Duchess of York tells new podcast how she was diagnosed with breast cancer after routine mammogram

Sarah Ferguson underwent an operation for breast cancer after a routine mammogram, her spokesman revealed tonight.

The Duchess of York, 63, is now back at home in Windsor with family after undergoing a routine for the malady.

Prince Andrew’s ex-wife and the mother of his two daughters has been discharged today from the King Edward VII hospital in Marylebone, Central London, friends revealed – with one saying that her prognosis was good because the breast cancer was detected early.

The friend stated: ‘It’s been a difficult time but she is very grateful to the medical staff who carried out the mammogram and and the medical staff who looked after her these last few days, she is incredibly thankful.’

A spokesman for the Duchess said: ‘Sarah, Duchess of York was recently diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer detected at a routine mammogram screening.

‘She was advised she needed to undergo surgery which has taken place successfully.

‘The Duchess is receiving the best medical care and her doctors have told her that the prognosis is good. She is now recuperating with her family.

‘The Duchess wants to express her immense gratitude to all the medical staff who have supported her in recent days.

‘She is also hugely thankful to the staff involved in the mammogram which identified her illness, which was otherwise symptom free, and believes her experience underlines the importance of regular screening.’

The duchess will apparently speak about her diagnosis and treatment in an upcoming episode of her podcast ‘Tea Talks with the Duchess and Sarah’, due to air tomorrow.

The Duchess of York recorded an episode of her podcast the day before she went into hospital.

The King Edward VII Hospital in Marylebone is a private hospital which has treated members of the royal family for decades

The Duchess of York’s elder daughter Princess Beatrice was today spotted greeting friends on the final day of Glastonbury – while revellers were seen holding a banner with a hilarious picture of Prince Louis.

Beatrice, 34, was seen with husband Edo Mapelli Mozzi this afternoon – the last day of the festival which sees Sir Elton John set to close the event as the headline act.

Her appearance came after her mother, Sarah, the Duchess of York, had a successful operation following a diagnosis for breast cancer. The duchess is recuperating at home in Windsor.

Meanwhile, among the multitude of flags flying in the crowds was one picturing the youngest son of Prince William and Princess Kate. 

The image shows the cheeky Prince at last year’s Trooping of the Colour when he stole the hearts of many after pulling a face and covering his hands up to his ears during the flyover.

The Duke of York’s daughter was dressed in a long sleeved black top, black skirt, white Adidas trainers and a cross-body handbag, and was wearing a pink wristband.

She smiled as she embraced friends before heading in the direction of the Left Field area.

Beatrice, who also attended the festival last year, is not the only royal to have descended on the Worthy Farm site in the past.

Her sister Princess Eugenie has been previously, and their cousin the Duke of Sussex was pictured in the crowds in 2013 with his then-girlfriend Cressida Bonas.

She shared an Instagram post on 15 May confirming the first episode of ‘Tea Talks with the Duchess and Sarah’.

She explained it is a ‘new weekly podcast about the highs and lows of everyday life’ and would see her ‘taking on some of the biggest and strangest stories from around the world.’

On the first episode of the show, which was released last month, Fergie insisted she is ‘very shy’ and said she ‘trusts too much’ and ‘too many people.’

Meanwhile elsewhere, as her co-host Sarah Jane Thomson teased she wanted to know more about her, the royal said: ‘Do I have a boyfriend? No.’

And after her co-host asked: ‘Do you want one?’ Fergie replied: ‘Yes’. 

Her comments come after years of rumours that she would one day marry Prince Andrew. 

Their unconventional relationship has now developed into what Sarah describes as ‘the happiest divorced couple we know’, with the pair appearing to spend more time together than during the ten years they were actually married (when Andrew was often away on naval service).

They still share a home, living at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, the ten-bedroom former residence of the Queen Mother, although this cosy arrangement may soon come to an end as part of King Charles’s projected reshuffle of royal residences.

And the pair regularly holiday together with their daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, leading to sporadic speculation that given neither Sarah nor Andrew has found subsequent great romance, there is always the possibility they may one day remarry.

These rumours gained more impetus after the death of Andrew’s irascible father Prince Philip, who in his later years refused to countenance even being in the same room as Sarah.

Asked directly on the ITV show Loose Women if a rekindling of romance was likely, Sarah brushed the subject aside. ‘Oh, goodness me,’ she responded to the show’s presenters, ‘you’re all fairytale, you’ve all got your wands out. Andrew and I remain steadfast, in the past we’ve been co-parenting and now we’re co-grandparenting.’

A former courtier who has known Andrew for three decades observes: ‘Theirs is not a great passionate romance – they have separate bedrooms at Royal Lodge – but it’s more about the deepest form of friendship. It’s a very unusual relationship for a divorced couple, especially to the outside world, but they’re utterly devoted and would defend each other to the death.’

In another recent interview, Sarah described her relationship with Andrew as an achievement of which she was proud. ‘We’re divorced to each other, not from each other. We are co-parents who support each other and believe that family is everything. I’m proud of the job we have done together in bringing up our children and sustaining a strong family unit. Our bywords are communication, compromise and compassion.’

It is an unorthodox arrangement, of which the royal author Penny Junor observes: ‘It seems utterly bizarre, and who knows what their relationship really is. Sarah has not just stood silently by his side, she actually speaks out in favour of him.’

Elsewhere on her first podcast, Fergie insisted she is ‘actually very shy’, saying: ‘I play down to make myself very tiny to keep myself out  of everyone’s way. 

‘I’m frightened if I put my head above the parapet that I’ll be shot down in flames.

‘I’m coming from a very bruised place.’

The Duchess said that while she can appear to be ‘a very courageous public figure… really, I’m deeply sensitive and I mind terribly, and I’m very shy, which people don’t know’. 

She said she was coming from ‘an incredibly brave’ place, adding: ‘I’ve been on the treadmill since I was 12.’

Later she said: ‘I need to have a bit more of left brain to make me a bit more business-savvy. 

‘Maybe I trust far too much and too many people.’ 

Meanwhile she also revealed how she confronts people trying to take photographs of her without her noticing. 

She described an encounter in the security line at Heathrow’s Terminal Four during a recent trip to Croatia, when she said fellow passengers ‘surreptitiously’ took their cameras out.

She said: ‘So then I go up and say, ‘would you like a selfie?’ and they say, ‘no, no, I don’t know what you’re thinking’.

‘And then you feel like ‘oh, so sorry, how dare I presume that you would want a photograph’, when full well they wanted a photograph.’   

In April, the duchess said that she was not offended at missing out on an invitation to the King’s coronation, while speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, citing her divorce from Prince Andrew.

She told presenters Kate Garraway and Adil Ray: ‘I’m not [going], it’s a state occasion, and being divorced I don’t think you can have it both ways.

‘I am divorced and I’m really loving being divorced to my ex-husband, not from him but to him, it’s important to differentiate.’

She added that just because she’s ‘not there on the state occasion’, she can still ‘be there’ in private.  

‘That’s a lovely feeling to be part of, it really is,’ she continued, ‘and as I said you can’t have it both ways. You mustn’t sit on the fence. You’re either in or out, don’t muck around.’ 

She added: ‘The great thing about this moment in time is the unity of family, and I think that Charles and Camilla are doing an exceptional job at unifying the family.’

Elsewhere Sarah said the ‘spotlight needs to come off’ Prince Andrew to let him get ‘on with his life’.

The prince was accused of sexual abuse by Virginia Giuffre, who claims that she was trafficked by convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. 

The duke has vehemently denied the allegations and claimed he never met Giuffre.

However he lost his royal titles as a result of the allegations and has not been a working royal since 2020.

She said: ‘With Prince Andrew, he’s such a good man. He’s a kind good man, and I think the spotlight needs to come off him and let him get on with his life to rebuild.’

Sarah, who shares daughters Princess Beatrice and Eugenie with Andrew, also added that he is a ‘very good grandfather’ to his grandchildren.

Later on in the programme, Ms Garraway asked what she thought the late Princess Diana, who Fergie was close to, would think of Prince Harry and Prince William’s current relationship. 

She replied: ‘She was all about being true to her heart, and her heart would say, ”My boys have done really well, they look so happy in their own family units and they have beautiful children”.

‘And that is what she’d look at. She’d look at attitude and I don’t know, she’s not here to speak for herself, but from me, if I’m here talking to you, I would say that we should have much more kindness in life.

‘All of us need to stop being so cruel and trolling, lead by example, smile and be kind.’

It was reported last week that the Duchess was not expected to attend the Coronation next month – despite the fact Beatrice and Eugenie are set to be there.

Royal commentator Tom Bower previously told MailOnline that Sarah had excluded herself because of her previous ‘conduct’.

He added that her presence would ‘provoke critical comment, which King Charles doesn’t need’.

And expert Richard Fitzwilliams praised the ‘extremely wise’ decision from the King because she has been an ’embarrassment to the Royal Family for many years’.

But the apparent decision has surprised some royal watchers – with Meghan’s friend Omid Scobie tweeting: ‘If true, this feels kinda cruel, no?’

Speaking about the absence of Sarah, Mr Bower said she will be left out ‘because she is not a member of the Royal Family’.

He added that she had excluded herself ‘by her past conduct’, saying: ‘Her presence would provoke critical comment which Charles doesn’t need.’

Among Sarah’s most embarrassing moments was when photographs were published showing her having her toes sucked by her financial adviser John Bryan at her holiday villa in St Tropez, while they were also seen kissing, embracing and frolicking in the pool.

She was also said to have had a rift with her once good friend, Princess Diana, after she claimed she got a verruca after borrowing a pair of her shoes. They were reportedly still not speaking at the time of Diana’s death in 1997.

And in 2010 she apologised after being secretly recorded offering to sell access to Andrew in return for £500,000.