Sarah Ferguson has revealed she wishes she could “do more” to support Queen Camilla and the royal family.
The Duchess of York, 65, ex-wife of Prince Andrew, spoke in a new interview with Sunday weatherpublished today, about his ‘close’ relationship with Camilla and his difficult childhood.
During the candid chat, Sarah – or ‘Fergie’ – as she is affectionately known, said she wishes the royals would ask her to “do more” as she looks forward to supporting them.
She said: “Queen Camilla was very close to Mum which is why we are so close now.” That’s why it’s so important that the Queen and I get along now.
It’s quite pretty and reminds me of mom. I admire the extraordinary support you are giving to this country. I want to do everything I can for the Queen. “I wish they would ask me to do more.”
Sarah’s comments come after a difficult year for the monarchy in which senior royals were out of action and unable to meet their busy schedules, but with King Charles’ preference for a “leaner” monarchy “, your request may not be fulfilled.
The King and Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Princess Royal were absent from royal duties at some point last year.
With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the US after stepping down as royals, and Prince Andrew out in the cold, the Firm was suddenly left with very few people to turn to.
Sarah Ferguson has revealed she wishes she could “do more” to support Queen Camilla and the royal family during an interview with The Sunday Times. Photographed earlier this month in Lorraine.
More recently, Queen Camilla revealed that she had been suffering from pneumonia for the past few weeks and continues to suffer from “lingering” side effects.
Charles, 75, was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in February following prostate surgery and has been receiving weekly treatment since.
The Princess of Wales was also diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and took time to recover, although she has now begun a slow return to duty.
Prince William then took time off from royal duties in the wake of the news and to care for Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six.
Princess Anne, considered by many to be the hardest-working royal, took exceptional time away from her duties after suffering a concussion in a horse-related incident, before returning to duties in July.
It’s a stark difference from previous years, when at one point the British Royal Family consisted of 18 working royals who could be called upon to help with engagements.
There are now only nine members of the Firm, including the Duke, 79, and the Duchess of Gloucester, 77. Junior royals who have helped in previous years include Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, the daughters of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.
But with the Duke of York exiled from his public duties and both princesses busy with their young families and jobs, a repeat is unlikely.
Fergie was banished to the sidelines for years after her high-profile divorce from Prince Andrew in 1996, but more recently she appears to be back in the royal fold.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla greet the Prince and Princess of Wales with their children in 2023
Queen Camilla (right) has been out of action due to pneumonia in recent weeks and continues to suffer from “lingering” side effects. Camilla and Charles are pictured earlier this month.
Sarah and Prince Andrew attended day four of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse in 2019.
Fergie was invited to the King’s Coronation Concert in May and spent Christmas at Sandringham, where she walked alongside members of the Royal Family to the church.
If that wasn’t enough to prove that the Duchess of York is back from the cold, she was front and center at the memorial service for the late King Constantine of Greece at Windsor Castle.
In an extraordinary turnaround after his mother, the late Queen, banned him from royal duties and stripped him of his military and HRH titles just two years ago, Andrew, 64, led the Signature to St George’s Chapel, and his ex-wife was right next door. his side.
“Prince Andrew and the Yorks are firmly back in the fold,” one royal watcher told MailOnline after the Duke and Duchess’ united display at the service.
The extraordinary change of fortune for Sarah, which would have been unthinkable if Prince Philip were still alive, is attributed to the king rewarding her loyalty and the duchess finding a powerful defender in Queen Camilla.
But ultimately King Charles would have a greater role in public duties.
A source told The Mail On Sunday: “There is a feeling that, whatever Sarah’s personal flaws (and she may be like Marmite in that sense), she has been a good mother to the girls and loyal to Andrew.”
A friend of Charles echoed this sentiment, telling the Daily Mail’s Richard Kay in December: “(The King) has always appreciated loyalty and appreciates everything Fergie has done for his brother.”
The Princess of Wales was also diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and Kensington Palace confirmed she would not be working for the rest of the year while she continues her treatment.
It may be an exaggeration to say that she has kept him alive, but she has certainly kept him sane. Can you imagine what Andrew would be like without Sarah who, despite everything, is one of life’s optimists?’
In the four years since Andrew’s fall from grace for his links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, no one has been more supportive than his ex-wife, who has not shied away from defending him publicly, telling the Sunday Times in an interview that she “I won’t let him down.”
The King, who softened his deal with Sarah last year, also admires the way the Duchess has restored her own reputation by keeping her family together.
The Royal Family is unlikely to have forgotten the photographs of Fergie ‘sucking her toes’, taken while she was on holiday with her Texas tycoon lover, or the way she offered access to Andrew in exchange for cash and was caught in a newspaper raid. .
But in recent times the duchess, who still lives with Andrew at the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park in Berkshire, has found a powerful supporter in the king’s wife, who “likes Sarah”, according to a source.
The source told the Mail On Sunday earlier this month: ‘They are both nobles. They share a love of horses and Fergie will be smart enough to play with Camilla and realize that she is the power behind the King. That you should be kind to them and support them.
In December, the Duke and Duchess of York walked behind royals as crowds lined the street outside St Mary Magdalene Church for the traditional Christmas Day service at the Norfolk estate.
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson arrive at the funeral of Constantine of Greece at Windsor Palace in February.
Prince Andrew is seen kissing Sarah on the balcony, after their wedding ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
It was the first time Fergie joined royals for the walk in 32 years, after Prince Philip banned her from attending.
According to her biographer Gyles Brandreth, she was “out of the ordinary” as far as Philip was concerned, and “vulgar, vulgar, vulgar,” as one courtier memorably put it.
For years, her ex-husband took his daughters to Royal Family celebrations without Sarah. She was even left off the guest list for Prince William and Kate’s wedding in 2011, while the rest of her immediate family attended the glittering occasion.
In an interview with Town & Country in 2021, the Duchess revealed that she herself felt she was “not worthy” of attending the event and left the country.
‘I didn’t think I was probably worthy of going to their wedding. “In fact, I took myself to Thailand to be away from there and to try to heal myself,” he said.
But attitudes towards Fergie softened slightly in 2018, when she was invited to Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle.
Then, in May 2023, Sarah was invited to the Coronation Concert as a “VIP attendee”, according to reports from The Sun.
Although he was not allowed to attend the coronation itself; her daughters and Prince Andrew attended the historic event at Westminster Abbey.
The Duchess consistently defended her ex-husband, calling him “a completely good and very kind man” who “shines” as a grandfather during an appearance on Lorraine in August 2021.
“Prince Andrew is a good man, he is a really good man,” she said during the television interview.
“He’s a very kind man, he’s a really good father and we were very good parents, hence the reason why our daughters are very solid and down to earth.”
“But now as a grandfather he’s really good, he can spend hours talking about football and stuff.” It’s a pleasure to see him really shine as a grandfather.”
In 2018, Sarah told the Daily Mail: “We are the happiest divorced couple in the world.” We are divorced from each other, not from each other (…) My duty is to him. I’m very proud of him. I support him and always will. Our way of being is our fairy tale.’
Recently, speculation has increased that the Duke and Duchess of York are thinking about getting married again.
The rumors emerged after Sarah revealed that she was diagnosed with malignant melanoma just months after undergoing a second round of reconstructive surgery following her breast cancer diagnosis.