If anyone knows the benefits of putting the past behind them and embracing the here and now, it’s sisters Anthea Turner and Wendy Turner Webster.
The laughter when HELLO! joins them for our exclusive photoshoot is infectious – and heartwarming, as such a moment would once have been unthinkable.
The sisters had not spoken or seen one another for several years after falling out. But now, in their first interview together to celebrate the launch of their new book, they tell us how they are finding joy in their relationship once more.
“We’re at that time in our lives when we’re at our closest,” says 63-year-old Anthea. “I believe in taking pleasure in the present and not dissecting the past.
There is a little phrase that I love: ‘Least said, best mended.’ What happens nowadays is that everyone says: ‘We’ve got to unpack it; let’s discuss it.’ But I don’t think for every situation it’s the right thing to do.”
The way forward has been to draw a line under past grievances, which were largely the result of finances lent to Wendy – who shares sons Jack, 24, and Freddie, 20, with her husband, actor Gary Webster – amid problematic business projects.
“We’ve naturally just moved on,” Wendy, 56, says. “Neither of us has felt the need to discuss the circumstances and arguments that caused our years apart.
“What we realised is that we were having fun together and that we have a lot to offer as a duo. You can’t do that if you keep going over the past. I consider Anthea to be my best friend. We speak on the phone every day.”
In the new interview the sisters tell how their reunion came about, thanks to their father Brian, as well as sharing details of their children’s book, The King’s Coronation and the Kohinoor Diamond, dedicated to The Humane Research Trust, which develops non-animal methods of testing and research.
The book set at the time of the coronation tells of a group of brave and adventurous mice living underneath the London Underground, plus royals in pyjamas, seven crowns and a daring mission involving the Kohinoor diamond.
“Their motto is: ‘When we work as a team, we can do anything’. Problems can be solved and there is a community spirit,” says Wendy, in a timely message ahead of World Kindness Day.
“The mice have a network. There is always someone who can fix it,” Anthea says. “And, if we stand on our soapbox for a moment, it is the one thing that is falling apart in the human world. All relationships should be cherished, and I hope parents will relate to it, as well as children."
The King’s Coronation and the Kohinoor Diamond by Anthea Turner and Wendy Turner is available now from www.splendidpublications.co.uk £8.99
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW, PICK UP A COPY OF THE NEW ISSUE OF HELLO! MAGAZINE