Even by her own dramatic standards, this has been a rollercoaster 12 months for the Duchess of York, who celebrates her 64th birthday today.
Amid the turmoil of Queen Elizabeth’s death, the Coronation of King Charles and continuing ructions caused within the Royal Family by Prince Harry and her own ex-husband’s fall from grace, Sarah Ferguson found she had been hit by breast cancer.
On top of that, there has been concern that the sheer cost of maintaining his £30m home at Royal Lodge on Windsor Great Park could force Prince Andrew to quit. This, in turn, could hit the duchess, who spends a great deal of time under the same roof, despite no longer being married to the prince.
Sarah Ferguson launched a new podcast, Tea Talks With the Duchess & Sarah, earlier this year. She is pictured with co-host Sarah Jane Thomson Soon after the launch, however, she announced to the world that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and would need surgery. She is pictured here with daughters Eugenie and Beatrice A childhood picture of Sarah Ferguson on a trike There has been better news, too, including the launch of a podcast, Tea Talks With the Duchess & Sarah, earlier this year.
More to point, she has been able to celebrate her another grandchild, Eugenie’s new baby boy Ernest, born on May 30. The Duchess was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year and underwent a gruelling eight-hour operation in London’s King Edward VII’s Hospital in June. Sarah’s concerns began five months ago when a routine test first detected something was seriously wrong before the Coronation.
In early May, Sarah attended an appointment in London for a mammogram. Rather than being given the all-clear, as expected, the technician explained that a ‘shadow’ could be seen in the breast.
Sarah explained that, given the large size of the area affected, a lumpectomy was ruled out and that she had been strongly advised to go ahead with a single mastectomy.
Sarah was said to be devastated but determined to press ahead with a mastectomy as soon as possible, telling friends she had ‘no choice’ but to go through with the operation.
She explained that, once it was complete, consultant plastic surgeon Stuart James, who was once hailed as one of the country’s top breast doctors by Tatler magazine, then took over, performing a breast reconstruction.
Speaking to co-host Sarah Thomson on her podcast, she explained how she is ‘coming to terms with my new best friend Derek’.
She said: ‘On my left, he’s called Derek… and he’s very important because he saved my life.’
She added: ‘Poor Eric on the right is feeling rather sad because he’s not as perky as Derek on the left, but I’ll get Eric balanced, don’t worry.’ Sarah Ferguson pictured around the time of her 1986 marriage to Prince Andrew The Duchess of York underwent a gruelling eight-hour operation following her diagnosis The royal shares the 30-room, £30million mansion with just his ex-wife Sarah (pictured together at Royal Ascot in 2019)Just months before Sarah shared the news of her diagnosis, it was revealed that King Charles was keen for Prince Andrew to quit his long-term Windsor home, Royal Lodge, in plans to scale down the monarchy.
The royal, who has been stripped of front line status and royal duties following his alleged involvement in the long-running Epstein scandal – he denies all wrong doing – shares the mansion with his former-wife Sarah.
It has been strongly speculated that the Royal Family would like Royal Lodge to go to the Prince of Wales and his growing family.
However Andrew, who took over the house from the late Queen Mother on a long-term lease has so refused to budge, despite a huge maintenance bill, estimated at £2million, for which he is liable.
Sources suggested it was hoped the pair could move to the nearby Frogmore Cottage – Harry and Meghan’s former home – where they could permanently ‘downsize’.
But any such move has been resisted.
It was suggested that at one point, Andrew – rightly or wrongly – feared he could be permanently evicted were he to leave the property, even temporarily.
Last week, it was reported that Prince Andrew will be staying at Royal Lodge, after all, implying that he has somehow found the money required for the maintenance.
But royal sources have cast doubt on this. Wednesday’s Daily Mail reported that, in the view of the King, Prince Andrew has little chance of raising the millions he needs to stay there.
There has been good news, too, for Sarah.
In May she became a grandmother for a third time to baby Ernest George Ronnie, the second son of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank.
The doting grandmother shared a snap of the angelic newborn – who was born via c-section on May 30 – sound asleep, wearing a blue and white hat in his cot with her in early June.
The caption read: ‘Amazing… The importance of Ernest… Thank you so so much, clever Eugenie, Jack and August Brooksbank,’ Sarah captioned her gushing post this afternoon. The baby is named after Eugenie’s grandfather, Major Ronald Ferguson (pictured with Sarah at the El Dorado Polo Club in California in March 1988) It was Princess Diana who was responsible for introducing Andrew and Sarah in the 1980s their first child Princess Beatrice in August 1988 and Princess Eugenie followed in March 1990. Pictured: Sarah with daughters Eugene and Beatrice along with The Spice Girls in December 1999Fergie later revealed she cried after finding out Eugenie and Jack’s son was named after her father in her podcast with Sarah Jane Thomson.
The baby is named after Eugenie’s grandfather on Sarah Ferguson’s side, Major Ronald Ferguson, as well as Jack Brooksbank’s father George Brooksbank, who passed away in November 2021.
‘He is a very, very, seriously beautiful little boy. Of course, everyone says that, but of course he is,’ she said. ‘He’s called Ernest George Ronnie. He’s Ernest because George III’s middle name was Ernest and also because it’s a fabulous name.’
‘And then George after Jack’s father and Ronald – Ronnie – after my father. [I was] really touched. When Jack and Eugenie told me, it was so moving that they put my dad in there. It was very kind, I thought, made me cry, of course.’
Along with her two other grandchildren, August Brookbanks, two, and Sienna Mapelli Mozzi, two, Sarah is sure to be celebrating years of accomplishments and a life worthy of a fairy tale as she often says.
Ahead of joining the Royal Family following her 1986 wedding, Sarah’s parents told the Washington Post that the pair were only three years old when they met at a polo match their fathers were both participating in.
As well as playing with Prince Philip, Sarah’s late father Ronald Ferguson was also the polo manager for King Charles.
However, it was Princess Diana who was responsible for reintroducing Andrew and Sarah in the 1980s.
In their engagement interview, Prince Andrew joked that he and Sarah were ‘made to sit next to each other’ at a party hosted by the Queen during Royal Ascot in 1985.
He said: ‘It was at Ascot, as it were, that the whole thing took off.’
Three months after their engagement was announced, Sarah and Andrew married at Westminster Abbey in July 1986.
Speaking to Piers Morgan in 2011, Sarah said: ‘We married for total love. And when I went up that aisle, I had… I married my man.’
The couple had their first child Princess Beatrice in August 1988 and Princess Eugenie followed in March 1990.
However, the couple legally separated just two years later. At the time, Sarah cited Prince Andrew’s naval commitments as the reason the marriage broke down. In their engagement interview, Prince Andrew joked that he and Sarah were ‘made to sit next to each other’ at a party Three months after their engagement was announced, Sarah and Andrew married at Westminster Abbey in July 1986 Pictured: Diana, Princess of Wales, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York, on a skiing holiday in Klosters, Switzerland, in February 1987.
That year, photos of the royal’s financial advisor John Bryan appearing to kiss Fergie’s feet on holiday made headlines around the world.
The notorious photographs were taken in August 1992 at a secluded private villa in the South of France, a few months after the Duchess of York had officially separated from Prince Andrew.
In 1996, Andrew and Sarah divorced – with the Duchess claiming that she had taken this decision so she could pursue a career independent of the Royal Family.
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