DUCHESS DISHES THE DIRT!
She’s no longer a power player in The Firm, but Fergie still has lots to say
Royal divorcée Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York proved she could still pull a palaceworthy crowd in New York to promote her new book
A Most Intriguing Lady.
The 63-year-old swept the US publicity circuit last week and going by her headlinegrabbing statements from the past seven days, it’s no wonder why...
ON MISSING THE QUEEN...
Sarah enjoyed a close relationship with her motherin-law until the monarch’s death in September aged 96.
In an interview with People magazine, Sarah described Her Majesty as “my total idol”, explaining, “She just knew what to do. She knew how to make people feel good.”
In another interview, Fergie insisted she felt “liberated” by the Queen’s death. “It’s like I’ve taken the mental shackles out of my brain... I don’t know whether it’s the Queen passing on that I now think I can just sort of say openly what I want to say without worrying I’m going to offend somebody.”
ON BATTLING MEDIA...
During her public weight battle, one British newspaper cruelly nicknamed Sarah the “Duchess of Pork” – and she remembers meeting the editor who coined the phrase.
In a live chat with Glamour magazine, she recalled, “I looked at this little chap – round, jovial – and I thought, ‘My heavens, you were the cause of my eating disorders, my mental stress, my demise...’ If only I’d known it wasn’t real. It was entirely made up.”
ON STANDING BY HER EX, PRINCE ANDREW...
Fergie still lives – for now
– at Windsor’s Royal Lodge with her ex-husband Andrew, Duke of York, also 63, who had strong ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Despite this, Sarah stands by the father of their two daughters, Princesses Beatrice, 34, and Eugenie, 32.
“During the last three years, [the Queen’s] poor son has been going through such a tumultuous time and I think HM was very relieved I could help her with him,” Fergie told The Telegraph. “She knew I will always be there. Always. Because I love her.”
ON MEETING MEGHAN...
Despite the Duchess of Sussex’s anecdote that Sarah helped her curtsey the first time she met the Queen, Fergie tells a different story. While describing her as “absolutely beautiful”, Sarah claims she doesn’t really know her and hasn’t really met her.
“She’s made Harry very happy and that is so nice,” she says. “Honestly, he’s so happy with her. She really loves him. And I think that’s beautiful – and that [Harry’s mum, the late Princess] Diana would be proud of him and her lovely grandchildren.
ON ADOPTING THE CORGIS...
After the Queen died, Sarah took custody of her two remaining corgis, Sandy and Muick. “I am their favourite, but everybody always says it’s because I feed them gravy bones,” she told Hello! magazine. “I love everything about them and I spoil them the most.”
Fergie’s convinced the dogs know when the spirit of their former mistress is paying a visit. “I always think that when they bark at nothing and there are no squirrels in sight, I believe it’s because the Queen is passing by.”
ON HER FRIENDSHIP WITH DIANA...
Fergie shared an on-off friendship with Diana, but the duchess – who is grandma to Eugenie’s son August, two, and Beatrice’s 17-month-old daughter Sienna – believes they’d be close if she were still alive. She says, “I think we’d have a ‘granny-off’ because she would run faster in the races. I wonder... She’d probably be funnier. No, I think I’d be funnier!”
ON HER HOLLYWOOD PLANS & THE PRESLEYS...
After taking the wider US by storm, sources close to Sarah say she’s looking to focus on dominating Hollywood next.
A Stateside network is said to be already interested in adapting A Most Intriguing Lady, which is based on the story of a duke’s daughter during the Victorian era who secretly moonlights as an amateur sleuth. At the time of going to press, it was also rumoured that she’ll walk the red carpet at the Oscars this week to honour her late friend Lisa Marie Presley.