Editor’s Letter

In a speech given by Prince Philip on his 10 th anniversary to Queen Elizabeth, he spoke about the depth of their 10-year relationship and how you had to “take the rough with the smooth” because “down there in the rough, in the long reeds of difficulty and pain, that is where you find the treasure.” He ended the speech by referring to the Queen of England as “mon petit chou”, which is French for sweetheart—a term of endearment that I found delightfully charming. I watched this episode in the current airing of The Crown on Netflix and I felt as if I was watching history repeat itself. By that, I am reflecting on how 60 years down the line, time is still the biggest test of love. The apps we use today to find “love”, while immediate, are so different to the acts of courtship and seduction in the past. What you have now is the fleeting anxiousness of lust, the carnal immediacy of desire, the desperation of want—all heightened with a shrill “ping” that appears on our iPhone.True, these are all qualities we associate with love-making—but they are really just one side to the many levels and layers to uncover what true love is. Our cover model this month,Victoria Secret’s Angel, Sara Sampaio, embodies lust, desire and want.You want to be her or you want to be with her. But delving into her story on page 126, 26-year-old Sampaio is actually an old-fashioned girl at heart—quite different from the sexy siren you see peering from the cover. But oftentimes, our true selves are the opposite of what we portray in public. FriedemannVogel, the German ballet dancer featured on page 136, is the embodiment of masculinity.Yet the softness with which he caresses spring’s dramatic coats, with every muscled sinew in sight, attests to his balance of male and female; yin and yang. We can learn a lot fromVogel’s sense of harmony, which I strive to bring to my relationships. I talk about my memorable “love guru” session on page 72, and delve into horoscopes, feng shui and the cosmos. Back down on this mortal plane, you can take a leaf out of our love guide on page 52, which is the definitive edit of all the must-have addresses to make that date night extra special.You can never go wrong with indulgent spa treats—the cream of the crop are listed in our annual Spa Awards on page 89. One piece of advice: Ditch the apps for a moment and return to the days of eye contact, sparkling repartee and a bottle of bubbly. A little champagne never hurt anyone.