“I think that’s extraordinary, what she did,” the Duchess of York said of the Princess of Wales’ emotional Sept. 9 message
Sarah Ferguson is speaking out on Kate Middleton’s emotional video message announcing she had completed chemotherapy.
In an Oct. 10 interview on This Morning, Ferguson, 64, called the Princess of Wales’ Sept. 9 video alongside husband Prince William and kids Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, “just incredible. I mean, I was so moved. It was beautiful.”
When asked how Kate, 42, is doing now, Ferguson added, “She’s showing the world what it really is to look after yourself and self-love in order to help others, and I think that’s extraordinary, what she did.”
The Duchess of York herself battled cancer this year before her eldest daughter Princess Beatrice — who is currently expecting her second child! — announced in May that her mother was “all clear.”
Earlier this year, in an unprecedented year of royal health news, King Charles also announced he had been diagnosed with cancer, which Ferguson also mentioned during her This Morning interview.
“I loved when the King went to Cancer Research U.K. and actually sat on the sofa, and it’s coming from a place of empathy because he does understand,” Ferguson said. “That was the first time yesterday when I was sitting there with someone, it’s not just, ‘I understand’ and patronizing. It was, ‘I know,’ and so, I think, to be able to talk about it is real, and I think we have to.”
Ferguson, affectionately known as Fergie, has been treated for two forms of cancer, undergoing a single mastectomy for breast cancer in 2023. In 2024, she announced she’d been diagnosed with malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer.
Speaking about her own mammogram after which she received her diagnosis, Ferguson said it was “the drive that saved my life,” adding, “And that’s what I wanted to say. If anyone’s watching this, sitting at the end of the bed going, ‘No, I can’t possibly — it might be bad news.’ No, it’s not bad news. Go anyway, because there is a solution even if it is really frightening, because there will be solutions.”
Fergie revealed in an interview with The Sun that she believed her cancer diagnosis was a “death sentence” and that her routine mammogram saved her life.
She also opened up about her excitement over becoming a grandmother again as Beatrice plans to welcome her second child with husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in early 2025. In addition to the new baby, Beatrice and Edoardo are also parents to daughter Sienna, 3, and Christopher Woolf, 8, affectionately known as Wolfie, Edo’s child from a previous relationship. Ferguson and Prince Andrew’s younger daughter, Princess Eugenie, also has two sons, August, 3, and Ernest, 1, with husband Jack Brooksbank.
“How do you describe being a grandmother?” Ferguson said. “It is one of the most precious, joyful, exciting moments because you’re so proud of your own children, and they’ve done such a good job.”
She continued, “It really is the most extraordinary thing to be a grandmother.”
Of her health, the Duchess of York added, “It has been a difficult period, and I’m not out of the woods. I underwent a single mastectomy and a breast reconstruction operation, while my malignant melanoma and surrounding area was removed and other moles checked for cancer. With the love and support of my family, especially my girls Beatrice and Eugenie, I have stayed positive and been informed that my outlook is good.”
“I’ve been told by my physicians that I shouldn’t use the phrase ‘cancer free,’ but treatment has been successful and tests show there has been no spread or recurrence. I’m reconciled to the fact that I will have to have checks for the rest of my life.”
Ferguson is now committed to helping others, announcing on Oct. 9 that she is the proud new patron of the U.K.’s only charity solely focused on predicting and preventing breast cancer, Prevent Breast Cancer.
Speaking to PEOPLE during the launch of the new Youth Impact Council at New York Climate Week on Sept. 25, Fergie shared how she is feeling today.
“I think that you never really get rid of the worry about health. For every sort of melanoma, you never really know where it is. You look at everything and you’re certainly more aware,” she said. “It’s been an extraordinary journey to have gone through a mastectomy, and then you have to keep having checks, and then you think you’re going to get it again. It’s a lot of very fragile mind work.”
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“I think that also gives me empathy to understand the fragility of the mind. A lot of young people have fragile, vulnerable times, with cyberbullying and chronic cruelty from other people. I think that’s something I address, I am adamant about cruelty through social media,” Ferguson continued. “My health is really good now, but you have to be a bit more cognitive and not push yourself too much, which I do.”
After Princess Kate announced on Sept. 9 she had completed chemotherapy nearly six months after announcing her cancer diagnosis in another video message on March 22, she made her first public royal engagement on Oct. 10 alongside Prince William, visiting Southport, England, where three children were killed in a July 29 mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance class.
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Source: The Wall Street Journal
