Fergie: My lowest ebb after split from Andy
Her friends feared she was at risk of committing suicide
THE Duchess of York has revealed she became so depressed following her split from Prince Andrew that friends feared she was suicidal.
Sarah Ferguson said she felt a ‘huge public humiliation’ after the breakdown of her marriage and was so distraught she refused to leave her bedroom.
She only managed to pull herself together after a friend gave her some stern advice about how much her daughters, who were children at the time, were relying on her, she told an audience on Thursday night.
The Duchess said: ‘There was a moment when I did not want to come out of the room. One of my good friends who was looking after me, she did think every time she came into the room that I would have committed suicide. It was when the world saw a huge public humiliation and I think those experiences have made me much stronger.
‘[My daughters] are the reason I got out.
‘There was a moment when I was under the bed. A friend Sally came in, took the duvet off, threw back the window and said “Take your children to school.” It was because of my girls I decided it was important to get on.’
The Duchess, who split from Andrew in 1992 after six years of marriage, confessed she also wished she had heeded a piece of wisdom given to her by Prince Philip.
The 56-year-old is known for being gaffe-prone and said the Duke of Edinburgh, now 95, once said to her: ‘Remember when you go out in public you have to know your actions will hit the front pages of the newspapers’.
Recalling that advice, she said: ‘Perhaps I should have listened more. I would go back to the 26-year- old me and say
‘Made me much stronger’
“Don’t talk to strangers.” Maybe that would have helped.’
As her marriage to Andrew was faltering in the early 90s, the Duchess was linked with various other men including Texan multi-millionaire Steve Wyatt, while her husband was away on royal duties. The Duke and Duchess agreed to separate in January 1992, and in August the same year, surreptitiously taken photographs of John Bryan, an American financial manager were published which appeared to show Mr Bryan kissing and sucking the Duchess’s toes.
Her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, also attended the event at the China Exchange exhibition centre in London on Thursday night as the Duchess spoke about her struggles with depression.
A note in the Duchess’s car on Thursday also emphasised her closeness to her children.
As she got into the back of her car in Mayfair, London a Post-it note from one of her daughters could be seen taped to the back of the seat in front of her which read: ‘I love you mummy. xx’
The mother- of- two has endured a difficult relationship with the press at times and been dubbed the ‘queen of cringe’ for her reported flings and other scandals.
The Duchess was embroiled in a News of the World sting involving fake sheikh Mazher Mahmood in 2010 after she offered access to her former husband, who was a UK trade ambassador at the time, in exchange for £500,000. She was also accused of capitalising on her title to become a spokesman for the group Weight Watchers International, for which she was paid m millions of pounds.
But the Duchess told the audience on Thursday: ‘I feel t that I am very strong about my message now which is to experience life. I have a pure heart of joy and I have just realised at the age of 56 that it is OK to be yourself. And it is OK not to perfect and not read 56million books and have not gone to Harvard.’
The Duchess also spoke out about cyber bullying as she admitted her daughters had suffered from it.
She said: ‘There is so much pressure on young people now. I think it is wrong.
‘I fight very strongly for my girls because I think they have been bullied without any defence in the last year more than ever. I won’t tolerate it.
‘As a mother of two incredible children, I am very honest with them if I think they are wrong. But I am very proud of them.
‘They are the biggest examples of what it takes to be a good pair of parents and to bring them up with strength.’