Exclusive! Sarah, Duchess of York: My story
As she publishes her first novel – a rip-roaring romance set in the Victorian era – Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, has treated best readers to an exclusive short story…
Who doesn’t love a bit of historical romance set in a Royal court amongst the highest echelons of society? And who better to deliver a juicy read with gilt-edged Royal appeal than Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York? After all, when it comes to life at court, Fergie knows her stuff.
In fact, Fergie, 61, has turned to her own family history to provide inspiration and Her Heart for a Compass, her historical romance novel published today, is a fictional account of the life of her greatgreat-aunt, Lady Margaret Montagu-Douglas- Scott.
The Duchess said: ‘It all started with researching my ancestry. Digging into the history of the MontaguDouglas- Scotts, I came across Lady Margaret, who intrigued me because she shared one of my given names. But although her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, were close friends with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, I was unable to discover much about my namesake’s early life, and so was born the idea which became Her Heart for a Compass.’
So with a relatively blank canvas about the life of her ancestor, Sarah let her imagination fly.
‘ With real historical events and facts to hand, my imagination took over. I invented a history for her that incorporated real people and events, including some of my other ancestors. I created a friendship between my heroine and Princess Louise, Queen Victoria’s sixth child, and I drew on many parallels from my life for Lady Margaret’s journey.’
And it’s clear that while Lady Margaret is not Sarah, she has some similarities with her creator. She’s described as ‘Titian-haired’, with freckles and ‘rebellious curls’ – and she is, to her detriment, ‘too anxious to please’; one suitor even criticises her for talking too much.
Co-written with Scottish author Marguerite Kaye, the novel sweeps from the drawing rooms of Victoria’s court and the grand country houses of Scotland and Ireland, to the slums of London and the bustle of 1870s New York.
Sarah, now a grandmother of one, with another on the way, says, ‘I have thrown my voice into each line and I’m very proud.’
And for her, life as an author is the start of a new chapter: ‘The truth is, I am 61 years old and I’m free of the self-sabotaging Sarah.’
Turn over to read our exclusive short story by Sarah Ferguson: Her Heart for a Compass: The Great Exhibition.