Will the royal family's drama with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry
ever end? Another family member wades into the ongoing debacle.
Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, has been making headlines for years. Most recently, it was
due to allegations against her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, and his involvement with the late Jeffrey
Epstein. Lawsuits and settlements that were once kept undercover are now coming to the surface,
putting the prince in a difficult position as the truth finally comes to light.
However, Sarah, who is also known simply as Fergie, has decided to defend her ex-husband
and close friend, with whom she shares two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess
Eugenie. During an appearance on Italian talk show "Porta a Porta", the duchess revealed,
"I completely stand by Andrew 100 percent. He is such a kind, great man, he is a brilliant
father and now a fantastic grandfather. I feel very strongly that in this day and age that we
must stand by our hearts, what we think is right with integrity and honor and loyalty."
"Who knows what the future will bring? I don't think there are
many men that could put up with this redhead."
Now, the Duchess of York is making waves in the press for another reason,
and that's standing up for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. During her appearance on "Porta a Porta,"
Prince Harry's aunt also shared her opinion regarding his relationship with Megan Markle.
Ferguson had nothing but kind words to say about her nephew and his wife, despite
the drama that has gone down with the royal family since the couple moved to Los Angeles.
Ferguson revealed that she is proud to see Harry so happy,
adding that his mother, the late Princess Diana, would be proud, too. The duchess explained,
"The most important thing — and I know Diana,
if she were here, would say that — is they are happy. And she makes him happy."
Ferguson also referenced the sad moment Prince Harry tearfully
walked behind his mother's coffin during the public funeral procession in 1997.
He was just 12 years old at the time. As Ferguson said,
"I love to see that little boy that cried at the funeral to have happiness now."
The Duchess of York speaks from a place of love for Princess Diana and her boys because the pair
were especially close. Of her connection to Diana, Sarah previously told People,
"We were best friends from when she was 14 and I was 15."
While Sarah and Diana were close, their friendship wasn't always easy. In fact,
they reportedly had a fairly complicated relationship. The two met before they
each married into the royal family as they were actually related. As fourth cousins,
Sarah and Diana were both descendants of William Cavendish, Fourth Duke of Devonshire.
Their mothers even went to school together, so the future royals knew each other growing up.
While the cousins were friendly in their youth, they didn't become close until adulthood. Running
in the same social circles, they reconnected when Diana was 19 and Sarah was 21, developing a tight
bond. In fact, Diana reportedly thought Sarah could be a perfect match for her brother-in-law.
Nigel Cawthorne, author of "Call Me Diana: The Princess of Wales on Herself," told Insider,
"It was Diana who saw that Sarah could be the one for Andrew. [...] They both enjoy
practical jokes and like a good time without being complicated or envious."
However, rumors began to swirl that Sarah and Diana were at odds with each other,
as Cawthorne explained,
"There probably was tension once Sarah was the Duchess of York and didn't have to rely on Diana
as much as before. [...] But when their marriages collapsed they both had a shoulder to cry on."
"Now, it's not a fairytale, it's real life."
As for what exactly went down between Sarah Ferguson and Princess Diana,
in an interview with Harper's Bazaar, Sarah shared her side of the story, explaining,
"I never knew the reason, except that once Diana got something in her head… I tried,
wrote letters, thinking whatever happened didn't matter, let's sort it out. And I
knew she'd come back. In fact, the day before she died, she rang a friend of mine and said,
'Where's that Red? I want to talk to her.'"
That interview took place in 2007. However, in 2021, Sarah walked back what she previously said,
stating that the two were not fighting at the time of Diana's death. She told People,
"We promised each other we would always be together — there was never any daylight
between us. But everybody wanted [to see a feud] because we were so strong together.
People want to break something so strong."
Whatever the truth may be, it seems that Sarah loved Diana through thick and thin,
and continues to support her sons to this day.
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