This blog was written by Louise Piper, a University of Glasgow student studying for an MSc in End of Life Studies.
German twin sisters, 89-year-old Alice and Ellen Kessler, died together at their home in Grunwald, Germany by assisted dying. Alice and Ellen had lived and worked together for decades. They were both former professional dancers and show business stars, having made a name in Hollywood with stars such as Sinatra and Astaire. They trained at The Lido in Paris, toured internationally, and featured on the cover of Playboy magazine in the 1950s in their dancing outfits. In November 2025, they chose to die together by assisted dying. They were not terminally ill. Those are the facts. What followed across European and British media was not a disagreement about the event of the sisters’ assisted deaths, but about whether their decision to end their own life was understandable, troubling, controversial, or quietly suspect.
This blog looks at the language and framing used in the media reporting of the story, and considers what that reveals about how old age, autonomy, and rational suicide are treated in public discourse. It follows Dr Naomi Richards’ blog The UK Assisted Dying Debate: Some Reflections on the Discourse (22 May 2025) which discussed how aspects of assisted dying are being publicly framed in the UK, and in particular, how the UK media tends to create op-eds on the issues under debate, rather than providing factual descriptions of the evolution of assisted dying in areas with similar laws.
This blog is not an argument for assisted dying. It is an argument for paying attention to how events are framed – particularly by the headlines. The words used in headlines capture attention, set the tone, and influence the context of our understanding, well before an Op-Ed or an obituary is published.
“Completed Life” and Cultural Unease
The Kessler sisters described their lives as complete, their physical capacities as diminishing, and their desire not to live without one another as decisive. In their last decades they lived in adjoining apartments – in a duplex with a single entrance. They met daily for lunch. On reaching a decision that they did not want to continue living if one of them was no longer alive, and that they wanted to die on the same day, they spent over a year putting their wish into action. They arranged a joint assisted death with the lethal dose administered by a physician, with a lawyer present, in line with the procedures of the German Society for Humane Dying.
In several European countries, particularly those influenced by Dutch and Belgian ethical debates, the idea of a “completed life” is a recognised, if somewhat contested position. It is discussed seriously, even when opposed. Old age, dependency, and diminishing capacity are treated as legitimate contexts for the notion of a “completed life.” As Richards’ writes in her 2017 article Old Age Rational Suicide:
“For some, a feeling that their biography is complete can be the central motivation in their decision to end their own life. For others, the loss (or feared loss) of independence resulting from declining physical and cognitive health is also something which cannot be remedied and is considered sufficient reason by some for wanting to end their own life.”
In the UK, self-chosen death outside the context of terminal illness is still largely framed as a failure: of care, support, or of safeguarding and potentially driven by (remediable) loneliness. Opponents frequently use the “moral pressure” argument, as a reason to oppose legislation. Old age rational suicide is assumed to be tragic. That assumption surfaces in editorials, headlines, and in the adjectives used in the narrative.
Where the Judgement Happens: The Headlines
British Press Coverage
Sky News (UK): The Kessler twins, German dance stars in the 50s and 60s, die in ‘joint suicide’, police say.
The mention of police in this headline implies that something about this death requires justification.
The Independent (UK): Twin icons who performed at Eurovision choose to end their lives together
This headline is followed by – ‘Police were informed on Monday that the sisters had reportedly opted for “assisted suicide,” stating they “no longer wanted to live.” The reference to the police being informed and use of the term “reportedly” imply distance from the decision.
The Guardian (UK): The Kessler Twins sisters Alice and Ellen die together aged 89.
The initial framing – “die together” – is euphemistic. Secondary reporting is more measured but still hedged. ‘German sisters choose assisted death after saying they had lived a full life.’ The verb “saying” subtly introduces some doubt about the considered and informed nature of their decision, and there is no discussion of the extensive legal processes which needed to be following in order to achieve their lawful assisted death. This was not a whimsical decision.
A number of newspapers followed these initial headlines a few days later with a focus on the sisters’ celebrity, but not the issue of assisted dying.
The Guardian (UK): Inseparable, sensuous and confident, the Kessler twins were pioneers of variety show culture.
The Times (UK): The Final pact of the dancing twins who dazzled post war Europe’
The Telegraph (UK): Alice and Ellen Kessler, who became famous in the US and Europe in the 1950s, died together at their home in Germany.
It appears that the UK broadsheets ducked any mention of ageing, autonomy and assisted dying, thus avoiding the opportunity to highlight and address the debate around assisted dying for terminal illness, and, the further opportunity to explore the distinction between assisted dying for those with a terminal illness and those who might chose to die because they feel they have lived a “completed” life.
Daily Mail/MailOnline (UK): Kessler twins who worked with Frank Sinatra and wowed Elvis Presley ‘paid a lot of money’ to die together at 89.
This heading uses moralistic wording, while the accompanying copy foregrounds shock value and celebrity status, repeatedly noting that the sisters “were not terminally ill” and “no longer wanted to live” – a phrase that frames the decision as a loss of will rather than an active choice.
Across these outlets, the pattern is consistent: qualification precedes explanation; fears about moral pressure and safeguarding precedes identification of the underlying debate; and the issue is often couched and hidden behind reports of the sisters’ careers.
European Press Coverage
German press
BILD: Inseparable in life, united in death.
Die Weld: They embodied the beautiful Germany for the whole world, they remained mistresses of their bodies and destinies until the very end.
The decision is stated plainly, without qualifying clauses in the headlines about the act, their age, the lack of terminal illness.
Belgian press
HLN: ‘German singing twins Alice and Ellen Kessler (89) died: sisters chose euthanasia together’ ‘Sisters choose assisted death after long reflection on ageing and dependency’
Here, the emphasis falls on deliberation and process and there is a clear statement naming euthanasia reflecting the long-standing public and legal familiarity with euthanasia reporting in Belgium.
Dutch press
VRT news: ‘have committed suicide together at the age of 89 ‘A shared decision at the end of a shared life’
Typically, Dutch media leads with the sisters’ relationship, their choice for euthanasia at the centre, without any implicit judgements about their choice.
In the European coverage the sisters’ voices are allowed to come first. Disagreements, safeguarding or the argument about the ‘slippery slope’ when included, appear later in the articles, not as headline framing.
Framing the Analysis
The portrayal of the sisters’ deaths in the British press indicates a discomfort with the notion of an assisted death, using terminology which implies subtle judgement, and avoids a discussion of the nature and process for their decision. While appearing respectful on the surface, the articles undermine the sisters’ agency through the use of language:
- “claimed” or “said” rather than “decided”
- heavy emphasis on the fact that they were not terminally ill
- third‑party commentary positioned above the sisters’ own words
- an avoidance of mentioning their mode of death
- focus on their careers and fame.
The result is a narrative in which the sisters are not treated as authors of their decision, and therefore that their mode of death is something to be concerned about. Their age becomes an implicit argument against their autonomy. All British media reporting finished with a statement along the lines of ‘assisted suicide is legal in this German jurisdiction.’ They made no effort to report on the nature of the debate in the UK, to explain how German law developed, or that many European citizens have access to assisted dying. They forwent an opportunity to educate and inform their readers in the UK.
Is This Ageism?
The language used in much of the British coverage points to a socially acceptable form of ageism. The sisters’ decision is framed as ‘a lack’, namely no longer wanting to live, despite not being ill, rather than as the presence of considerable agency. Old age is treated as a condition to be managed, not a standpoint from which to make final and independent decisions. As dependency increases, autonomy is quietly withdrawn. Choice becomes suspicious precisely when it is exercised late in life. What is presented as concern arguably masks discomfort with the idea that a life can be judged ‘complete’ by the person living it.
Media Framing
The media does not merely report events; it defines the limits of socially acceptable thought. When assisted dying for reasons related to the accumulated losses of old age is consistently alluded to as alarming, controversial, or aberrant, our imagination is narrowed. Readers are steered and influenced towards a stance of prevention as the ethical response, which disregards the context of autonomy, one of the primary tenets of what is considered to constitute a good death. While the Kessler twins were celebrated in life we don’t know whether they wished their mode of death to be celebrated. But by documenting their wishes, they were asking to be understood. Some media outlets allowed that. Others, politely but firmly, did not.
My Conclusion
If the media cannot report on assisted dying for reasons related to the accumulated losses of old age without qualification, hedging, or moral posturing, the problem is not assisted dying, or openness to the notion of old age rational suicide, or that of a “completed” life. The problem is arguably our unresolved fear of ageing and dying itself. The question is not whether everyone would want to make the same choice. It is whether such choices can be described plainly, without judgement embedded in tone, adjectives, or grammar. The reporting of the Kessler twins death shows how easily language shifts from describing an event to quietly questioning the autonomy or the morality of the people who died. When that happens, autonomy in old age becomes conditional rather than genuine. Until we can report these end-of -life decisions without flinching, the autonomy so often cited in assisted dying debates remains more of a rhetorical construct, than an embodied choice.
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Louise Piper is a practicing end-of-life doula, Chair of End of Life Doula UK, and currently completing an MSc in End of Life Studies at the University of Glasgow. The views expressed here draw on learning from the courses The Continuum of Ageing and Dying and Assisted Dying: Rhetorics and Reality. Louise is particularly interested in how media and wider cultural narratives shape our understanding of the body, ageing, and mortality.