20 Questions With The Duchess of York
Sarah Ferguson: Libran Tendencies, Romance Novelist, Picnic Enthusiast
I’ve always been drawn to strong-minded women with vibrant personalities. My childhood idols were typically these robust kinds of characters with defining grit and unique charisma. I liked women who stood out from the crowd, a trait filed under: “things we don’t outgrow.” Naturally, Sarah Ferguson was one of my earliest idols.
My lifelong penchant for royal musings started early, thanks to my kindergarten teacher who introduced me to British magazines. I remember flipping through the pages and finding a fiery red-headed duchess to be the most fascinating, a live wire amidst an otherwise regal but seemingly stale backdrop. She defied the constraints of a rigid monarchy with a healthy dose of good humor, approachable charm, and a refusal to refine her untethered spirit for the sake of fitting in. Her infectious exuberance was the perfect counterpart to a more poised and polished Diana. “Fergie,” as we would come to know her, always looked like a woman ready for anything.
I became a royal watcher, observing the lives of these women throughout the years, through the trenches of their success and scandals, paying the closest attention to the glimpses of motherhood captured in photos of them escorting their children to school, together atop a mountain on winter ski vacations and in glittering display for holiday gatherings. All these images encapsulated the golden era of celebrity: the duchess and the princess, side by side, smiling brightly on the palace balcony, wrangling their babies in wide-brimmed hats.
After all these years, my admiration for the duchess has never waned. Though at 43, it comes attached to different reasons. Her stoic elegance and composure in trying times has always impressed me. I love that she is never afraid to try new things at any age and respect how she made a dedicated effort to rekindle her relationship with the Queen after her marriage had fallen apart. Decades later, she would be the one to walk with the Queen through her gardens every morning during those last years of her life. Loyalty, rooted in continued effort.
As I introduce this new series of ‘20 questions,” it is my honor to have Sarah, Duchess of York, as our first feature, sharing her thoughts on her next phase of life. At the age of sixty-three, she juggles the role of loving granny with the help of a couple of inherited corgis by her side. She stacks philanthropic endeavors, debuted a new podcast, and just wrote a best-selling novel that smartly mingles mystery, romance, and scandal in a compelling tale unfolded in a sweeping historical saga about the duke's daughter, “the perfect Victorian lady,” who secretly moonlights as an amateur sleuth for high society’s inner circle.
In other words, our kind of woman.
Ink pens, picnics, sleuthing tendencies & directorial ambitions: A peak into Sarah Ferguson’s perspective
“I spent time and energy trying to please everybody, but now I’ve learnt that’s impossible.”
“For me, faith means that what is right will win out one day. It means that the universe is not aimless but moves by some positive design.”
“Whenever I meet people for the first time, I assume that they have a great story to tell and that it's my job to find it.”
“Humility comes from understanding that the obstacles in front of you are not going to go away.”
“I believe life is ageless and that’s how I feel most of the time. I think what you get from being older is perhaps the wisdom to look at life differently. I certainly feel more authentic and sure of myself and where I am going than ever.”
"As my grandmother always said: 'When you feel bad about yourself, go out and give to somebody else.' I looked at the word kindness and it is not just one word, it's an umbrella loyalty, friendship, smiling, just being a genuinely good person and living with your contribution to the world."
Podcast: Tea Talks with the Duchess & Sarah
Nonprofit: Sarah’s Trust
Novel: A Most Intriguing Lady
Love this!!! But, seriously, how hard was it to not ask her about her thoughts on Harry and Meghan?!?!
She's delightful! This was such a welcome departure from the terrible press she's received over the years. May I please make a request for future videos? I read at a snail's pace and so I missed many of the questions. I'm wondering if it would be possible to make those slides (frames? not sure what they're called) just a tad longer?