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What kind of vile creature is hiding behind his laptop writing horrible things about a woman who has just been dealt the worst possible hand any of us can imagine?
Nasty and abusive trolls are targeting Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, affectionately known as Fergie, who has been recovering from breast cancer and this week announced that she has also been diagnosed with malignant melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer. . It’s especially difficult for her because it’s the type of cancer her father was diagnosed with months before he died.
His friends say he stays in good spirits and is resilient, which doesn’t surprise me at all. That’s what I discovered in 1989 when I went to interview her in her surprisingly small apartment at Buckingham Palace. My Woman’s Hour team and I were a little surprised when she walked quickly into the living room where we were waiting.
We wonder if she could be the cleaning lady and not a princess. Her glorious mass of red hair was piled up under a mop cap. She was wearing her favorite t-shirt over stretchy jeans and slippers. There was no effort to impress and her welcome was warm and friendly. I liked her immediately.
Sarah Ferguson, affectionately nicknamed Fergie, is said to be “in good spirits” following her diagnosis of malignant melanoma, as she recovers from breast cancer.
A year after the birth of her first daughter, Beatrice, we talked about her new children’s book, Budgie, The Little Helicopter. The inspiration for her character was, naturally, her husband. Prince Andrew had been much admired for his efforts as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot during the Falklands War. So, at 30, he clearly adored and admired the man he called “My Handsome Prince.”
It became clear, even so early in the marriage, that everything might not be as good as she had hoped. She had been criticized for traveling to Australia in 1988 and leaving a young Bea at home. She obviously wanted to spend as much time as possible with her husband without interruptions. “After all,” she said, “we can only spend about 40 days a year together due to his naval duties.” I like to spend as much time as I can with him and keep an eye on what he’s doing.’
Back then, long before stories began to emerge about his friendships with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, I couldn’t help but think, ‘I bet so.’ We talked about Princess Diana, then 28, and how the two managed to find themselves at the head of the Royal Family and constantly in the public eye.
They could only achieve this, he told me, if they became good friends. They liked to dress up and go out on the town together, maybe sometimes being a little naughty, but generally well behaved. It was not good to attract bad publicity that would discredit the Crown.
He recognized that Diana was number one among the public and that she was beautiful and popular. She hinted at disappointment at not being able to match, but there was no suggestion of pain at the insults she had to endure about her weight and behavior at times.
He certainly received more than his fair share of criticism.
On a visit to California she had been described as brazen, vulgar and excessive. In her house in the late ’80s, she was “the pig duchess” and “fat Fergie,” insults she was well aware of, but which she did her best to laugh off. I found her absolutely charming, friendly, unpretentious, funny and tough and oh my goodness, she had to be.
Sarah Ferguson recognized that Diana was number one with the public and was beautiful and popular. She hinted at disappointment at not being able to match, but there was no suggestion of pain at the insults she had to endure.
Sarah and Prince Andrew on their wedding day at Westminster Abbey in 1986. They separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996.
In 1992, she and her husband had separated. In 1996 they divorced, just ten years after the big wedding at Westminster Abbey. I am sure that the behavioral demands placed on a 20th century royal wife were simply too restrictive for young women like Diana and Sarah to endure.
In 1997 Diana’s life ended tragically and too soon. Sarah has had to learn to navigate a new life on her own and there have been times when the devoted mother, loyal ex-wife and duchess kept out of the Royal Family has screwed it up a bit.
There was the Texas billionaire, Steve Wyatt, who she reportedly fell in love with while she was still married to Andrew. Then came American financial advisor John Bryan and the infamous toe-sucking incident while Sarah sunbathed topless in 1992. More than a decade later, she claimed that an undercover journalist tricked her into offering him access to her husband in exchange for large sums of money and managed to acquire enormous debts despite her efforts to earn money as a writer, film producer, and radio and television personality. And in 2012, she apologized for accepting money from Epstein, calling it “a gigantic error in judgment.”
But despite all the difficulties that still surround her ex-husband, she has remained loyal to him, often sharing his residence in Windsor. She has raised two daughters who, like her, have been victims of insults and trolls, but both appear to be happily married and Sarah now has three children.
At Christmas, when she was invited to Sandringham for the first time in years, there were signs she was being welcomed back into the fold. She should be. All I remember about her is a warm and friendly average Joe who had attracted the attention of the second son of the Royal Family. Sarah fell in love, she didn’t belong, but she did her best to be charitable, do good work, and make a living.
I admire her, I hope she has the best treatment for the sudden health diagnosis and can recover again. So leave Fergie alone and good luck to her.
How to ruin your daughter’s 18th birthday
It was Amanda Holden’s daughter Lexi’s 18th birthday party, but who was prancing around doing a flashy mom dance? Amanda, of course. Surely no mother should try to outdo her daughter on her special day. It’s about her, Amanda, not about you.
Amanda Holden has caused a stir with her enthusiastic dancing at her daughter Lexi’s (right) 18th birthday party. In the photo on the left: the mother and daughter last year.
Schiaparelli continues to impress
When I was a child, I used to sneak into my mother’s bedroom to smell her favorite perfume: Shocking by Schiaparelli. I loved. Now I see that the fashion house can still attract attention. J-Lo wore a white jacket made entirely of real white rose petals: Stunning! Unlike my mother’s perfume, I doubt it will last.
Singer Jennifer Lopez – J-Lo – wears a Shiaparelli jacket made of real white rose petals at Paris Fashion Week
- I’m finally at home. No more recovering from a broken vertebra and pneumonia in a nursing home while chatting with amazing women in their 90s. Now my companion is the very excited and affectionate Suu, the cat. The dogs will come home on Saturday and life will seem complete again.
Jenni Murray is happy to be back home with her cat Suu, who she describes as “tremendously excited and affectionate.” She now waits for the return of her dogs
This month Bethany Cox (pictured), 22, was found not guilty of using drugs to induce an illegal abortion.
Abortion law not fit for purpose
It is often said that abortion was legalized in 1967, but that is not entirely true. The total ban on terminating pregnancy was relaxed and it was legal for a woman to have an abortion up to 28 weeks of pregnancy with the permission of two doctors, but that is not the same as legalization.
There have been numerous attempts to reduce the time limit. It is now 24 weeks. Although the numbers are small, an increasing number of women have been prosecuted.
Last year, Carla Foster, who died after taking abortion pills at home at the end of her pregnancy, was sentenced to more than two years in prison (subsequently successfully appealed) under the Offenses Against the Person Act 1861, a totally independent law. of the Abortion Law, which makes it a crime for a woman to “cause a spontaneous abortion.”
This month Bethany Cox, 22, was found not guilty of using drugs to induce an illegal abortion. Three more women accused of illegal abortions are due to appear in court this year.
This has led the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to ask its members not to report women to the police if they believe they have terminated their pregnancies illegally. This is not enough.
The laws of 1861 and 1967 must be repealed. A fetus develops inside a woman. It should be her choice, not two doctors’, that she should decide to end.
It is she who will be left in charge of any unwanted baby. The law must change.