Sarah Ferguson on achieving her dreams, and how her girls have supported her through her recent illness
She’s one of the most famous women in the world, but Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York, is so down to earth and fun-loving that it’s easy to forget you’re speaking to a member of the royal family.
She’s in good spirits when Yours sits down with her, because she’s excited about her new novel, A Woman of Intrigue. “For 20 years I’ve had a dream of becoming a novelist,” she tells us. “I was inspired by a quote from the great Sidney Poitier, who said: ‘It’s difficult when you’re carrying other people’s dreams. You have to hold on to the dream that’s inside yourself and know if you’re true to that, that’s all that matters.’”
With her latest novel now out in paperback, Sarah has certainly achieved that dream. And she’s hoping to inspire other people to follow their later-life passions. “I feel as if I have embarked on a new career in my 60s. I am proud to call myself an author,” she says. “It was such a proud moment for me when both my books made the Sunday Times bestseller list.
“I wanted to build on the world of the first novel, Her Heart for a Compass, with AWoman of Intrigue. It’s set in the same period and features the sister of my last heroine. Lady Mary is an amateur sleuth –I hope it will appeal to fans of detective fiction.”
Sarah, 64, wrote her new novel while undergoing treatment for cancer, after she was diagnosed with both breast and skin cancer last year. Thankfully now out the other side, she’s well placed to not only support Princess Catherine, 42, and King Charles, 75, through their own cancer battles, but also the public.
“If just one person is inspired to get checked and catches cancer early, it will be worth talking about my story,” says the ever-reslient Sarah. “I don’t think people are frightened of talking about cancer, but perhaps they are reticent about getting checked.
“In the UK there are 1.2 million missed mammograms at the moment, which means a massive missed opportunity to detect the disease at that critical early stage. That needs to change.”
Fergie, as she is affectionately known, is clearly full of love for her daughters Beatrice (35) and Eugenie (34), from her marriage to Prince Andrew. Although she and Andrew divorced in 1996, they remain friends and Fergie currently lives at his home, Royal Lodge, in Berkshire.
“We are lucky to be a very close family,” she says. “The girls love spending time with us, which is wonderful. We like to talk and share anything that may be on our minds. They’ve both been a marvellous support to me through my illnesses. We cal
