Monday, May 30, 2016

EVENT UPDATE : PENNY BROHN LONG TABLE LUNCH .. MAY 2016

Joan's video message in tribute to Jackie
Penny Brohn UK’s Ladies’ Long Table Lunch held at the charity’s headquarters in Chapel Pill Lane, raises £50,000
Joan Collins gave a video message during the long table lunch after her sister, Jackie, named Penny Brohn UK as a beneficiary following her death last year.
Emma Smith, co-organiser of the event, said: “It was brilliant with more than 380 attendees, feedback was extremely positive and the amount raised exceeded all expectations, we’re looking to host similar events next year.”
Tara Newley visits the Penny Brohn National Centre in Bristol
For more information about Penny Brohn UK, click here

Sunday, May 29, 2016

TV ALERT : THE BRITISH SOAP AWARDS 2016 .. ITV1 & UTV IRELAND .. 8.00PM SUNDAY MAY 29TH 2016

Don't forget to tune into The British Soap Awards 2016 on ITV1 & UTV Ireland at 8pm which features a special appearance by Joan, as she presents best soap! Can you guess who won! 
Joan told the audience...
''It is a real, real honour to be here because having worked on a few soaps myself, I really know not only how hard you work, but how truly talented you all are.
And I also know how difficult it is to be able to turn on the waterworks at the drop of a hat, and most of you do that so brilliantly, so it's really, really impressive.''
– DAME JOAN COLLINS, SPEAKING AT THE BRITISH SOAP AWARDS

Saturday, May 28, 2016

ON THE COVER : DAILY MAIL WEEKEND MAGAZINE .. MAY 29TH 2016

Get today's issue of The Mail, which includes Weekend magazine featuring a sensational cover featuring Joan with an interview by David Wigg inside..

PRESS UPDATE : DAILY MAIL.. MAY 28TH 2016 ..

'This tiny island will sink with so many people':  Dame Joan Collins reveals why she's backing Brexit

  • Joan Collins says she thinks that Britain has become overcrowded 
  • Here she explains why she thinks we should leave the EU 
  • Joan caemos in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie is out on 1 July
Dame Joan Collins has just returned from a whirlwind 26,000-mile journey around the world. She took in Los Angeles, New York and Miami, the Caribbean island of St Barts, then Chile’s capital Santiago, where she opened a 1980's fashion museum, before flying on to Australia. 
She also fitted in a visit to Peru, where for the first time she met the extended family of her husband Percy Gibson, who was born there. 
‘I’d never met them,’ she says, ‘and after 16 years together it was important for me to do that. I had a bet with Percy that I could travel with no more than three suitcases, which is not a lot for me. But I did it, so I won.’
Joan Collins says she thinks that Britain has become overcrowded and wants us to leave the EU
Joan Collins says she thinks that Britain has become overcrowded and wants us to leave the EU
She describes herself as a gypsy. ‘I can’t stay in one place for long. I just can’t. I have to move around. I think it’s because when I was a child during the war I was moved around constantly to avoid the Blitz and went to 13 schools. 
'I’d just get used to one school and then I was moved back to London. Then the bombing would start again and off I’d go. It was literally Brighton, Bognor, Chichester, Norfolk, Ilfracombe – those are just the ones I remember. 
'I was all over the place. So I think my restlessness became ingrained in me. In my last book, Passion For Life, I wrote a chapter about the different houses I have, and as a child I pretended I had four houses all over the world.’
Now she really does, of course. For the moment though, she’s back home in London’s Belgravia – her proper home, she points out, in spite of having places in LA and New York and a villa in the South of France – and we meet for a very English lunch in that most English of hotels, Claridge’s, where she and Percy married 14 years ago. 
Joan with her beloved sister Jackie (in 2009) before her death in September last year
Joan with her beloved sister Jackie (in 2009) before her death in September last year
All eyes are on her as she makes her way to the discreet corner table the management always reserves for her. People imagine she’s tall from her screen appearances, but in fact she’s 5ft 5in, her stilettos adding a further three inches.
Joan is soon re-living a particularly sad part of her trip. She and Percy spent four days in LA mostly seeing Tiffany, Tracy and Rory, the grown-up children of her sister Jackie, the novelist, who died  last September from breast cancer. 
‘It’s been terrible for all of us but they’re doing better now and we have to learn to live with it.’ One of the reasons she wanted to visit Miami was because she was thinking of leaving LA as it held too many sad memories of Jackie. 
‘Wasn’t she so much fun? LA is so synonymous with Jackie, even though I’d spent so much of my working life there, making movies and filming Dynasty. But in the past ten or 12 years, whenever we were there we’d see Jackie maybe five times a week. So you know, you have immediate gut reactions when somebody dies.’
Her large green eyes cloud over as she speaks of the void she feels. ‘The more I think about it the sadder I get. But Tiffany and Tracy found something the other day that Jackie had been talking about for years: stories we used to write about teenagers in the 1950s, when we were young ourselves. Jackie said she’d been looking for them. 
'It’s three books written in Jackie’s handwriting, with 40 or 50 characters illustrated by me. I originally wanted to be a fashion designer, so I did the fashion and she had the most amazing writing gift. She started at 11 or 12 and she could tell these incredible stories. She’d never been to America or France, but she wrote about those places as if she had. We’re thinking of maybe having them published.’
After she died, Tiffany, Tracy and Rory gave Joan some personal mementos they felt their mother would have wished her to have. Joan’s also using two Chanel bags that Jackie gave her. ‘Actually she gave me many Chanel bags. She would always give me one for my birthday.’ She reflects for a moment. 
‘I find that when you lose someone so close it gives you a wake-up call about your own life. You realise, “Don’t waste any time. Do what you want to do.” Percy and I now want to travel more and go to places we wouldn’t normally see.’
Joan had no idea Jackie had breast cancer until almost the end. ‘But I used to nag her about getting mammograms as our darling mother Elsa had succumbed to breast cancer in 1962 when she was in her early 50s. 
 I find that when you lose someone so close it gives you a wake-up call about your own life
'I had regular check-ups, religiously, but Jackie refused because she didn’t like going to the doctor. We were so close and I loved her so much. I know Jackie would want me to be strong, but it’s hard to lose somebody so loving. I was extremely upset for a long time. But you have to live with it because we’re all going there. If we’re lucky enough we can keep going until we reach a great age.
‘Look at Prince Philip. He’s about to turn 95. It’s extraordinary. And the Queen. How fabulous is she? She’s 90 but she does things women of 50 can’t do. Standing on her feet for hours, shaking hands with everybody. 
'She’s a great example to us all.’ Joan recalls spotting in the Daily Mail that Lady Killearn, who died last October, had lived to l05. ‘I wonder what her secret was?’ she says. ‘Probably six tots of whisky a day!’
Joan was at the Palace last year to collect her Damehood from Prince Charles, and she wants to make one thing clear: she’s not a tax exile, and there’s no money secreted in offshore funds. 
‘A lot of people think I don’t live in England. But I pay my taxes in the UK and I’ve never taken anything out. I paid my National Insurance from 1950, when I was 17 and started working in films, and only stopped paying it 25 or 30 films later when I went to do Dynasty in the 80s because I took out private health insurance in the States. 
'I don’t qualify for a state pension though. I know many people who have a great deal of money and also get a pension from the Government. They shouldn’t. I don’t think I should either.’
Joan and her husband Percy Gibson in February 2015 
Joan and her husband Percy Gibson in February 2015 
In spite of earning millions, Joan didn’t invest in a private pension. ‘No, no, no. My whole financial affairs are confusing. Percy’s brilliant with the money. He looks after the houses and runs our life.’ However, she’s in the driving seat when it comes to politics. 
'Joan has strong views and isn’t shy about expressing them, and now she’s weighing into the EU Referendum debate, tweeting the word Brexit together with three Union Jacks, a thumbs up sign and a heart. 
‘Yes, I do feel we should leave,’ she says of the EU. ‘I think we want our sovereignty and we want to make our own laws. This country is very different from the country I grew up in. I’ve seen a big change. This is a tiny island. There are too many people coming in and we’re going to sink into the sea with so many people.
‘I remember walking down Oxford Street when I was four or five and there were quite a lot of people, but today you can’t move. It’s too many people and I don’t see how this country can afford it. One of the reasons for quitting the European Union is that we give them £350 million a week, which adds up to several billion a year. Think of how many schools and hospitals we could fund with that money. And where is all the housing coming from?’
But with her inherent zest for life, Joan’s also brimming with optimism. ‘Don’t look back. You know, carpe diem, seize the day. I try to make every day count. You achieve something and you enjoy something.’ 
 I think we want our sovereignty and we want to make our own laws
She’s preparing for her four-month holiday at her luxurious villa in the hills of St Tropez, the setting for her latest novel The St Tropez Lonely Hearts Club, every word of which was written by hand as she hasn’t mastered a keyboard. 
It’s a thriller with several murders that ‘captures the sheer decadence of St Tropez’ says Joan, and features a handsome gigolo named Fabrizio. ‘He’s so naughty he goes round trying to bonk everybody, but underneath you like him because he’s such an idiot.’
One intriguing character is Sophie Silvestri, an ageing 60s sex goddess who hates anybody young. Did Joan base her on any actress she met when she was a film starlet? ‘There were certain actresses I worked with who were very unkind to young people, particularly young pretty girls,’ she recalls. 
‘I was one of Bette Davis’s ladies-in-waiting in The Virgin Queen with six other beautiful girls, all between 18 and 20, and she didn’t like us at all. She was quite mean to us and told us to get out of her way. But then she was mean to everybody. She wasn’t a particularly nice person. 
'Joan Crawford was the same. There are a lot of actresses who resent getting old and resent the younger actresses coming up. I’m not like that. I’ve always tried to be as friendly as possible to everybody I work with.’
When Joan arrived in Hollywood, Marilyn Monroe warned her to look out for the ‘wolves’. So how did she handle the casting couch? 
‘I just said “No!”’ she says emphatically. ‘Because obviously as I was young it was fun to go out on dates to all the fabulous restaurants. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you wanted to go to bed with the guy. Yes, some of them became extremely pushy. But I have to say it’s not just Hollywood, it’s everywhere. It still goes on.’
When the part of a young English girl in Of Human Bondage came up, Joan went to see the producer at his home, which was also his office, in New York. 
Joan as Alexis in Dynasty 
Joan as Alexis in Dynasty 
‘The secretary sent me in and he was lying naked in a bathtub. He said, “Why don’t you jump in?” I was trying not to look at what was in the bath as he was talking to me. He asked, “How old are you?” I said, “I’m 25.” He said, “25? That’s not young in Hollywood any more.” 
'I looked at him and I thought he was 50 if he was a day. He got more and more outrageous, really. Finally I said, “I’ve really got to go. I have to meet my boyfriend Warren Beatty.” He said, “Who’s that?” I said, “He’s a young actor making his debut on Broadway.” He then said, “Why are you wasting your time on young men?” 
'And again he asked me, ‘Are you sure you don’t want to come in?” I said, “No thank you” and rushed out. I remember walking along the street almost crying. I was so offended. I knew I wasn’t going to get the role because I rejected him. Kim Novak got it, and Kim’s as American as apple pie, you know.
‘But I’m not bitter about any of this. These were experiences many girls had. When I was doing my first movie at Ealing Studios the wardrobe department had to hide me in cupboards because some of the producers would try to grab me. I’d taken a lift home with them a couple of times, but they were like octopuses, hands all over. So the wardrobe people used to hide me then I would get on the Tube. Yes, I used to get the Tube and the bus. Of course, I don’t do it now. I think it’s changed a bit.’
Joan had been prepared for such encounters by her parents. Her father, a showbusiness agent, warned her from a young age what could happen. ‘He just said, “Beware.” Mummy used to say, “Men, they’re only after one thing,” so I had it in the back of my mind, and I wasn’t about to sell out.’ 
She arrived in Hollywood as its golden era was on the wane, but soon learned how important it was to dress like a star. She was given make-up tips by Monroe’s make-up man and she’s never forgotten them. 
‘Most of today’s actresses don’t know how to do their own make-up and hair. Elizabeth Taylor, Natalie Wood, Sophia Loren, we all did our own. Now somebody like Julia Roberts wouldn’t have a clue how to do it. And also, the way the world is today, actors and actresses want to look the same as everybody else. They don’t want to stand out.
‘I love glamorous women. There were so many in Hollywood. They cared about the way they looked. I enjoy being a woman, I like looking good. I like wearing nice clothes. Why do you think so many men are trying to become women? Because it’s fun being a woman!’
She’s preparing for her one-woman show, Joan Collins Unscripted, which Percy is producing. It will tour the UK in the autumn with a night at the London Palladium on 30 September. And soon she’ll be seen in the new Absolutely Fabulous film in a cameo. She plays a woman relaxing by a pool in the South of France who has a confrontation with a group of French policemen. ‘I have to wear a ridiculous dressing gown!’
But whatever she does, by her side, as always, is Percy, making sure life’s running smoothly. Percy is her fifth husband and they’ve been married for 14 years – her longest marriage. ‘It’s a total love match, but also a friends match,’ she says. 
‘We simply love being with each other. We laugh at the same things. He makes the children laugh. And we have separate bathrooms, which is very important. We’re always together.’ 
Percy gets teased about being a toyboy, but Joan says the joke has run its course. ‘I think it’s terribly insulting to call somebody a toyboy at 50,’ she says. ‘Even at 40, quite frankly. A toyboy is somebody in their 20s.’
Percy confesses he has trouble keeping up with his wife’s energy and drive, but Joan insists retiring isn’t on her agenda. ‘I don’t feel any different from when I was 40, to be honest,’ she says. ‘You’ve got to keep working. I intend to go on until I drop.’ n
The St Tropez Lonely Hearts Club is out now in paperback (Constable). Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie is out on 1 July. Joan’s tour starts on 9 September, see joancollins.com. Her make-up range Joan Collins Timeless Beauty is at M&S and M&S online.

Friday, May 27, 2016

ON THE COVER : SORBET MAGAZINE .. SUMMER 2016 ..


When it comes to ultra glamorous, nobody does it better than Joan, and here is the proof on this sensational cover for the latest issue of top independent Dubai based 'Sorbet' magazine.. Out now! 

EVENT UPDATE : THE SHOOTING STAR CHASE CHILDREN'S HOSPICE AFTERNOON TEA.. THE DORCHESTER .. MAY 27TH 2016 ..

Joan spent a lovely afternoon at The Dorchester for the Annual Afternoon Tea for Shooting Star Chase Children's Hospices, a charity she works tirelessly for to raise much needed funds.. Also in attendance were Simon Cowell, Katie Price and Samantha Bond.

PHOTO FLASHBACK : DYNASTY THE REUNION .. 1991 ..

Joan appears in this still from 'Dynasty The Reunion' with Jerome Krabbe..

Thursday, May 26, 2016

PHOTO FLASHBACK : EVERYONE RALLY'S ROUND LEO!

Joan has a meeting with director Leo McCarey on the set of the Fox comedy 'Rally Round The Flag Boys' with co-stars Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward..

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

PRESS UPDATE : GOOD HOUSEKEEPING .. JUNE 2016 ..

JOAN COLLINS REVEALS HER BEAUTY SECRETS

Dame Joan on staying stylish..
With a new novel out – the St Tropez Lonely Hearts Club - and currently hard at work preparing her new one-woman show, she tells Good Housekeeping how she maintains her signature style.
 
I do my own make-up – and it never takes me more than 20 minutes. The first time I was made up professionally I was 17 and the make-up artist was  an extremely old man who spat in the mascara… After that, I learned to do it myself.
 
I always do a smoky eye, which gets smokier as the day goes on. But really it’s because I don’t like wearing much mascara. I hate jeans – I’m famous for that – but I also don’t like mascara.
For travelling I l always wear layers –a tank, a sweater and a jacket plus espadrilles with a slight heel that I buy in the South of France. On the plane I change into my M&S cashmere jumpsuit.
 
Fashion is rather scary these days – I took a trip around Harrods and the most expensive things were the most bizarre. I think the High Street – H&M, Zara, M&S – are the ones getting it right these days.
 
The actresses whose looks I admire are from the 40s and 50s Ava Gardner, Hedy Lamarr, Vivien Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor. I loved the 90s Supermodels too like Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell.  Many actresses today look a bit bland. They all have stylists now and with that there’s a risk of looking like everyone else.

When I was under contract at Fox, we didn’t have stylists. We wore our own clothes and did our own hair and make-up on shoots. We had to learn how to pull ourselves together.
 
As soon as I wake-up, even before I get my coffee I immediately put oil on my face. Then, if I’m going to stay in I will put on moisturizer three or four times during the day and I won’t wear any make-up - except lipstick. If I’m going out I wash my face with water and sometimes put ice-packs on if I had a late night.
 
At night I take all my make-up off with Kleenex and the Scrupulous Cleanser from my Timeless Beauty range – or Nivea if I have run out - then put on a ton of my Sleep Active night cream. If I wake-up in the might I put on more.
I grew up in an era of austerity. We didn’t have junk food. We were given cod liver oil every day and had to eat our greens. It’s sad to me to see older women getting heavy and losing their joie de vivire.
 
Joan’s Collins Timeless Beauty range is available at selected Marks & Spencer stores, nationwide

Monday, May 23, 2016

EVENT UPDATE : VOGUE 100 CENTENARY GALA DINNER .. KENSINGTON GARDENS LONDON .. MAY 23RD 2016

Joan celebrated her birthday in style as guest at Vogue Magazines 100 Centenary Gala Dinner held at Kensington Gardens earlier.. Joan looked sensational in gold at the high profile event...

PHOTO FLASHBACK : HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOAN!

This fabulous portrait was used for the Franklin Mint limited edition jewelry line in the 90's.. Hope Joan has a wonderful birthday today.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Sunday, May 22, 2016

PRESS UPDATE : GRAZIA DAILY .. MAY 18TH 2016 ..

13 Life Rules Dame Joan Collins Swears By

It’s not every day you’re invited to a lunch at Claridges with Dame Joan Collins, but that’s exactly where our Associate Beauty Editor, Sam Freedman, was casually summoned last week.

After a drink or two at the Fumoir Bar, the very glamourous 82 year-old Collins strutted in wearing a graphic self-designed tight-fitting dress, a wide-brimmed hat and killer heels.
After a short introduction to one another, Dame Joan exclaimed, 'Oh I love Grazia, I get that one delivered', we then sat down to commence the Q&A, followed by a three course lunch. Don’t mind us!
But what does Dame Joan talk about during meal-time, you ask? We found out...

1. M&S food and lingerie are the best…

'I get my food there, and their lingerie department is just the best. The stockings I’m wearing right now are from M&S.'

2. 'Everything in my make-up range…

Was inspired by what I’ve been using since I was 17 years-old. It’s been four years in the making, so I’ve really got it right.'

3. Soap and water is a no, no…

'Never use the two on your face… ever, it’s okay to use mineral soap on your body, but never on your face.'

4. Never be a sun bunny…

'I used to fry myself in the sun - ever since I was 18 in the South of France, I’d turn a mahogany colour using a combination of baby oil and iodine. But the second I went to Hollywood I met my mentor who told me I’d be a crocodile if I carried on sitting in the sun.'

5. Always wear make-up, wherever you go…

I don’t leave the house without it!

6. Big hats are essential…

'I don’t ever use my hair dryer, I do own one but it’s extremely dusty I have to admit. I never do my own hair, instead I wear hats. They also double up and protect my face from the sun.'

7. 'I never go out without…

My powder and lipstick compact (£34), it’s always in my handbag. I use the powder to combat shine, especially when the paparazzi are about, and the lipstick is a must. I can get ready in four-minutes with this with me.' (Dame Joan's favourite shade is 'Helene.')

8. 'My travelling wardrobe includes…

Espadrilles, layers- I always wear lots of layers so a tank top, sweater and a scarf, M&S cashmere is my favourite and always cosy on the plane.'

9. 'The woman I find most attractive…

Are Liz Taylor and Dita Von Teese, mainly because they wear a lot of make-up, I love their individualism and style.'

10. 'My best beauty tip…

Is to blot under your eyes using the side of your finger, it’s ideal for blotting off too much make-up that can creep into any lines around your eyes.'

11. 'My beauty hates are…

Woman that wear blue eyeshadow, lip liner that’s a lot darker than the lipstick, too much contouring and over-plucked eye brows. There is just nothing worse.'

12. 'If I have a late night…

I’ll sit with ice packs over my eyes, I did that the other night when I got in at 12am. Also if I wake up in the night I reapply my night cream.'

13. 'My late night watch is…

The Night Manager, I loved that, and now I’m really into Billions.'
Joan Collins Timeless Beauty is available at select Marks & Spencer stores nationwide and fromjoancollinsbeauty.com

Saturday, May 21, 2016

PRESS UPDATE : THEATRE & PERFORMANCE MAGAZINE .. ISSUE 14 ..

Joan appears on the cover of the latest issue of 'Theatre & Performance' magazine which includes my article on her life and career.. Here is an exclusive look at the article!



Friday, May 20, 2016

PRESS UPDATE : THE SPECTATOR .. MAY 20TH 2016 ..

DIARY

Joan Collins: The celebrity trend I just can’t stand

Not only are today’s young girls having to work hard on their abs, butts and glutes, now the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Kim Kardashian are instructing the poor lambs in the art of keeping their ‘lady garden’ in mint condition. Subject to the approval of their best mates, apparently, the formerly taboo subject of ‘down south’ is now open for discussion. Some celebs now cultivate, manicure and moisturise the ‘no-fly zone’ with as much effort as they put into their faces. Whatever next? Will Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt suddenly inform all studs how to take care of their gentleman’s gentleman?
I’ve been on Twitter for four years now but only have a paltry 150,000 followers, perhaps because I keep away from controversy. Until last week, that is, when I started posting a series of photos of the massive puddle that had formed in the road right outside my London residence and which then refused to go away even when the sun shone at its fiercest. I took pictures of the puddle and my shoes (or, as the tabloids say, ‘designer footwear’) on the pavement, to show the extent of the problem. Eventually, I received a sympathetic message from Westminster City Council explaining they had ‘carried out an assessment’ but that to dig up the road and take a closer look would ‘carry significant cost implications’.
Puddlegate (Photo: Joan Collins)
I appreciated the council’s thoughtfulness as well as the kindness of taxi drivers who made every effort to park as close to the pavement as possible. One extremely solicitous cabbie even flaunted all ‘elf’n’safety’ and mounted the kerb, since there is construction on one side of my building obstructing practically the entire pavement and a dusty BMW with diplomatic plates semi-permanently parked on the other. But I also received a torrent of abuse and nasty tweets advising to me to ‘get over it’, ‘wear wellies’ and even one ‘go back to where you came from’ — which, considering I’m from London, left me wondering where he meant. In the meantime, I have become adept at circumventing the puddle with great dexterity. My puddle is keeping me fit.
Although I’m much-travelled, I had never been to Peru, the land of my husband’s birth. Since we tied the knot 14 years ago, Percy and I had planned to go several times but never managed it, so I was delighted we could spend several days in Lima on our way to Sydney via Santiago, Chile. Percy had filled me in on the beauty of his country and the abundance of gorgeous foliage. However, as we drove down the main drag of Javier Prado, I couldn’t see the trees for the wood. Because impaled on every tree, fence and lamppost were vast posters of politicians vying to become the next MP, representative, councillor or God knows what else. The sheer volume of rival candidates made our local elections the other week look positively restrained. But meeting Percy’s family and friends was sheer joy. Their generous hospitality was boundless. Every day there were luscious lunches lasting four or five hours, which segued into equally wonderful dinners thrown by Percy’s seemingly endless parade of bountiful friends. It’s a wonder they get any work done.
The culmination of our stay was visiting Calle Percy Gibson — a street named after Percy’s grandfather, a famous poet, and not, as scurrilous wags have said, named after Percy for his having married me. It was a marvellous trip but, oh, my waistline will never recover.
In Santiago I was guest of honour at the magnificent Museo de la Moda for their inaugural exhibition celebrating fashions of the 1980s. Several of my costumes from Dynasty were on display. Ruefully, I realised there was no way I could fit into any of them, especially after my Peruvian feasts. I admired several of Princess Diana’s gowns, which were stored in the basement of the museum in carefully controlled conditions. There were also costumes dating back as far as the 16th century. I was amazed at the measurements of these tiny clothes — about the dimensions of today’s ten-year-olds.
Arriving in Sydney after a 15-hour trip from Santiago I was so jet-lagged I could barely move for 48 hours, let alone unpack. I had a bet with Percy that I couldn’t fit enough clothes for this nine-week trip, which included events and functions across a variety of geography and temperatures (including also St Barts, Miami, LA and NY), into three suitcases. As I modestly admit to being one of the world’s champion packers, alongside Elizabeth Taylor, Victoria Beckham and the Duchess of Windsor, it was a high-stakes bet, but I nevertheless emerged victorious.
Joan Collins’s The St Tropez Lonely Hearts Club is now in paperback.