A new report has revealed how Sarah Ferguson was haunted in her adult life by her mother’s decision to break the family apart and move South America with an Argentinian polo player.
According to royal expert Juliet Rieden, the Duchess of York was left devastated by after her mother, Susan Barrantes abruptly abandoned her and she was left to look after her father and sister – blaming her fragile emotional state on her parents’ marriage breakdown.
“Her mother left them and literally walked out with a polo player and she was left to be raised by her father who was devastated that his wife walked out,” explains Rieden.
“In many ways, Sarah had to look after her father.
“It was a very rackety upbringing. She suffered a lot from the loss of her mother.”
Fergie has said the trauma prompted her to turn to compulsive eating to try to “find a fix for the hole in my heart.”
In a TV interview with U.S. show Modern Hero, the duchess discussed how she was affected by her mother’s abandonment.
“Suddenly she’d gone and she never came back and I never saw her again really.
“I built a huge wall to the real Sarah. And I believed it’s because I was worthless.
“Why would you leave your child? You wouldn’t.”