By pretty much every account, Sarah Ferguson got along well with Princess Diana. Diana was never threatened by Fergie’s presence, and Fergie worshipped Diana. Diana used Fergie as a foil many times over the years, and Diana also learned a lot from watching Fergie go through her divorce. Was it a friendship of equals? Not really, but they used each other, and I do believe that Fergie misses her friend. So of course Fergie was asked about Diana in this week’s People cover story, the same one where Fergie talks about how Prince Andrew is a great father and a “kind, good man.” The same one where she doesn’t talk about how much money she got from Jeffrey Epstein. From People:
Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson grew up alongside Princess Diana — and today she says her childhood friend would be brimming with pride at the men her sons have become, along with the women who are their partners.
“She would be very proud of her sons and their wives,” the Duchess of York, 61, tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s cover story. “And she would be just like me, obsessed with her grandchildren. Because that’s what she loved.” Close with the Duchess’ daughters Princess Eugenie, 31, and Princess Beatrice, 32, Diana “adored my girls. She adored the boys. This would be her haven. Her heaven.”
“If she were sitting with me right now, I know she would say, ‘I am so proud of both of my boys and the wonderful wives they have chosen,'” she says of Diana’s sons Prince William, 39, and Prince Harry, 36, along with Kate Middleton, 39, and Meghan Markle, 39. “Because each has got her own voice.”
“We were best friends from when she was 14 and I was 15,” says the Duchess, who affectionately called Diana “Duch.”
“She taught me so much of public life,” says the Duchess. “She was so brave. We used to have the most incredible time together.”
Of past reports that she and Diana fell out before Diana’s 1997 death, the Duchess says, “We promised each other we would always be together — there was never any daylight between us. But everybody wanted that, because we were so strong together. People want to break something so strong.”
I mean, she’s right and she’s wrong. People did not want Fergie and Diana to get along. They wanted the “catfight” stories, which is what they got with Meghan and Kate (because Kate was jealous of Meghan from the start). Fergie and Diana getting along and helping each other out was not what the tabloids wanted. But Fergie and Diana fought like sisters, and they did have a series of disputes & arguments. But from everything I’ve read, Fergie and Diana were back to being pretty close when Diana died. As for what Fergie says about Meghan and Kate… I mean… she didn’t like Meghan either. But William and Kate still snub her hard, so who knows.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, cover courtesy of People.
I call fake news due to this one statement: “Because each has got her own voice”.
Kate has no voice – it’s Ma Middleton’s voice.
Lol, Seraphina, that’s the bit that made me snort. Playing both sides is safest, I guess.
Merricat, I think she did that because she knows what a bunch of selfish vultures they are. Fergie knows first hand the secrets behind those heavily guarded and gilded gates.
And TBH, I think no one is safe as both Charlies and William gain power while Liz declines.
I think you’re right.
Charles has to watch out for William. I think he is favoring the heir but not in the spirit of true trust.
Kate had a part time job with very flexible hours that lasted about a year. She just was going to wait for the ring.
That job was a matter of months, very part time, and she missed a lot of work.
…I doubt Diana would have let the critically reviewed, chart-floppers Carole and Midds, near any of her children
Nope. Diana would have nipped that whole thing in the bud during their university years. And I think Charles would have let her because he can’t stand them either. He would have been happy to let Diana do the dirty work.
William may not have even gone to St. Andrew’s. Diana and Charles could have discussed this and had other plans. Maybe a semester in the US for instance.
I’m still kind of scratching my head over this cover story. “life after the palace”? she’s been divorced for decades at this point. Is this an appeal to old school royal fans?
And ditto others – Kate doesnt have a voice. Or if she does, she doesnt use it.
Kate did not have a voice to pick up the phone and deny the crying rumors.
Well, that is not what I read. I read that in one of Fergie’s autobiographies, or the one, she said something personal about Diana’s foot fungus or something like that, and Diana never spoke to her again. That is what I remember, that Diana never spoke to her again, and I believe it was Fergie who said it herself.
Anyone else remember anything about that? Maybe she is trying to rewrite history. I wish it was true that they were friends before Diana died.
From (poor admittedly) memory Fergie released a gossipy story that she got a verucca after borrowing shoes from Diana.
Fergie admitted they hadn’t spoken for a year prior to Diana’s death over this story in Fergie’s book.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1049453/sarah-ferguson-news-princess-diana-royal-feud-royal-family-news-verucca
Just to add the write up about this fall out.
I remember that too. I also remember (and don’t ask me why) that Fergie said they weren’t speaking before Diana died. When she heard that Dodi died in the accident that night, Fergie said she called Diana and left a message but never heard back from her. Of course we know why. I guess I remember that because I remember thinking how sad it would be to never get a chance to say good bye to a friend.
Diana did not trust her towards the end. She felt Fergie crossed the line when she talked about “catching” a foot issue by wearing Diana’s shoes.
I remember Fergie amongst the crowd standing outside the day of the funeral, I mean, as far as I know, she wasn’t even invited. Also, this idea that she and Diana were best friends from childhood, I’ve never heard that story before. I know that they knew each other, and that Diana thought Fergie and Andrew would be a good couple, but not that they were always best friends.
“But Fergie and Diana fought like sisters, and they did have a series of disputes & arguments.”
I think Fergie and Diana were close but had their ups & downs and this no different than the relationship between me and my sister. My sister can be a big old bitch but no one is going to call my sister a bitch but me.
Well it’s more likely Fergrifter caught a plantar wart from a gym shower or pool — but I think by then there were some other cracks in their relationship. While Diana was supportive of her writing an autobiography she insisted that Fergie not mention her at all in it and when she did it was in a derisive way so goodbye friendship.
I have the same memory of everyone else, Fergie claiming she got a verucca from Diana’s shoes and was iced out after that. No reconciliation, Diana had to keep only trusted friends in the loop. Now that Philip is gone, she really wants to cash in doesn’t she? Gross.
Yes, exactly. And I believe the story from Sarah herself was that she wanted to apologise but Diana wouldn’t listen, she had been burned too many times to trust again once you’d sold her out. I don’t blame her. And they weren’t best friends from 14 or 15 either. They’d met, but didn’t run in the same groups, Sarah’s name isn’t really mentioned in Diana’s story until she hooks up with Andrew. I think this IS some revisionist history. They are all still puffing themselves up by linking themselves to Diana in some way. It’s infuriating.
Yes, I remember reading Fergie’s biography. I was surprised to see she wrote about borrowing a pair of Diana’s shoes and from them caught a foot fungus. I remember thinking why write that? It was a stab in the back, and Diana did not trust her after she sold her out. They had ceased being friends for quite a while before Diana passed away. Sarah continues to hang onto and live off of Andrew. Now she is trying to embellish and rewrite her history with Diana.
I have to say, I am glad Meghan has higher quality friends.
This is a standard response. She’s not going to say “Oh yeah Diana would have hated Kate/Meghan!” But I’m of the belief that we’ll never really know what Diana would have thought of them – if either of them still married their husbands if Diana was still alive.
I think if Diana were alive, many things about William and Harry would be different, including their wives.
I think Diana would have preferred Meghan to Kate. If Harry did not marry Meghan i think he’d still have chosen an intelligent articulate woman who had an interest in charities and issues. William may still have chosen a “Kate type.” But Kate had her mother masterminding things. If Diana had been around, William would not have needed a “mother figure”.
Even Fergie is capable of a modicum of politeness, her statement doesn’t necessarily mean anything beyond “I don’t want to get into it” – she wants to tell us she grew up with aristos and was Di BFF. That’s what she’s selling – and they probably were quite good friends for a while. I imagine that even young Andy and Fergie were objectively nicer to Diana than Charles was, back then.
I mean that’s an extremely low bar but yes i bet they were.
I really can’t believe that someone who enables and dismisses a man credibly alleged to have raped at least one child procured by the dead rapist pedo Epstein is given a celebratory cover of People Magazine. Vile.
Word.
Some years ago ca. early 2000s, Fergie would go on Larry King. She seemed to want to get back in the “circle” and flattered Charles and Camilla on the show. Did not apparently do her any good.
i don’t understand Sarah borrowing shoes from Diana ,Diana wore a size 9 US measurement shoes and Sarah wears a Size 8 US measurement.
We can only look at Diana’s past to gage whether or not should would be aligned with her DIL’s…I personally feel that the reason that Harry’s friends hooked him up with Meghan is because her life had always been altruistic…since she was a child…and that’s what Diana choose for her life also…and it wasn’t a “one-off” situation with Diana either…So that answers that question regarding Meghan…plus Meghan is a SWEETIE…and by ALL accounts has ALWAYS been a SWEETIE…and Diana ALWAYS responded so delightfully to kindness….
Now how Diana would have felt about Kate?
As for Kate….
Well…personally…I don’t think Kate would have been an issue…cause Diana would have seen the Middleton’s BS coming a MILE AWAY!
They were best friends at 14 and 15? So they were friends before they were with the princes? I had no idea, but I guess they all ran in the same circles.
Fergie was a guest at Diana’s wedding. Diana even gave her fabric to have a dress made for the event.
Fergie’s practicing some serious revisionism here….and Diana is not here to refute it.
Yes, a lot of that sounds counter to what I remember reading in Fergie’s own first biography.
This feels like the best she can do, in terms of offering support to Meghan, while not quite holding a proverbial knife to Wills’ throat. She surely recognizes that Meghan is the new English version of her.
This is Fergie. The royal family, the press, the British public, hell, the public at large, have treated her like a pariah since the 80s, People, THE 80s! The fact she made a public statement that suggests how Diana would ALSO love Meghan, and, of course, Kate, is exactly her amount of power. Let’s be honest, it’s more power than a lot of the rest of them. When did you last hear any member of the royal family who are “ordained by God” give support to Meghan?
Right, never.