Reader's Digest announces all new February issue of magazine

Jan. 27, 2009 - PRLog -- “She will undoubtedly fulfil her royal role without courting the attention of press as Diana did…” Rosie Mortimer on Kate Middleton

“I devoured this magazine”
Stephen Brook, Media Talk, guardian.co.uk

Following a successful re-launch in September 2008 the refreshingly different, new-look February issue of Reader’s Digest will be on the stands on 29 January.  Real life, heart warming stories, friends, family and adventure; life with Reader’s Digest is well shared.

Editor-in-chief, Sarah Sands, describes the issue as a celebration of “the unquenchable human spirit” under the broad heading of adventure and travel. Readers will find an exclusive interview with David de Rothschild who in March will sail round the world in a boat made of plastic bottles; insightful contributions from TV presenter Ben Fogle and his encounter with a flesh-eating bug whilst filming on location in Peru; writer and first wife of Boris Johnson, Allegra Mostyn Owen, on teaching art to Muslim children; Rosie Mortimer on Kate Middleton and Prince William and the portrait of a modern Royal romance;  an exclusive interview with Sylvie Robert, the mother of real-life Mowgli girl Tippi Degré, on how her daughter is adjusting to life in the western world, nine years after leaving the African bush plus a tender and honest account by Ioan Gruffudd of his attempts to have a baby with his wife, Alice Evans.

Environmentalist and founder of Adventure Ecology,  David de Rothschild will voyage 7,500 miles in March 2009 from San Francisco to Sydney in the Plastiki; a 62-foot-long catamaran made entirely out of recyclable plastics in a bid to open the world’s eyes to the damage caused by waste materials on natural life forms in and around the Pacific Ocean.

“I made a decision very early on that from an iconic standpoint, the bottle is the pin-up and to eliminate as much as possible the use of other materials.”

“…he has already decided to rotate his six-man crew during the stop-offs at different locations…Olave Heyerdahl who is a sailor, and Jason Heyerdahl, a marine scientist, as well as the adventurer Bruce Parry, the surfer Kelly Slater and the artist Gabriel Orozco.”

   
With the new royal wedding looking increasingly likely, Rosie Mortimer looks at the makings of a 21st century royal romance. Will this be the year Prince William and Kate Middleton do the conventional thing and tie the knot?

“I’m allergic to horses” Kate Middleton on why she needs to stay away from Prince William’s polo matches

Allegra Mostyn-Owen crosses cultural divides and talks about finding hope and happiness teaching art to Muslim children in an east London mosque.

“I’ve never regularly attended church and yet I’ve been to this mosque more times than I can remember. It’s a place where I sometimes feel spiritually transported”

Mother of bush born Tippi Degré talks of the challenges faced by her daughter in trying to reconcile the differences between the two different worlds that she has inhabited.

“I was never afraid for her in the bush because she was used to the way of life there and the rules of the wild, but urban life was full of dangers”

“…she felt Africa had been taken away from her and this caused a lot of pain and deep sadness”
   
In February 2008, the Gambian Government jailed British mining engineer Charlie Northfield, accusing him of illegally exporting Uranium. In this special report by Stephen Robinson, we learn of his escape from house arrest after spending six months in a Gambian prison.

“The charges against Charlie Northfield were false, but he knew his chances of a fair trial were slim. He had to escape.”

“He was thrown into Banjul’s famously unpleasant Mile 2 prison, sharing a cell with three Nigerian drug dealers and three Gambians on murder charges.”
   
Rising star Ioan Gruffudd, who first became a household as Captain Horatio in the ITV series Hornblower talks to Christopher Goodwin about his new found life in Los Angeles and on trying for a baby with wife and British actress Alice Evans.

“It’s a nightmare for her…the medical monitoring is a bit like alchemy….Alice isn’t herself and she knows it’s a reaction to the drugs.”

“To support their chances, Gruffudd isn’t drinking alcohol at certain times of the month…You want to give the pregnancy the best chance you can but it’s really hard…poor Alice has also had to give up acting and auditioning, and that’s very stressful for her too.”

For more information about Reader’s Digest please contact Nazneen Nawaz at Colman Getty
T 020 7631 2666 E nazneen@colmangetty.co.uk

Notes to editors

Features and interviews in Reader’s Digest may be available for syndication. Please contact Colman Getty

The cover image is available for use. Please contact Colman Getty

Sarah Sands, editor of Reader’s Digest, is available for interview, written pieces and broadcast. Please contact Colman Getty

Electronic images are available from Colman Getty

Reader’s Digest is £2.95 and is available via subscription and all good newsagents. For more information please visit www.rdmag.co.uk

The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. is a global publisher and direct marketer of books, magazines, music collections and video with customers in more than 70 countries. Reader’s Digest is the world’s most widely read magazine and is published in 50 editions in 21 languages