She was the 18th century celebrity who made men faint in awe of her beauty by her very presence. But her beauty - and her vanity - led to her demise as the lead-based make-up she insisted on plastering on daily resulted first in the loss of her looks, then deadly blood poisoning. Now the grand 7ft mirror in which Maria Gunning, the former Countess of Coventry, admired her stunning reflection has been auctioned off for more than £300,000. Labelled the first victim of vanity, Maria died aged 27 in 1760 after her love of make-up resulted in her untimely death. The 253-year-old mirror sold well above its estimate even though her condition meant she the society hostess used it for a matter of just months. A glorious George II giltwood overmantel design, it was bought for her by her husband The Sixth Earl of Coventry in 1759, who is said to have been so frustrated by his wife's love of make up that he would chase her around the dinner table with a handkerchief, trying wipe it from her face.
Recovering from a rare form of breast cancer, Deborah Barnett, 43, of Stoke-on-Trent, thought she'd made it through the worst, but she was betrayed by former colleague Sandra Ramsay, of Mow Cop Road, Mow Cop, Stoke-on-Trent .
A miracle baby has overcome a one-in-five-million brain condition – after a blob of glue saved his life .
Oscar Pistorius entered a courtroom Monday for the start of his murder trial, walking past the victim's mother who says she came to court so she can ‘really look him in the eyes .
A scoliosis sufferer was heartbroken to learn surgery would stop her dancing - but she battled through the pain to complete her GCSE dance exams and earn A* .
USUALLY full to bursting, these London Underground stations stand silent and completely commuter free .
A rare manuscript of one of Charlotte Bronte’s earliest poems went under the hammer today and fetched nearly £100,000 – double what it was expected to get .
WIDE EYED and staring straight down the lens of the camera, this intrigued seal is ready for his close up .
An adorable young fallow deer peers over its shoulder and is greeted by a cheeky jackdaw crow sitting on its back .
Bryanna Debinder, 20, from Pennsylvania in the USA, has lost 7 stone in order to impress her idol .
When Janet Curry, 38, was told she was ‘too big to date’ by a man she met on the dating website Plenty of Fish, she didn’t let it stop her from looking for love .
THESE kaleidoscopic-like photographs capture England’s churches and cathedrals in all their glory .
With one hand rested on his belly and the other propping his head up, this lazy lizard takes an afternoon break .