Life in the spotlight. Sarah Ferguson didn’t have the smoothest transition into royal life after marrying Prince Andrew — but she eventually found her footing.
The couple tied the knot in 1986 at Westminster Abbey in London. As she adjusted to her responsibilities as the Duchess of York, the Teenage Cancer Trust patron looked to Princess Diana for guidance, she recalled in her 1996 memoir, My Story.
“‘Just keep smiling,’ Diana whispered,” Ferguson wrote. “And I did, as I would for long years to come. I always felt safe in mimicking Diana.”
Things took a turn for the Her Heart for a Compass author and Andrew, who announced their separation in March 1992. “I didn’t want a divorce but had to because of circumstance,” she told Harper’s Bazaar 15 years later, calling her split from Andrew “the most painful time of my life.”
The duo’s divorce was finalized in May 1996, and though she’s no longer a senior member of the British royal family, she’s kept in touch with Queen Elizabeth II over the years. “The queen and I always got on well, still do; I uphold everything Her Majesty represents, has given up her life for,” Ferguson told Harper’s Bazaar in 2007. “It’s her duty. … I believe Her Majesty’s done the best job she can. For me, she’s been extraordinary.”
After her divorce — and despite the negative press she received because of it — the producer worked hard to forge her own path. She penned children’s books, became a Today correspondent and landed a Weight Watchers deal, in addition to her other notable charity work. In June 2011, she got vulnerable about her struggles in a six-episode series titled Finding Sarah, which featured her trek through Canada’s Arctic region.
Two months prior, Ferguson went on a solo trip to Thailand after she wasn’t invited to her nephew Prince William’s wedding to Duchess Kate. “I really love the feeling that sort of Diana and I both weren’t there,” she said in an interview in May 2011. “But I’m here to say how proud she would have been and Kate looked utterly beautiful.”
A decade after the snub, the writer told Town & Country that being left out of the family’s big day made her feel like she wasn’t “worthy.” While she didn’t get to share the Cambridges’ special moment, she attended Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s May 2018 wedding.
“I can’t thank them enough for doing that because it was nerve-wracking. … I sort of looked around like, ‘Are they doing that for me?’” she told Good Morning Britain in November 2018, recalling the cheers from fans outside the ceremony. “Then someone went ‘Fergie,’ and it was the old Fergie back.”
Scroll down for a look back at the duchess’ ups and downs as part of the royal family:
In 1980, Ferguson reconnected with Diana, who happened to be her fourth cousin. The women became fast friends — even though the British tabloids attempted to pit them against each other.
“I loved her so much,” Ferguson told Harper’s Bazaar in 2007, a decade after the late royal’s death. “Diana was one of the quickest wits I knew; nobody made me laugh like her.”
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The author officially became the Duchess of York when she exchanged vows with Andrew in July 1986, four months after announcing their engagement.
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The couple welcomed their first child, Princess Beatrice, in August 1988. Ferguson’s pregnancy wasn’t easy, however. She suffered from high blood pressure and excessive water retention, and “spent [her] entire first pregnancy alone,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in 2007, as Andrew was overseas with the Royal Navy.
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Two years after Beatrice arrived, Princess Eugenie joined the family. While pregnant, Ferguson’s weight fluctuated, leading her to be ridiculed by the U.K. press.
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In March 1992, the duke and duchess announced their separation amid rumors of Andrew’s infidelity. “The Queen hopes that the media will spare the Duke and Duchess of York and their children any intrusion,” a palace statement noted at the time.
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Amid her marriage trouble, Ferguson threw herself into charity work, founding Children in Crisis in 1993. The nonprofit, based in London, helps children and women from underprivileged backgrounds in third-world countries.
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Four years after they called it quits, Ferguson and the Duke of York’s divorce was made final, with the duo agreeing to share custody of their daughters.
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Ferguson went into detail about her triumphs and tribulations as a royal family member in her 1996 memoir, My Story. She followed up with another autobiography, Finding Sarah: A Duchess's Journey to Find Herself, in 2011.
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After years of being portrayed negatively by the British press, the Little Red author reflected on how the intense scrutiny impacted her body image — and triggered her eating disorder.
“It took my opinion of myself to absolutely nothing, a piece of dirt. And maybe I had to reach that point to start to put myself back together,” she told The Observer in 2002. “And maybe I had to reach that point to start to put myself back together.”
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Years after leaving the senior royal spotlight, Ferguson scored a recurring role as a correspondent for the Today show in 2008. Later that year, her two-part film, The Duchess in Hull, premiered on the U.K.’s ITV.
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When William and Kate tied the knot at Westminster Abbey in April 2011, the prince’s aunt was nowhere to be seen. She reflected on not receiving an invite to the family affair during a July 2021 interview with Town & Country, noting, “I didn’t think I was probably worthy to go to their wedding.”
Ferguson was also not invited to Prince Edward’s 1999 wedding to Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
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A six-episode series titled Finding Sarah premiered in June 2011, giving Ferguson a platform to speak candidly about her struggles like never before.
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After not securing invitations to two major royal weddings, Ferguson was grateful to attend Harry and Meghan's May 2018 ceremony. “It was very kind of them,” she told Good Morning Britain of the Sussexes six months later.
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Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, welcomed their first child, son August, in February 2021. “She is incredibly empathetic and will be a great mother. She is a very strong and determined person, always looking for the truth in all she does,” Ferguson told Us of her youngest daughter one month prior.
In May 2021, the palace announced that the royal family tree would be getting even bigger with the arrival of Beatrice’s first child with husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi later that year.
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