ANGELA MOLLARD: We used to say “poor Fergie” with derision and more than a little contempt. Now we say it with genuine affection and concern. She just got her life together… now she's considering not seeing her grandchildren grow up
When the Duke of York was captured on video at Sandringham on Christmas Day and the crowd was asked why they all had their phones out to record the royal family, it quickly became clear who the fans were really interested in.
“Sara, Sarah!” came the calls from well-wishers, drowning out Prince Andrew as he tried to explain what it was like to be confronted with a wall of telephones.
Nobody cared. The person they really wanted to talk to, the person they admired most in this strangely disconnected couple, was the Duchess of York, the woman who hadn't walked alongside the royals to a Christmas Day church service in more than thirty years.
It's been a long time coming, but Fergie, the larger-than-life, chaotic but eternally optimistic and well-meaning Duchess, has come in from the cold, but in the cruelest turn of events, no one has disturbed her newfound happiness and tranquility. , only two cancer diagnoses.
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, attends Christmas morning service at Sandringham Church for the first time in 32 years
Sarah stayed at the Mayrlife Clinic in Austria, where she rested and recovered
Sarah proved very popular on 'Good Morning Britain' in December 2023
We used to say 'poor Fergie' with derision and more than a little disdain. Now we say it with genuine affection and concern, because the 64-year-old grandmother of three has had breathtaking bad luck. Last year she revealed that she was being treated for breast cancer, a process that involved a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, and now she has discovered that she has skin cancer of the worst kind: malignant melanoma. Tests are done to determine if the cancer has spread.
It's all the more poignant because the royal family, once so maligned for its poor decisions, greedy behavior and downright stupidity, has recently undergone a midlife awakening. She is now a hard-working career woman, a charity dynamo, a devoted mother, a loyal ex-wife and a careful and enthusiastic cheerleader for the new royal family. If, ultimately, a measure of maturity is learning to think less of yourself and more of others, and to be guided by kindness above all, then Sarah Ferguson has finally grown up.
Poor Fergie. To finally get her life back on track after decades of shame and contempt and then find herself contemplating not seeing her grandchildren grow up, as she admitted on her podcast, is desperately sad.
We all remember the toe sucking, the attempts to sell access to Prince Andrew and the bad financial decisions, but underneath it all was probably just a girl with abandonment issues. Remember, Sarah was only 14 when her mother Susan Barrantes left home to live with a polo player in Argentina.
But in the modern form of therapy, Fergie has done the work. Those who know her say she is still cheerful and demonstrative, but there is a newfound reserve.
Sarah was seen with the late Queen's dog and revealed they were both also grieving
Sarah Ferguson launched a podcast with her friend Sarah Thompson in 2023
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson together at Ascot in 2019
Just like Camilla, just like Kate, just like Zara Tindall, she occupies that unique position where she has one foot inside the royal family and the experience of having the other outside. That's why she was so honest about her breast cancer – and urged others to check their breasts – and why she's now sharing intimate details of her latest diagnosis.
She has been brave and generous in discussing her health problems, but with her father diagnosed with skin cancer three months before his death from a heart attack in 2003, Sarah must be very concerned about where this will lead.
Here in Australia, where two in three people will be diagnosed with skin cancer in their lifetime, we applaud the Royal Family's extraordinary transparency in discussing their health issues. We do not see these challenges as weakness, but as the reality of being human. Sharing your personal medical misfortunes – knowing that speculation will increase just as you are trying to manage your own personal fears – goes beyond the call of duty and service. It is an act of grace.