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Sarah Ferguson has revealed she wishes she could ‘do more’ to support Queen Camilla and the royal family.
The Duchess of York, 65, who is the ex-wife of Prince Andrew, was speaking in a new interview with The Sunday Times, published today, about her ‘close’ relationship with Camilla and her 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 longs to support them.
She said: ‘Queen Camilla was close friends with Mum, which is why we’re so close now. That’s why it’s so big that the Queen and I get on now.
‘It’s rather nice, and she reminds me of Mum. I admire the extraordinary support she’s giving this country. I want to do as much for the Queen as possible. I wish they’d ask me to do more.’
Sarah’s comments come after a tough year for the monarchy in which senior royals were out of action and unable to fulfil their busy rosters – but with King Charles’s preference for a ‘slimmed-down’ monarchy, her request may not be fulfilled.
The King and Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Princess Royal all took time away from royal duties at some point over the past year.
With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the US after stepping down as senior royals, and Prince Andrew in the cold, the Firm was suddenly left with very few people to call on.
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. Pictured earlier this month on Lorraine
Most recently, Queen Camilla revealed she had been suffering with pneumonia over the past few weeks and she continues to suffer from the ‘lingering’ side effects.
Charles, 75, was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of Cancer in February following prostate surgery and has been receiving weekly treatment ever since.
The Princess of Wales was also diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and took time away to recover – though she has now begun a slow return to duties.
Prince William then took time away from royal duties in the wake of the news and to look after Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six.
Princess Anne, who is considered by many to be the hardest working royal, took rare 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 to previous years, when at one time the British Royal Family was made up of 18 working royals who could be called on to help with engagements.
Now, just nine members of the Firm are relied upon, including The Duke, 79, and Duchess of Gloucester, 77. Minor royals that have helped out in previous years include Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, the daughters of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.
But with the Duke of York exiled from public duties, and both Princesses busy with their young families and jobs, it’s unlikely there will be a repeat.
Fergie was banished to the sidelines for years following her high profile divorce from Prince Andrew in 1996, but has more recently appeared to be back in the royal fold.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla wave alongside the Prince and Princess of Wales with their children in 2023
Queen Camilla (right) was taken out of action due to pneumonia in the past few weeks and she continues to suffer from the ‘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 in Sandringham, where she walked alongside members of the Royal Family to church.
If that wasn’t enough to prove the Duchess of York has been brought in from the cold, she was front and centre at the memorial service for the late King Constantine of Greece at Windsor Castle.
In an extraordinary turnaround after he was banned from royal duties and stripped of his HRH and military titles by his mother the late Queen just two years ago, Andrew, 64, led the Firm into St George’s Chapel – and his ex-wife was right by 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 reversal of fortune for Sarah – which would have been unthinkable if Prince Philip were still alive – has been credited to the King rewarding her loyalty and the Duchess finding a powerful advocate in Queen Camilla.
But ultimately a greater role in public duties would be down to King Charles.
A source told The Mail On Sunday: ‘There’s a feeling that, no matter what Sarah’s personal faults – and she can be like Marmite in that respect – 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 prized allegiance and he appreciates all Fergie has done for his brother.
The Princess of Wales was also diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and Kensington Palace confirmed she wouldn’t be working for the rest of the year while she goes through treatment
‘It may be an exaggeration to say she has been keeping him alive, but she has certainly been keeping him sane. 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 over his links with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, no one has been more supportive than his ex-wife, who hasn’t shied away from publicly defending him, telling the Sunday Times in an interview that she ‘won’t let him down’.
The King – who softened his approach to Sarah last year – also admires the way the Duchess has gone about restoring her own reputation while keeping her family together.
It’s unlikely the Royal Family has forgotten the ‘toe-sucking’ pictures of Fergie, taken when she was on holiday with her Texan tycoon lover, nor the way in which she offered access to Andrew in exchange for cash and was caught in a newspaper sting.
But in recent times, the Duchess – who still lives with Andrew at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park in Berkshire – has found a powerful advocate in the King’s wife, who ‘likes Sarah’, according to a source.
The insider told the Mail On Sunday earlier this month: ‘They’re both gentry. They share a love of horses and Fergie will be smart enough to play the game with Camilla and realise she is the power behind the King. That she must be nice to them and support them.’
In December, the Duke and Duchess of York walked behind senior royals as crowds lined the road outside the St Mary Magdalene Church for the traditional Christmas Day service on the Norfolk estate.
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson arriving at the funeral for 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 signalled the first time Fergie had joined the royals for the walk in 32 years, after being banned from attending by Prince Philip.
She was ‘beyond the pale’ as far as Philip was concerned, according to his biographer Gyles Brandreth, and ‘vulgar, vulgar, vulgar’ as one courtier memorably said.
For years, her ex-husband would take their 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 she herself felt she wasn’t ‘worthy’ of attending the event, and left the country.
‘I didn’t think I was probably worthy to go to their wedding. I took myself to Thailand, actually, to be far away from it so that I could try and heal,’ she 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 by The Sun.
Although she wasn’t allowed to attend the coronation itself; her daughters and Prince Andrew attended the historic Westminster Abbey event.
The Duchess has consistently defended her ex-husband and branded him a ‘thoroughly good, very gentle man’ who ‘shines’ as a grandfather during an appearance on Lorraine in August 2021.
‘Prince Andrew is just such a good man, he’s a really thoroughly good man,’ she said during the TV interview.
‘He’s a very gentle man, he’s a really good father and we did co-parent very well, hence the reason our girls are very solid and have their feet on the ground.
‘But now as a grandfather he’s really good, he can go for hours talking about football, and those things. It’s a joy to see him really shine as a grandfather.’
In 2018, Sarah told the Daily Mail: ‘We’re the happiest divorced couple in the world. We’re divorced to each other, not from each other […] My duty is to him. I am so proud of him. I stand by him and always will. The way we are is our fairytale.’
Recently, speculation has mounted that the Duke and Duchess of York are thinking about marrying again.
The rumours came after Sarah revealed she was diagnosed with malignant melanoma just months after undergoing a second round of reconstructive surgery following her breast cancer diagnosis.
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