Our big childhood issue was ponies. I was the one who wanted a pony first. But when we got our shaggy old dust-bag of a Shetland, it turned out that I was useless at riding and would fall off (and hurt and cry) every 10 seconds, whereas Tash and Son were naturally good.

They progressed to proper ponies, the Pony Club and gymkhanas. Meanwhile, I spent a lot of time in my bedroom reading. As an antidote, my parents regularly sent me to aunties abroad in the summer holidays and much as I loved this, I was a bit jealous of my sisters’ closer friendship.

A word about my parents, bless them. They were always very loving and scrupulously fair to us. It must be a nightmare to have all your natural sibling rivalry aggravated by parents who openly prefer one child to another.

I went to a different secondary school from my sisters, which had an impact on our relationship at the time, but it meant we had to seek out female friends instead. All three of us have always had lots of female friends as well as each other.
During our teens, the jealousies, rivalries, not to mention raging hormones were at their peak and there were some very bitchy arguments. I have a couple of friends who don’t have sisters and they just can’t do bitchy like we can. They would never be able to say: ‘My, don’t you look healthy?’ in the way that conveys: ‘Take a look at your lardy arse!’

Tash turned out super-stunning and blonde! Fortunately, she was still the nicest. She may have dazzled your bloke, but she wouldn’t have dreamt of pinching him. Son, to her disgust, remained four inches shorter than the two of us and took to wearing outrageous heels and outfits to compensate. She was always the most popular.
Our very distinct clothing styles began to emerge: me the arty, hippie girl. (They once refused to walk down the street with me because of a hat from Oxfam!)

Tash, probably to stop men swooning in the street, chose conservative classics and always looked like Grace Kelly. Son went the Victoria Beckham route for a while. She still has the shiny lizard print jeans in her wardrobe.