From one former royal bride to another.
Sarah Ferguson had some heartbreaking advice for Kate Middleton ahead of her royal wedding with Prince William.
In a moving interview with Harper’s Bazaar in 2007, the Duchess of York opened up about her own personal experience being married to Prince Andrew.
At one point she gave the following advice:
“All I’d say is, no matter what, stay with your man; don’t let him be taken from you.
“Prince or no prince, love that man, and that love will hold him.”
Fergie was married to the son of Queen Elizabeth for almost ten years before they famously divorced in 1996.
The 59-year-old claimed that they spent too much time apart during their marriage (due to Prince Andrew’s role as a Royal Navy officer) and it inevitably led to their separation.
“I married my boy, who happened to be a prince and a sailor because I loved him – and still do – my only condition being, ‘I have to be with you,'” she confessed in the interview.
“And two weeks after the wedding, the courtiers told Andrew, who thought he’d be stationed in London, ‘You have to go to sea.’
“I spent my entire first pregnancy alone; when Beatrice was born, Andrew got 10 days of shore leave, and when he left and I cried, they all said: ‘Grow up and get a grip.'”
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Fergie then went on to offer the future Duchess of Cambridge advice about the royal family, saying:
“Don’t let them tell you what to feel, how to do things, who you are. Be yourself.”
Fergie – who shares Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie with Prince Andrew – also claimed that she “didn’t want a divorce but had to because of circumstance.”
“[It was] the most painful time in my life.”
While the former royal had been close with Prince William and Prince Harry‘s mother, Princess Diana, she said that she was not on speaking terms with her when she tragically passed away in 1997.
As a result, Fergie said she had no contact with the two princes but wasn’t opposed to it.
“I’d like to – we had lovely times together – but I don’t want either thinking that I’m trading on my friendship with them, pushing myself on them, though I’ll always stand by the boys 100 per cent,” she told the publication.
“They’ve grown up exceptionally well – leaders, role models.”
However, Fergie was not invited to William and Kate’s 2011 royal wedding.
“I wanted to be there with my girls … to be getting them dressed and to go as a family,” she wistfully told Oprah Winfrey at the time.
“Also, it was so hard, because the last bride up that aisle [at Westminster Abbey] was me.”
According to Fergie, her ex-husband – who she currently lives with – told her:
“’It’s OK. Just remember we had such a good day. Our wedding was so perfect.’ He made me feel part of the day on April 29.”
Despite all this, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended Princess Eugenie’s wedding last October.
The Duchess of York is slowly making her return to the royal family.
Last year, she attended Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s royal wedding at St George’s Chapel.
According to Express, the Duke of Sussex is fond of Fergie and shares the same “red setter” fun spirit.