WILNELIA’S WISH LIST

Above (from left): Wilnelia and Bruce after receiving his knighthood, with their son JJ and Bruce’s daughters Laura (left) and Charlotte; Wilnelia with her mother Delia

scents of her childhood in the Caribbean and making use of her talent for art. But just as everything was coming to fruition, Bruce’s illness struck. The very day that Wilnelia was presenting the candles to Fortnum & Mason (where they are now stocked), she got the message that Bruce had fallen and been taken to hospital. She rushed there to find him shaken, his face terribly bruised. A show he was to present had to be cancelled: ‘No amount of make-up would cover the damage.’

A full-body scan then showed the aneurysms. They had to decide whether he should undergo an operation: ‘It was difficult but we were due to fly to Puerto Rico for New Year and if anything happened on the plane, I would never forgive myself.’ At Halloween, the family celebrated Christmas early, just in case. On 12 November, he went into surgery. ‘After they’d taken him in, I sat alone in his room, then suddenly the door opened and there were the children [their son JJ and Bruce’s daughters]. Bruce had asked me to keep them away from the hospital as he didn’t want them to worry, but I knew they would come. Over the past few months they’ve been my rock.’

Her closeness to Bruce’s children is almost as surprising as the longevity of her marriage. Bruce says she is the one who has kept the family together – a tricky feat for any stepmother, let alone one so young and with two families to contend with. Wilnelia credits her easygoing, Latin upbringing: ‘Family is everything to me,’ she says.

The day she met Bruce’s elder daughters (he has Debbie, Julie and Laura by his first wife Penny Calvert, whom he married in 1953, and two younger daughters, Charlotte and Louisa, with his 1970s Generation Game co-star and second wife distinctly remembers her mother putting a few of its petals in her pocket before she flew to the Miss World final in London. Another candle, ‘Jungle Orchid’, reminds her of walks with her father, who worked in the rainforest. ‘Celebration’, created for Christmas, has notes of rose and frankincense. ‘I wanted to capture the scent that lingers in the air after a glamorous party,’ she says. ‘The scent of a woman; complex but exquisite.’ The holders are based on one of Wilnelia’s paintings of San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital. The colourful houses glow as the candles burn down.

The business is a family affair: Wilnelia and Bruce’s son JJ, 29, works solely on the candle range and is his mother’s ‘right-hand man’. Bruce has been an enthusiastic supporter – partly, Wilnelia thinks, to distract her from worrying about him and to give her something to focus on. ‘It’s nice to have something to talk about. It makes us both laugh because I say to him, “Now I am the one who has to work to keep you in style.”’

Wilnelia is currently preparing for Christmas, when all the family – ‘around 30 of us, all the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren’ – will gather at her and Bruce’s home. The tradition is that the children get up one by one and say a few words as they collect their presents: ‘Some sing a little song, some say what they’ve done at school. But I always get a kiss. It’s special,’ she says. ‘We’ll be drinking champagne, eating lovely food… To me, that is what life is about, celebrating with people you love.’ As for what next year will bring – who knows? They were planning to spend New Year in Puerto Rico but that trip has been postponed until later in January, providing Bruce gets the all-clear to fly. Will he perform again? ‘I really hope so.’ The candles cost from £48 each and are available from wilneliaforsyth.com and Fortnum & Mason ON A NIGHT OUT YOU’D FIND ME… Having dinner at the Marbella Club [in Málaga, Spain]. It’s filled with candles and is so romantic. MUST-HAVE ACCESSORY? Lipstick. THE SECRET TO A HAPPY RELATIONSHIP? Work at it all the time and try to remember how you fell in love in the beginning. MOST TREASURED POSSESSION? I met Pope Benedict XVI and he blessed a rosary. I carry it with me when I travel. FAVOURITE LUXURY ITEM? Flowers – if you call flowers a luxury – and a ‘Celebration’ candle from my collection (below). IN THREE WORDS I’M… Happy, positive, grateful. EARLIEST MEMORY? Playing silly games with my brother Enrique under the mango trees in our garden. MOTTO Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Life is short, you need to do as much as you can. WHAT ARE YOU READING? Anything inspiring, such as Malala Yousafzai’s autobiography. I have always loved

to learn. Anthea Redfern), she was very nervous. ‘I couldn’t sleep the night before. I changed my clothes 100 times; I put my hair up, then took it down, I wanted to look older. [My friend] Teresa said, “Just be yourself – they know how old you are.”

‘The girls welcomed me so quickly. I feel that when you give love you get love back – it’s as simple as that – and I have loved them from the start. Charlotte and Louisa were only four and five when we met. All credit to their mothers for the way they raised them. The girls have been my friends.’

No one imagined Bruce would still be unwell when it came to the launch party for Wilnelia’s candles at Fortnum & Mason in June: ‘I didn’t want to go without him but he said, “It’s showbusiness, my darling: the show must go on,” so I went alone. On the way the driver gave me a card from Bruce to read to the dinner guests. It said, “My darling girl, I wish you all the very best of luck and thank everybody who is helping you,” and in brackets, “What time are you coming home? Don’t forget to feed the cat.” So his sense of humour is there no matter what!’

Wilnelia’s candle collection, comprising five vibrant scents, is based on her childhood. One has the sweet aroma of azucena, a flower that is a symbol of good luck in Puerto Rico, and Wilnelia