plac …

This is a new series, and I’m sorry if I’m boring those of you without children but one day you may have them or you will at least know someone who does have them and so you can warn them. If you don’t I’m sure the same applies to pets. The other day i …

This evening we were having a late dinner alone (the children had already eaten) when Olivia came rushing into the kitchen. “Please come downstairs and watch the film with us, it’s scary, there’s an evil man on the roof.” The film she was talking about …

I am just finishing off my truffle omelette (like you do) when I get a call from a charming young journalism student. As part of her final year project she is publishing a Swedish newspaper. She has read my articles in the Mail, knows I am half-Swedish …

Yesterday I spent the day in Toulouse with Denise Epstein, the daughter of Irene Nemirovsky (see ‘We’ve never had it so good’ blog below). Ever since I heard about Irene being carted off Auschwitz in front of her two daughters and read her brilliant bo …

I am at Stansted Airport, a strange place to be at 4.30 am but my flight leaves at 6 am. Yesterday I had one of those days that make me wonder why we ever left England. I went for a long walk first thing in the morning, watched the mist rise over the s …

….you can’t take the flu away from the girl. So here I am in London. Yesterday was a great day and further to my report (see blog below on Blighty) I can safely say that at least viewed from central London Britain is a very nice place to be. The sun …

Olivia is at home ill and watching Grey’s Anatomy. There is a girl in the episode she’s watching who suffers from spontaneous orgasms (sounds better than flu). Olivia has just asked me what’s wrong with her. “She keeps having sort of, well, fits,” I te …

Two days ago Olivia said to me; “Mummy, you’re never ill.” Well, now I am. I feel like death. My head hurts, my throat hurts, in fact my whole body hurts. I am constantly coughing and sneezing. My husband has had the same thing and now two of the three …

A survey out today by a US magazine called International Living places Britain at number 37 in the world of best countries to live. We share this dubious honour with Greece, Ecuador, Cyprus, Iceland and Lithuania. Apart from Greece I have never been to …

I am reading Suite Francaise at the moment, as good a book as I have ever read. It is about France during the second-world war, written by Irene Nemirovsky, a Russian-Jew who lived in France and was carted off to Auschwitz in front of her two daughters …

Carrying on the lust theme, I heard an interesting definition of sex as we drove home from our weekend in Uzes on Sunday. Bea (pictured left) was busy telling Olivia that she had had sex with her best friend Manon. As you can imagine, I stopped map-rea …

I am meant to be working but instead am watching Marat Safin in the Australian Open. I am praying he will win. I have long been a fan of Safin’s. This is not surprising as he is tall, well-built, good-looking and Russian (what’s not to like?), although …

David Beckham has signed a deal to play football in the US. As you would expect it’s worth a lot of money ($275 million over five years). Posh Spice of course is delighted. With her fake tits and skinny body she’ll fit in extremely well with the rest o …

With a Swedish mother, Italian father, English husband and a home in France, Helena Frith Powell wonders which traditions to follow for her family Christmas   I have been recently reunited with my father, and my parents are coming to our house in …

The new high-speed rail link will bring many places on the Continent within easy reach of British buyers, says Helena Frith Powell   The day before I was due to take the train back to my home in France during a visit to London, my husband called t …

Napoleon was wrong. It is the French who are a nation of shopkeepers, not the English. Here in France there are specific shops for every item; here one doesn’t live in Tescoland. You would as soon buy your beef from the supermarket as your lingerie. Th …

It is said of the French that they’re interested in only two things: food and sex. Every Thursday night in May Galeries Lafayette, Paris’s most famous department store, is combining these two obsessions in an evening of shopping and seduction. I go alo …

Has France fallen in love with a new mistress? It very much looks like that from and not just because the readers of France’s FHM have voted Ségolène Royal the sixth sexiest woman in the world. Ségolène Royal looks likely not only to be the first femal …

It was as close to a blind date as I have ever got. But instead of an expensive agency or a well-meaning friend organising it, I was being set up by SNCF. The French state-owned railway company has introduced an online service to help you meet a friend …

A report published last week by the Institute for Public Policy Research states that Britain is suffering from a baby gap of 92,000 babies a year as women put off having children because of the rising cost of childcare. Six years ago my husband and I w …

There has been much discussion about the best formation – some favour a 2-2-3, others think we should operate with a lone striker. There has also been much debate about the tactics – do we begin slowly or set a blistering pace that the others can’t mat …

Imagine a country where it is dark for most of the year. Think of a place where the snow is so deep you can’t leave home without a snow-plough. Envisage somewhere so cold that if you go out with wet hair it freezes and breaks off. And a glass of beer c …

CIAO BELLA: In Search of My Italian Father by Helena Frith Powell Gibson Square £14.99 Frith Powell knew virtually nothing of her Italian father, the fruitily named Benedetto Benedetti, until he suddenly appeared in her life when she was 14. Speeding a …

Sun-worshipper? Nightclubber? Want to get away from it all — and from other Brits? Helena Frith Powell of The Sunday Times advises which area could be the right place for you to buy So you want a house in France. But where? One of the toughest decision …

  Helena Frith Powell never knew her eccentric Italian father, Benedetto Benedetti, when she was growing up.Her mother left him – and Italy – for a man who was to become Helena’s stepfather when she was just three years old. But when Helena was 14 …

At first Helena Frith Powell was stunned by her estranged father’s open attitude to sex, then she learnt to appreciate it “Testicles,” replied my father. “Oh yes, and I suppose there are breasts for pudding?” “If you wish, my dear, I know a very good l …

Helena Frith Powell October 22 2006, 1:00am, The Sunday Times Nyamko Sabuni, 37, has caused a storm as Sweden’s new integration and equality minister by arguing that all girls should be checked for evidence of female circumcision; arranged marriages sh …

She’s 52, a mother of four, and possibly the next president of France. Helena Frith Powell analyses the allure of Ségolène Royal In France, being over 50 is no excuse not to be sexy and Ségolène Royal – tipped by some to be the first female president o …

Helena Frith Powell looks for a bargain in the Touraine, where property prices are set to rise thanks to a new motorway link   When the Foreign Office wants to teach its diplomats to speak French properly, it sends them to Tours. This well-spoken …

France may be saturated with Brit-owned B&Bs, but it’s still possible to buy a cheap guesthouse in Italy, finds Helena Frith Powell of The Sunday Times   It’s fun to live in the sun but hard to make a living. One option is to run a B&B. In …

While Ile de Ré’s house prices reflect its film-star status, neighbouring islands offer more for your money, says Helena Frith Powell of The Sunday Times   When the English move to get away from it all they go to France. When the French want to do …

Thousands of British homebuyers head to both countries — but where is the best place to buy property? Home’s own resident experts, our French Mistress, Helena Frith Powell, and Spanish Property Doctor, Mark Stucklin, slug it out   The welcome you …

They have realised their dream of living in France. But many UK expats are determined to create a little Britain once they’re there   As thousands of people flock to London’s Olympia at the end of this week for the annual Vive La France exhibition …

Still largely undiscovered, Limousin is France’s cheapest region. But househunting Brits are already arriving, says Helena Frith Powell of The Sunday Times There is a French verb, limoger, which means to send somebody to a godforsaken place, and that m …

When she realised the full extent of the love affair between French women and their very expensive underwear Helena Frith Powell was astonished. Then she was seduced We spend the rest of the journey talking. B, as I will call him, tells me he is an MP …

Francophiles find the southwest has rural charm and falling prices, says Helena Frith Powell What do you do when there are no more stone houses left to buy in the Dordogne? You go across the border to the Lot. The countryside is just as lovely: lush gr …

French women eclipse all as the epitome of female perfection, but they work so hard at it they’’re no fun. For that you need British girls, says Helena Frith Powell   But it is not only French-women’s famed chic that sets them apart from the rest …

If you need to fund your move to France, you might try starting your own business. Helena Frith Powell of The Sunday Times meets Brits who have survived the red tape involved in the simplest start-ups   When Olivier Lesault went to the Béziers Cha …

It has unspoilt expanses of countryside, elegant boulevards in the capital city – and ridiculously low prices. It’s no wonder British buyers are falling for Argentina, writes Helena Frith Powell Martin Birch first set eyes on Argentina 15 years ago and …

Powell Most of us have dreamt of it — Frith Powell has actually done it: packed up her husband and assorted children and decamped to France. We already know it’s not as easy as it looks from Peter Mayle and his chums. Frith Powell keeps it real, with d …

Dreaming of starting a new life in France? Don’t leave home without carefully considering Helena Frith Powell’s top tips for a pain-free transition When I moved to France four years ago I spoke no French, knew little about the country and had no guaran …

Property finders say they can take the hassle out of finding the right place to buy abroad. Helena Frith Powell of The Sunday Times explains what you get for your money   Paul and Sarah Skitmore contacted Barbara Wood, who runs The Property Finder …

A decade ago there were barely any Brits in the pretty villages around the city, but now you can buy Branston Pickle in the local shops and house prices are booming, says Helena Frith Powell of The Sunday Times   When Jill Allcroft moved to a vill …

It is easy enough to get to the Languedoc. All you have to do is follow the Rhône river south and once you reach the Mediterranean, turn right. The mystery is that for generations people have been turning left, towards the Riviera and Italy. But over t …

These women believe they have found a way… Helena Frith Powell We were sitting in a restaurant on the Mediterranean last summer enjoying a glass of chilled rosé when I put the question. “How about another child?” I asked. “I’d rather have another bot …

What’s the attraction of the Beckhams’ French holiday hideaway? And will their choice affect property prices in the Var? by Helena Frith Powell  The news that the Beckhams are buying a £1.5m home in the Var region of France sent most of the British pre …