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The Princess of Wales makes a case for winter dopamine dressing

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Hearst Editorial

And I think Keira Knightley and Angus would get on like a house on fire. Could be a romance there. Because that's what we should do more often in life is laugh, isn't it? Oh, I quite like this one. It's got "Good Housekeeping Institute" on it, but then there's one with dogs on it, too. That wee guy Looks like Angus. He's my little dog. Right, I do love a cup of tea. There's nothing quite like it. What have we got here? We've got Earl Grey green tea. Ooh, normal builder's tea for me. I do like quite strong tea, actually, so I'm going to pop that in there. I just like it with milk. I don't put sugar in it. I like strong tea and I'll just let that sort of... There. Made a bit of a mess, but never mind, it's fine. And we'll just do that. And I'll let that brew away and I've got an array of biscuits. They all look great. Is that Ginger Snaps? Oh, it is. I love them. I like to dunk. They are fabulous and you can dunk them and they taste even better when you pop them in your tea. The only trouble is, I can't just eat one. Got to eat the whole packet. Oh, fantastic. Great stuff. I'm going to leave the tea bag in, actually. Oh, that's a good cup of tea. Lovely cup of tea. I would say my daughter Rosie, she is the best baker ever. She makes the most fantastic cakes. So what I would do, is I would get Rosie to make the cake and then I would pretend to Mary that I'd made it myself. Oh, who would I trust? I think I would trust Ulrika to redesign my home. Ulrika has got impeccable taste. Her house is absolutely beautiful. It's very as you'd imagine, because you know obviously Ulrika is Swedish. It's got those lovely sort of beautiful lines and it's quite... It's minimalist but it's still also comfortable. I think she would do an amazing job. It would look gorgeous. If I needed somebody to look after Angus, it would have to be Noel Fitzpatrick. Not only because obviously he knows everything there is about animals and Angus would be in totally safe hands, but he's also got a little border terrier as well called Keira Knightley, and I think Keira Knightley and Angus would get on like a house on fire. Could be a romance there. I would choose Helen Mirren because I think Helen Mirren always looks incredible. I love the way that she'll be on a red carpet and she's got a beautiful, sort of quite formal dress on, but then she'll put a black leather jacket with it and it will just look so cool, and she always looks amazing. So I don't think you could go wrong with following Helen's advice. For makeup, I think it would have to be Christine, Christine Lampard. Christine has got this stunning face, of course, but I love the way that she wears makeup but it doesn't look like she's wearing an awful lot. She just enhances her gorgeous features. I would trust her implicitly to make me look better. If I was having a bad day, I would call Dawn French because she is a force of nature. You feel better just looking at her, like the world is divided into fountains and drains and Dawn French is a fantastic fountain. And instantly, just looking at her wee face, I would feel better. If I was going out partying, it would have to be with Kate Garraway. She is absolutely hilarious. You would laugh your head off. She loves a dance, and we would just have such a giggle and a kebab on the way home. If I was having a party and I wanted it to go with a bang, I would ask Lewis Capaldi. He is hilarious. And of course number one in America, I mean it's just... I'm so happy for him and he is one of the funniest people in the world. And not only would he have all his pals come so you would have a great time, but he could perform at your party. How good would that be? Oh my goodness me. The biggest design mistake I ever made, and it was a cracker. When we had this lovely little cottage in Cookham Dean in Berkshire and it was all very uneven and it was dating from 1692 or something. And I decided, for some weird reason, that I wanted stripey wallpaper. Now, there was not one bit of that house that was actually at a proper angle. So the poor guy, the wallpaper hanger, I think I almost give him a nervous breakdown because he had to try and get the lines. And it really, really didn't work. And also, I think I just sort of overdid it, I overstuffed that room with far too many colours and it was just a bit much. But yeah, you don't do stripey wallpaper on walls that are all askew. It's not a good idea. I've got so many TV guilty pleasures, but I adore watching RuPaul's Drag Race. I absolutely love it. And of course there's a new UK version, which I was lucky enough to be part of. I got asked to be one of the participants in Snatch Game, and for fans of RuPaul, you know that is the ultimate accolade. So I love that show so much. It's got real heart. It's really, really funny. RuPaul is amazing. Absolutely, just the most beautiful looking human being, and it's just the best show on telly. Love it. I am possibly the worst cook in the world. I'm just not very good at it. I mean, basic bog standard things, I can do. Anybody can throw in some fish fingers into the oven, I can do that. But I always remember when Rosie was little and she was bringing her friends over for tea. She would always say, "Mum, can you get dad to do it?" Even if it was fish fingers and oven chips, because I'm just not very good. I've had some real, real disasters. Probably the worst one was serving everybody chicken that wasn't cooked, that was really bad. My husband still maintains that I did it deliberately so that he would have to do all the cooking for the rest of the time. And he is the one that is so good. I don't mean clearing up, but actually cooking, I'm just not very good at it. I think the best advice was, clear up as you go along. And I think that's very sound. My gran was actually a cook, professional cook, and she certainly didn't pass on any of her skills to me, but my gran and my mum have always said, "Clear up as you go along and, actually, every season have a clear out." So it's spring, summer, autumn, winter, have a clear out of your clothes and your stuff. Get it to the charity shop, make sure that it's... Rather than just sitting there doing nothing, that it's actually out there doing some good and somebody else can get the benefit of it. And I think that's really important I take my shoes off at the front door and put my slippers on right away, I think partly because I've always really done that, but also my daughter lives in Singapore. I mean, you go to the Far East, you always leave your shoes outside. You do not wear your shoes inside the house. It's a complete no-no. And I think it's a really, really good idea. So yeah. And I can't wait to get my shoes off and to get into my comfy slippers. I've got fantastic, big, really comfortable sort of grey felt slippers that look ridiculous. It's like I've got clown's feet, but I don't care because they're comfy. I think I'd rather my guests took their shoes off, but I'm not that bothered. I mean, it doesn't really bother me because the only thing is I don't think they would be comfortable. I would always think it really weird to wear high heels in your own house. It just would be odd. And also in someone else's house, as well. I mean, I don't go to fancy dinner parties. I just go round to my pals for a bowl of chilli and a few glasses of red wine. That's much, much more my scene. Wearing something comfortable and a pair of trainers. I actually change my bed sheets quite a lot. I tend to do it once a week, once every two weeks would be the absolute maximum for me. But to be honest with you, that's because Angus is always leaping up and down on our bed and he's so messy. So you have to. And sometimes... He always tends to do it just when I've changed the duvet. And it's always the white duvet. Funny that isn't it, that dogs just know. It really is hard to get the balance right. And I think that's what I'm trying to do in the book, is to say to people, "Don't stress too much." You know what it's like, especially for working mothers, it's really, really hard. You're always going to feel guilty that you're not spending enough time with the kids and then you feel guilty that you're not giving enough to your work. I just think we have to be a little bit kinder to ourself. Don't be so demanding of yourself and just try and find that balance. You'll know when you've got there. And I think that's really, really important, that you have to make time for everyone but also make time for yourself. Because that's important too. And don't let things get on top of you. If you feel that you're drowning, shout for help. Don't just try and soldier on because that's not a good thing. That's not a good thing. You'll end up making yourself ill.

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