It’s only rock and royal ...Fergie to launch pop career with Will.i.am!
No it’s not April 1st yet – rapper and Duchess to share beats and poetry
HER varied and controversial career has included spells as an author, television presenter and charity fundraiser. Now Sarah Ferguson plans to dazzle as a poet and musical collaborator.
The Duchess of York is embarking on a new venture by teaming up with rap artist Will.i.am, 44, who will put her words to music.
According to sources close to the former wife of Prince Andrew, the Duchess – who has published more than 40 books – has started writing poetry and has been telling friends how much she is enjoying learning a new skill.
The 59-year-old is also said to be planning to write poetry with Chickenshed, the London- based charity and theatre group which is supported by celebrities including David Walliams, Emma Bunton and Cliff Richard.
A spokesperson for the Duchess told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Fergie is open to collaborating with Will. i.am. She has been writing poems.’ The collaboration comes after The Voice judge – real name William Adams – said he wanted to put some of the Duchess’s sonnets to music during an interview to promote the ITV talent show.
‘I want to do a project with Fergie. I want to do her poetry over my beats,’ he said. ‘Royal Fergie does poetry, right? Imagine her reciting poetry over my beats.’
The par t ner s hi p may seem unlikely, but the chart- topping musician is friendly with Sarah, Prince Andrew, 59, and their elder daughter, Beatrice, 30.
Sarah reportedly i ntroduced Will. i. am to Andrew, whom she divorced amicably in 1996, when they visited the musician’s charity in his home neighbourhood of Boyle Heights in Los Angeles.
With his former Black Eyed Peas bandmate Stacy Ferguson also using the nickname Fergie, Will.i.am is said to refer to Sarah as ‘the real Fergie’.
‘She’s my home girl. We do tea all the time and stuff,’ he revealed.
‘She came to my ghetto – Royal Fergie and Prince Andrew came to my ghetto to mentor the kids at my school. I love Fergie.
‘And her daughter Beatrice is the coolest, I love her eyes.’
While her ability as a poet is so far unknown, the Duchess has previously written for both children and adults.
After penning autobiographies and weight-loss plans for her adult readers, her popular children’s stories include Little Red and Tea For Ruby, which topped the New York Times bestseller list on its debut.
The Duchess has al s o been involved in other creative projects: she was a producer on the 2009 film The Young Victoria, which starred Emily Blunt, and had a cameo role in the hit US sitcom Friends.
Despite her willingness to support herself through a variety of business ventures, the Duchess’s money problems have been well documented. At one point, her overdraft at the Queen’s bank Coutts stood at £5 million.
After her divorce, Fergie admitted she had ‘little’ understanding of money thanks to her lavish – but restrictive – life as a member of the Royal Family. She raised eyebrows within royal circles when she decided to take on speaking engagements and signed a multimillion- pound ambassador contract with Weight Watchers in the US.
Fergie told Harper’s Bazaar in 2007 that she had chosen a small divorce settlement in order to stay on good terms with the Queen and added that her decision to divorce was a financial one. ‘I wanted to work,’ she said. ‘It’s not right for a princess of the Royal House to be commercial, so Andrew and I decided to make the divorce official so I could go off and get a job.’