GUIDE TO THE LOVE ORACLES

Find enlightenment with advice* drawn from three areas of love, inspired by these great
lovers' lives. Choose a card to consult the love oracles and gain advice on:
ONE-NIGHT STANDS
LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS AND BREAK-UPS
FAMILY AND FRIENDS
Illustrated by Anna Higgie
*All of the advice offered by the love oracles has been inspired by their work, actions and
personalities. There are no direct quotations, apart from where quotation marks are used.
 MEET THE ORACLES
MARIE ANTOINETTE
b. Austria, 1755-1793
Marie Antoinette was born an Archduchess of Austria. Destined for greatness, she
became wife of Louis XVI and was the last Queen of France before the Revolution. Her court
at Versailles and her extravagance were legendary and she became a symbol for indulgence
and luxury at a time when the country faced financial crisis. Married very young, the royal
couple didn't bear any children for a number of years, giving rise to wild rumours about
possible affairs and her depraved lifestyle - most of them untrue. But as Queen at the time of
the French Revolution, she was executed as prisoner 280 in October 1793.

JOAN OF ARC
b. France, c. 1412-1431
Joan of Arc was a military leader and martyr. She believed it was her destiny to help
the then uncrowned Charles VII secure the throne of France and went to his court, hair
cropped like a man and in military clothes, to convince him of her visions. With the 'Maid of
Orléans' at the head of his army, he was victorious in the battle of Orléans and crowned in
1429. In 1430 Joan was captured, but Charles VII refused to pay the ransom. She was
charged with 70 counts of heresy and burned at the stake before a crowd of 10,000. An
inquisitorial court later found her innocent of all charges, and in 1920 Joan was canonized as
a Catholic saint.

JANE AUSTEN
b. United Kingdom, 1775-1817
Jane Austen was an English novelist. When her father died in 1805, Jane and her
sister Cassandra were left unmarried and in a precarious financial situation. In opposition to
the romantic sentiment fashionable at the time, Austen's novels present a complex and
balanced picture of love and marriage within British society. Austen herself, however, was
less fortunate in love and remained single. Choice? Circumstance? Her first novel, Sense and
Sensibility, was published anonymously - by 'a Lady' – in 1811. Pride and Prejudice
followed, to good reviews, then Mansfield Park and Emma in 1816. Persuasion and
Northanger Abbey were published posthumously, under her name.

JOSEPHINE BAKER
b. United States, 1906-1975
Josephine Baker was an American-born French entertainer. Famed as a dancer in the
jazz era, she was a sensation at the Folies Bergère in Paris in 1927, with a routine in which
she danced wearing a girdle of bananas. She renounced her US citizenship and became a
French national when she married Jean Lion in 1937. She married four times and enchanted
such artistic and literary luminaries as Picasso, Cocteau and Hemingway, as well as having
several female lovers. Baker was the first person of colour to star in a major movie - Zouzou,
1934. She helped the French Resistance in the Second World War and supported the civil
rights movement in the US.

EMILY BRONTË
b. United Kingdom, 1818-1848
Emily Brontë trained as a teacher and taught at Law Hill School in Halifax for a year.
Shy and unsociable, her first and only novel, Wuthering Heights, was published in 1847
under her pen name, Ellis Bell. Though often considered a passionate love story in the
popular imagination, Wuthering Heights depicts a hellish version of love, full of emotional
and psychic cruelty and pain. The moody, brooding, aloof Heathcliff is sometimes seen as an
archetypal tortured lover, but unlike other misunderstood heroes (Mr Darcy comes to mind),
Heathcliff's passion and goodness remain unrealized.

LORD BYRON
b. United Kingdom, 1788-1824
George Gordon Byron, British nobleman, 6th Baron of Rochdale, poet, politician,
rake and leading figure of the Romantic era. Love, however, proved to be his greatest
passion, from his tempestuous affair with Lady Caroline Lamb - who famously described him
as 'mad, bad and dangerous to know' to his obsession with his half-sister Augusta Leigh, to
Annabella Milbanke, whom he married in 1815. The marriage ended a year later amid
rumours of marital violence and sodomy. Modern biographers explain some of his erratic
behavior not just in connection with his sudden fame but also his conflicted, and polyvalent,
sexuality.

GIACOMO CASANOVA
b. Italy, 1725-1798
Giacomo Casanova was an Italian intellectual, writer, womanizer, adventurer and spy,
and is remembered as one of the most famous lovers in history. Casanova gave his name its
meaning - he wrote satires, gambled, fought duels, escaped from prison, and went from one
woman to the next. He worked, briefly, as a church cleric, then a soldier, then a violinist.
Constantly in debt, he was banished from Venice for travelled the world and earned his 18
years, way back by working as a spy. He returned to Venice to write his memoirs.

CLEOPATRA
b. Egypt, c. 69 BCE-30 BCE
 Cleopatra VII was Queen of Egypt, wife, naval commander, lover, politician,
diplomat. In 51 BCE she became coregent of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, alongside her
ten-year-old brother Ptolemy XIII, to whom she was married. When Egypt was invaded by
Rome, her brother fled - she became Caesar's lover and was reinstated as Queen. When
Caesar was assassinated she returned to Egypt with Mark Antony, with whom she had three
children. They combined armies to take on the Roman Emperor Octavian but lost. Mark
Antony committed suicide and Cleopatra chose to die from the bite of an asp rather than fall
into the hands of her enemies.

GEORGE CLOONEY
b. United States, 1961
George Clooney is an American actor, filmmaker, businessman, humanitarian and
heart-throb. Clooney's breakthrough role was as Doctor Doug Ross on the hit television show
ER. He went on to star in several box-office hits, including the Ocean's Eleven heist trilogy,
and has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards, one for acting, one for co-
producing. An all-American sports star turned television and movie star, he was leading
bachelor as well as leading man until he met, and married, human rights lawyer Amal
Alamuddin in 2014. He became a father to twins in 2017.

JOAN COLLINS
b. United Kingdom, 1933
Joan Collins is a British actress and author. She made her stage debut aged nine and
headed to Hollywood aged 22. Her movie break, I Believe in You, came in 1952, while other
film credits include Howard Hawks's Land of the Pharaohs (1955) and film adaptations of her
sister Jackie's novels The Stud (1978) and The Bitch (1979). In the 1980s she played the role
of Alexis Carrington in America's number one-rated show Dynasty, in the 1990s she was on
stage in Noël Coward's Private Lives and in 2015 she was made a Dame for her services to
charity.

LAVERNE COX
b. United States, 1972
Laverne Cox is a trans icon who rose to fame playing transgender prisoner Sophia
Burset on the hit television show, Orange is the New Black. She was also the first transgender
performer to play a transgender character in CBS's series Doubt. As well as being an actress
and award-winning producer, she is a prominent activist, spokesperson and advocate for trans
rights.
GALA DALÍ
b. Russia, 1894-1982
 Gala Dalí was the Russian-born wife of poet Paul Éluard and, later, the surrealist
Salvador Dalí. Famously Dalí bought Gala the Castle of Púbol in Girona but could only be
accepted within its confines by presenting a written invitation from his spouse. Gala was
often a model in Dali's work, and he would sign his work with both their names. She was also
a muse to other artists and writers, including Max Ernst, Louis Aragon and André Breton,
though Breton's inspiration turned from love to hate. She left her castle as well as a legacy of
art as a testament to her love and lovers.

BIANCA DEL RIO

b. United States, 1975
Drag queen, comedian, designer and activist, Bianca Del Rio grew up in Louisiana
with a Cuban and Honduran background. Having started out as a costume designer, Del Rio
shot to fame by winning the sixth edition of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2014. She has since
written and toured on several stand-up shows, including The Rolodex of Hate, Not Today,
Satan, and Blame It on Bianca del Rio. She is known for her highly provocative quips (too
shocking to be reproduced here).

DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES

b. United Kingdom, 1961-1997
Born Diana Frances Spencer in 1961, she married Prince Charles, with whom she had
two sons, princes William and Harry. In the age of tabloid newspapers, the Princess of Wales
became one of the most famous and iconic women in the world. This media scrutiny only
grew more intense following her controversial divorce from her husband. She died in a car
crash with her playboy boyfriend Mohamed Al-Fayed while being chased by paparazzi in
Paris. Following her untimely death, a period of intense public mourning and unrest shook
the British monarchy. Then prime minister Tony Blair captured the nation's feeling by
describing her as 'the People's Princess'.

MARLENE DIETRICH
b. Germany, 1901-1992
Marlene Dietrich was an iconic German actress, singer and entertainer. From cabaret
and the chorus line in 1920s Berlin, Dietrich went to Hollywood in the 1930s and became one
of its most glamorous leading ladies. She starred in The Blue Angel, the first German talking
film, in 1930 and this led to films such as Blonde Venus and Shanghai Express. With her
striking style, scandalous affairs and sultry voice, as evidenced in her signature song 'Falling
in Love Again', she constantly reinvented herself and seduced her audience.

LENA DUNHAM
b. United States, 1986
Lena Dunham is an American actress, writer and director and the daughter of
celebrated artists Carroll Dunham and Laurie Simmons. At 23 she wrote, directed and starred
in the multi-award-winning independent film Tiny Furniture. She attracted mainstream
attention with the HBO series Girls, a comedy drama that ran from 2012 to 2017, which
Dunham created, wrote and starred in. On social media and on screen she is outspoken,
entertaining and empowering. In 2015, Dunham, with Jenni Konner, co-founded Lenny
Letter, a feminist online newsletter, which was published until October 2018.

EDWARD VIII
b. United Kingdom, 1894-1972
Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the dominions of the British
Empire, as well as Emperor of India and Head of the Church of England. His was one of the
briefest reigns in history - 20 January 1936 to 11 December of the same year. Edward had
fallen in love with Mrs Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee; their love affair caused a
constitutional crisis and Edward abdicated the throne to become the Duke of Windsor. Wallis
and Edward remained married until his death.

ALBERT EINSTEIN
b. Germany, 1879-1955
Albert Einstein was a German theoretical physicist and inventor. In his work he was a
genius, developing the theory of relativity and the most famous equation ever: E=mc2. When
it came to his love life, though, it was complicated. The scholar fell in love with his first wife,
Mileva Marić, in 1896 at the Zurich Polytechnic, where she scored higher than him in maths;
they separated in 1914. In 1919 he married his mistress and cousin, Elsa Einstein. In 1921 he
won the Nobel Prize for Physics. He published more than 300 scientific papers, had a near-
perfect IQ, two wives, three children and at least ten mistresses.

ELIZABETH I
b. England, 1533-1603
The flame-haired daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn was the final heir of the
House of Tudor. Her childhood was difficult, but when Elizabeth I was crowned in 1558 she
was the beloved Gloriana, married to her country. She reigned for 45 years, during which
time the arts and literature flourished and her navy discovered new lands, as well as seeing
off the Spanish Armada and a number of Catholic assassins. By the end of her reign
everything looked golden - except her love life. She had sharp judgement when it came to
politics, but perhaps less sharp with regard to potential partners. She was a strong,
independent woman, who reigned alone as the Virgin Queen.
ZELDA FITZGERALD
b. United States, 1900-1948
American socialite, writer, dancer. Dubbed, by her husband, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 'the
first American Flapper', Zelda Sayre was a wild child who embodied the glamour of the
period. Their marriage was full of wild drinking and infidelity, inspiring Fitzgerald's novel
The Great Gatsby. In 1924 they travelled to Europe, but Zelda suffered mental health issues
and was in and out of hospital. Her only published novel, Save Me the Waltz, was considered
too autobiographical by her husband, who penned a rival novel, Tender Is the Night. Scott
died in 1940, while Zelda tragically died in a fire in hospital in 1948.

SIGMUND FREUD
b. Moravia (then part of the Austrian Empire, now in the Czech Republic), 1856-1939
Sigmund Freud is considered the 'father of psychoanalysis' and is one of the most
influential figures of the twentieth century. He began his medical career at the Vienna
General Hospital before starting his private practice specializing in 'nervous disorders'. Freud
introduced many new theories about how the mind works, including the Oedipus complex
and the Freudian slip, in which a slip of the tongue reveals the speaker's subconscious
thoughts or desires. His insights would forever change our view of the relations between
human beings, and between human beings and their imaginations. He was married to Martha
Bernays and they had six children.

SERGE GAINSBOURG
b. France, 1928-1991
Serge Gainsbourg was one of the most iconic figures of French popular music. His
trademark style included provocative irreverence and a complete disregard for social
conventions as well as personal health (he was rarely seen in public without a cigarette or a
drink, or both). In the turbulent year of 1968 Gainsbourg met the actress Jane Birkin. Their
decade- long relationship was highly productive, creating one of the most enduring images of
a passionate couple. Their daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg was later to become a celebrated
actress and singer.
MAHATMA GANDHI
b. India, 1869-1948
Mahatma Gandhi was a non-violent activist who led the campaign for India's
independence from British rule. Born in India, he trained in law in London and then practised
in South Africa before returning to India in 1915. He became leader of the Indian National
Congress in 1921 and led the campaign for self-rule. They won independence in 1947, with
the British Indian Empire being divided into two halves - India for the Hindu majority and
Pakistan for the Muslim majority. Violence broke out in the reorganization and the holy man
who had campaigned for peace and unity was eventually assassinated.
GRETA GARBO
b. Sweden, 1905-1990
Greta Garbo was a film actress, popular in the 1920s and 30s. She began acting in
1924, was nominated for three Academy Awards and was one of the great movie stars who
managed to move from silent movies to talkies. Her first talking role was Anna Christie, in
1930; she went on to play Mata Hari (1931) and Camille (1936). She retired from the screen,
after 28 films, at the age of 35. Her private life remained private. From then on she declined
all roles, famously declaring that she 'wanted to be alone', becoming progressively more
withdrawn in her final years while taking long daily walks through the streets of New York
City.

RYAN GOSLING
b. Canada, 1980
Ryan Gosling is an actor and musician who began his career in the American variety
TV show The Mickey Mouse Club and went on to become one of Hollywood's leading men.
His breakout movie was The Notebook, in 2004, and was followed by a diverse range of
characters. He was first nominated for an Academy Award for Half Nelson in 2006. In 2011
he starred in three hits - the romantic Crazy, Stupid, Love, the political drama The Ides of
March and the thriller Drive. In 2016 he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in La
La Land and a second Academy Award nomination.

MATA HARI
b. The Netherlands, 1876-1917
Dutch-born Margaretha Zelle was considered the greatest female seducer and spy of
the First World War, her pillow talk sending 20,000 Allied soldiers to their deaths. After a
childhood that saw her family plunge from prosperity to ruin and an abusive marriage that
ended in tragedy, she moved to Paris, performing as a circus horse rider and later finding
fame as an exotic dancer under the name Mata Hari. In 1915 she was recruited by French
military intelligence to pass on information gleaned from her lovers, many of whom were
high- ranking military officers or politicians. She was accused of being a double agent and
executed by firing squad in 1917.

HUGH HEFNER
b. United States, 1926-2017
Hugh Hefner was a businessman, magazine publisher and playboy. In 1949 he
married Mildred Williams and was devastated when she admitted to having an affair. He
reinvented himself, founded Playboy magazine in 1953 and featured a nude photo of Marilyn
Monroe from 1949 as his inaugural 'Sweetheart of the Month' centrefold. He opposed the
militant feminism of the 70s and positioned himself as a promoter of sexual liberation and
freedom of expression (his magazine featured interviews with figures such as Malcolm X and
Martin Luther King). During his 91-year life, he had three wives and is said to have had more
than 1,000 lovers.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY
b. United States, 1899-1961
Journalist, novelist and short-story writer, Ernest Hemingway was one of the most
influential writers of the twentieth century. His career began as an ambulance driver in the
First World War, which would inspire his novel A Farewell to Arms. For Whom the Bell
Tolls, published in 1939, is based on his experiences in the Spanish Civil War. Relying
heavily on real-life experiences, both novels have doomed love stories at their centre. He
married four times, but his famously macho action-man posturing (being photographed
running with the bulls in Pamplona, for example) hid a fragile personality that would later
struggle with alcoholism and impotence.

HENRY VIII
b. United Kingdom, 1491-1547
Henry VIII was the English King who married six times. Crowned in 1509, he
honoured his father's dying wish by marrying Catherine of Aragon, his brother's widow. By
1525 there was still no male heir: Henry obtained the first-ever divorce of a British monarch
to marry Anne Boleyn, whom he then beheaded for witchcraft. Then followed Jane Seymour,
who gave him a son but died, then Anne of Cleves (another divorce). Catherine Howard was
another beheading before his final companion, Catherine Parr, who survived. Henry VIII's
love had profound implications for his kingdom, leading it to separate itself from Roman
Catholicism in favour of a reformed Church of England.

BILLIE HOLIDAY
b. United States, 1915-1959
Born Eleanora Fagan and nicknamed Lady Day, Billie Holiday was an American jazz
singer. After a turbulent childhood, she was discovered singing in the nightclubs of Harlem
and in 1935 signed to Brunswick Records. She enjoyed success in the 1930s and 1940s as
jazz and the big-band sound became more mainstream; 'Strange Fruit' was one of her biggest
hits. Her life, however, was beset with legal troubles, drug abuse and a spell in prison. Her
memoir Lady Sings the Blues was turned into a 1972 film in which Diana Ross played
Holiday.

COURTNEY LOVE
b. United States, 1964
Courtney Love is a singer, songwriter, actress and artist. A punk rock star who
embodied the look of grunge in the 1990s, Love was lead singer of the indie band Hole and
married Nirvana's front man, Kurt Cobain, in 1992. Her daughter Frances Bean Cobain was
born in 1992 while she was touring with Hole's biggest album, Pretty on the Inside. Cobain
committed suicide in 1994 while Love was in rehab, and overnight she became a widow,
single mother and legend.

RICKY MARTIN
b. Puerto Rico, 1971
Enrique 'Ricky' Martín Morales is a singer and actor who started his musical career at
the age of 12 as a member of the boy band Menudo. Throughout the 1990s he released
several albums in Spanish, but his performance at the 1999 Grammy Awards and the first
single from his first English- language album, 'Livin' la Vida Loca', shot him to fame in the
US and the UK and opened the doors for Latin music.

GEORGE MICHAEL
b. United Kingdom, 1963-2016
Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou was a singer, songwriter and record producer. He rose
to fame in the 1980s in the band Wham!, writing hits such as 'Careless Whisper' that
established him among Billboard's 100 bestselling artists of all time. In 1987 he began a solo
career, and his songs were the soundtrack of the 1990s. He famously kept his homosexuality
a secret until being caught 'engaging in a lewd act' in a public restroom in Beverly Hills; more
troubles with the police on issues to do with sex and drugs were to follow, putting his clean
and polished image into a more contrasted and poignant light.

MARILYN MONROE
b. United States, 1926-1962
Marilyn Monroe was an actress, model, pin-up and singer, born Norma Jeane
Mortenson. When Hollywood discovered her curves and added peroxide to her hair she was
renamed 'Marilyn Monroe'. From a small part in All About Eve (1950) to leading roles in
Niagara (1953) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), she became a box-office sensation. In
1954 she starred in The Seven Year Itch and married baseball legend Joe DiMaggio. In 1956
she starred in Bus Stop and was newly married to playwright Arthur Miller. She won a
Golden Globe for her performance in Some Like It Hot (1959) and died of a barbiturate
overdose, ruled as probable suicide, in 1962.

JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS

b. United States, 1929-1994
Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis was a style icon, wife, mother and former First
Lady. Bought up with privilege, she was noted as the most daring, prettiest and cleverest in
her class. In 1951 she became the 'Inquiring Camera Girl' for the Washington Times-Herald
and met Congressman John F. Kennedy. They married in 1953, and in 1961 he became
President. In 1963 JFK was assassinated in Dallas. She later married shipping magnate
Aristotle Onassis and, following his death, worked as a book editor in New York, but it was
for her style and part in the Camelot era that she is remembered.

YOKO ONO
b. Japan, 1933
Yoko Ono became an artist in New York, where she met John Lennon in 1966.
Married in 1969, they worked jointly on art, film and music projects, creating some of the
world's most iconic husband- wife collaborations. After Lennon's death in 1980 Ono
continued to solidify her reputation as a highly original and acclaimed multidisciplinary
artist. She continues to honour Lennon's memory as an activist and philanthropist.

PABLO PICASSO
b. Spain, 1881-1973
Pablo Picasso explored abstraction in art, with multiple mistresses and muses and
weeping women central to his most famous works. He married twice: first, Russian ballet
dancer Olga Khokhlova, then Jacqueline Roque, who would later commit suicide. Many
lovers and muses in between had a profound impact on his work, from Fernande Olivier
(when Picasso was discovering cubism) to the 17-year- old Marie-Thérèse Walter (pictured in
The Dream and many surrealist paintings), the artist Françoise Gilot and Dora Maar, the
photographer who was present (and an active participant) at the creation of his anti-war
masterpiece Guernica.

PLATO
b. Greece, 428/427 BCE-348/347 BCE
Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher and founder of the Academy of Athens.
Along with his former teacher Socrates and his most famous student, Aristotle, Plato
established the foundations for all of Western philosophy and science to come. His works
take the form of written dialogues, in which ideas are developed and explored rigorously and
yet also playfully. In Plato's Symposium, guests at a banquet are asked to deliver an
impromptu speech dedicated to praising Eros, the god of love and desire, exploring both
erotic love and the kind of feeling that can elevate both the spirit and the mind.
RIHANNA
b. Barbados, 1988
Robyn Rihanna Fenty was discovered at the age of 15 by a pair of music producers on
vacation from New York. She was taken on at Def Jam Recordings and found success almost
instantly with dancehall- inflected 'Pon de Replay' and has had a slew of number one singles
ever since, including 'Rude Boy', 'We Found Love' and 'Only Girl (in the World)'. Her
provocative, protean image (her latest side venture is a lingerie line that sold out the day it
was released) has ensured her enduring status as sex symbol, fashion icon and pop star.

MARQUIS DE SADE
b. France, 1740-1814
Donatien-Alphonse-François, Marquis de Sade, was a French nobleman,
revolutionary politician, philosopher, scandalous libertine and lover. Brought up in the royal
household and briefly an officer, he is also known for his exploits in the brothels. His life was
a mix of imprisonments, escapes, revolution, an affair with his sister-in-law and a spell in a
lunatic asylum. In prison he became a writer, penning works characterized by a ruthless and
amoral vision of human nature. 120 Days of Sodom was written during the build- up to
revolution, and the father of eroticism ensured his own life was no less 'sadistic' (the term of
course derived from his oeuvre).

SAPPHO
b. Greece, c. 630 BCE-c. 580 BCE
Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet, feminist heroine and gay role model. The first
female writer known to Western civilization, Plato referred to her as the tenth muse. Born in
Lesbos to a wealthy aristocratic family, she ran an academy for unmarried women, dedicated
to the cult of Aphrodite and Eros. Her work became a symbol of the love and desire between
women and she was a prolific poet who is said to have written over 10,000 lines, though little
survives. Her lyric poetry was designed to be sung and explored the bittersweet complications
of love.

MARY SHELLEY
b. United Kingdom, 1797-1851
Mary Shelley was a novelist, best known for Frankenstein. Her mother died when she
was only days old so she was bought up by her father William Godwin, a radical philosopher.
In 1814 she met the romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley; they fell in love and eloped, taking
with them her sister but leaving behind her furious father and Shelley's pregnant wife. On
holiday in 1816 they finally married, and in 1818 Frankenstein was published. In 1822 her
husband drowned while sailing; Mary returned to London to work and promote his legacy.
BRITNEY SPEARS
b. United States, 1981
Star of The Mickey Mouse Club in the 1990s, Britney's first two albums,... Baby One
More Time (1999) and Oops!... I Did It Again (2000), made her the biggest-selling teenage
artist of all time. She went on to become the bestselling artist of the 2000s, made her film
debut in Crossroads in 2002 and took a career hiatus before returning to the recording studio.
She was a judge in 2012 on The X Factor in America and completed a sellout four-year
residency in Las Vegas. Her mix of girl-next-door innocence and pole-dancing sex symbol,
along with some very public career lows, has ensured that she is constantly in the spotlight
for more than just her music.

ELIZABETH TAYLOR
b. United Kingdom, 1932-2011
Elizabeth Taylor was an actress who rose from child star to Hollywood's highest- paid
actress and Dame. Her breakthrough role was in National Velvet, in 1944; she went on to star
in films such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and won an Oscar for BUtterfield 8. Off screen her
love life was complex, but when she was paid $1 million as the lead in the epic remake of
Cleopatra she met Richard Burton, her Mark Antony, and married him not once but twice (in
all she was married eight times).

MELANIA TRUMP
b. Slovenia, 1970
Melania Trump is a former fashion model and wife of the 45th US President, Donald
Trump. She moved to America and was working as a model when she met the then real-estate
mogul in the late 1990s. Modelling work has included InStyle Weddings and New York
magazine, and in 2005 her wedding to Trump was covered by US Vogue. In 2018 she
became the first Catholic First Lady at the White House since Jackie Kennedy.

JONATHAN VAN NESS

b. United States, 1987
Jonathan Van Ness was born and raised in the American Midwest and studied
political science at the University of Arizona, where he was attending on a cheerleading
scholarship. He dropped out after a year and trained as a hairdresser at the Aveda Institute.
After regularly appearing in the Gay of Thrones online fan series, he was invited to audition
for the Netflix reboot of Queer Eye, where he instantly bonded with the other members of
what would become known as the Fab 5. He has been styling and advising on self-care across
the US and internationally ever since.
QUEEN VICTORIA
b. United Kingdom, 1819-1901
Victoria was Queen of United Kingdom and, from 1876, Empress of India. Born fifth
in line to the throne, Victoria was 18 when she inherited the crown. Her coronation was in
1838 and she was the first monarch to make Buckingham Palace her official residence. In
1840 she married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe- Coburg and Gotha. They had nine
children together and she went into deep mourning when he died in 1861. Her 63-year reign
made her one of the most beloved and longest-reigning monarchs.

OSCAR WILDE
b. Ireland, 1854-1900
Oscar Wilde was a poet and playwright. Famed for his sharp wit and flamboyant
style, his works include The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray. In
1884 he married Constance Lloyd and had two sons with her. In 1881 he wrote The Happy
Prince, and around 1891 was introduced to Lord Alfred Douglas, with whom he fell in love.
Homosexuality was illegal then, and in 1895 Wilde was arrested, charged with gross
indecency and sentenced to two years' hard labour. He died not long after his release, alone
and in poverty, in Paris.

WHITNEY WOLFE HERD

b. United States, 1989
Whitney Wolfe Herd is a co-founder of the dating app Tinder (she is said to have
come up with its name). She left the company in 2014 and sued over sexual harassment,
reportedly winning more than a million dollars in settlement, in addition to stock in the
company. In 2015 she launched its wildly successful competitor Bumble, the idea of which
was to empower women by pushing them to make the first move after a match. She is its
current CEO, with a fortune valued at over a billion dollars.

JAY-Z
b. United States, 1969
Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z, rose through the ranks of New York hip-hop to
become one of the most successful artists of all time. His marriage to Beyoncé sealed his
status in the entertainment business pantheon. The ups and downs of their relationship,
including Jay-Z's high-profile infidelities, have been lived out publicly for the last decade, as
has their commitment to each other and to their family - and their couples therapy.
THE LOVE ORACLES WERE ILLUSTRATED BY ANNA HIGGIE, an Australian-born
illustrator who studied Fine Art at the National Art School in Sydney, and Illustration and
Typography in London. She now lives and works in Bristol, UK, where she spends most of
her time in her studio, using a combination of traditional and digital techniques to create her
illustrations. Anna's clients include British Vogue, Vanity Fair, Converse, the Guardian and
the Financial Times.
Illustrations
2019 Anna Higgie
Text 2019 Laurence King Publishing

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