Sarah Ferguson has revealed she has “no judgement” towards Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and the path they have chosen, while reflecting on the judgement she has faced “all [her] life”.
The Duchess of York, 63, spoke candidly about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision to step back from their royal roles and relocate to California, as well as her own experiences being judged, during a new interview with People.
“I don’t believe that any single person has the right to judge another person. I’m not in a position to make any judgements,” the duchess said. “I have been judged all my life, and I have no judgement on the Sussexes.”
The royal, who is often referred to by her nickname Fergie, then shared her belief that Harry’s mother, the late Princess Diana, would be proud of the couple’s children, three-year-old son Archie, and one-year-old daughter Lilibet.
Ferguson said she also believes Diana would be proud of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s three children, nine-year-old Prince George, seven-year-old Princess Charlotte, and four-year-old Prince Louis.
“I think that [Princess] Diana would be incredibly proud of her grandchildren. And not just the Sussex grandchildren, but Will’s children,” the duchess added.
This is not the first time that Ferguson has made the claim about her late friend, as she previously told People that Diana would be “very proud of her sons and their wives”.
“And she would be just like me, obsessed with her grandchildren. Because that’s what she loved,” she said in July 2021. “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.’ Because each has got her own voice.”
At the time, the duchess had also reflected on her decades-long friendship with Diana, which she said began when she was 15 and Diana was 14. The pair would later become family, when Diana married then-Prince Charles and Ferguson married his brother, Prince Andrew.
“We were best friends from when she was 14 and I was 15,” she said, adding: “She taught me so much of public life. She was so brave. We used to have the most incredible time together.”
During her recent interview with People, the A Most Intriguing Lady author also spoke of her own children, daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, and her grandchildren.
Princess Beatrice shares one-year-old daughter Sienna with husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and is also stepmother to his seven-year-old son Wolfie. Princess Eugenie shares two-year-old son August with husband Jack Brooksbank, while the couple recently announced they are expecting their second child.
According to Ferguson, her grandchildren “just follow me around like Pete Pan,” with the royal joking that she now has a whole other “audience that likes me”.
“Everyone says: ‘Oh, has it changed your life?’ And I go: ‘No, because I live [in the mindset of ] three- to six-year-olds.’ So I’ve now got another audience that likes me,” she said.
The Duchess of York’s support for Meghan and Harry comes after the duke and duchess confirmed reports that they’d been asked “to vacate” their home in the UK, Frogmore Cottage.
The home, which was gifted to them by the late Queen Elizabeth II, has reportedly been offered to the Duke of York by King Charles III.
According to The Sun, the monarch offered the property to the disgraced Prince Andrew as an alternative to the Royal Lodge, which he has occupied since 2003.
