Sarah Ferguson can’t help but praise Princess Kate Middleton as the royal family’s health crisis continues.
“The Princess of Wales was so brave with that video,” Ferguson, 64, told HELLO! Magazine in a new portion of her cover story, published on Monday, June 3. Kate, 42, revealed in late March that she had been diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer following a planned abdominal surgery which she underwent months prior.
“I think family unity is key,” Ferguson continued. “I love that the royal family are all supporting each other and carry on.”
Prior to Kate’s cancer diagnosis, King Charles III revealed in February that he was also undergoing treatment for an unspecified type of cancer.
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“I think the key is that you don’t have to be in anyone’s face — the odd note, the odd: ‘Hello, we’re all here,’” Ferguson continued, discussing the royal family’s various illnesses. “I was so impressed that the King became patron of Cancer Research UK; it’s such an amazing move.”
Charles, 75, made his first public outing following his diagnosis alongside Queen Camilla in late April. The couple visited a specialist cancer center after news that the monarch was the newest patron of Cancer Research UK.
Ferguson, for her part, has experienced the disease firsthand, receiving a breast cancer diagnosis in June 2023. Six months later, it was announced that she had been diagnosed with malignant melanoma.
“I have to be checked regularly and I have to put cream on my face to get out past sun damage, which means big blisters on my face, chest and hands for three weeks,” the Duchess of York told HELLO! in the same cover story. “But I’m not doing immunotherapy, taking any drugs or doing chemotherapy, for which I’m very grateful.”
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Ferguson explained that doctors have told her not to use the phrase “cancer-free,” but she’s staying positive. “I have the most exceptional family and I have an extraordinarily great team and I have an enormous ability to turn to joy,” Ferguson added, referring to daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, whom she shares with ex-husband Prince Andrew.
“I have always brought up my girls to be so honest and frank that they know I’m going to tell it to them straight, however difficult it is,” Ferguson also told HELLO! “So, when they said: ‘Mummy, tell us the absolute truth — have they got all the cancer out?’ and the answer was yes, they knew they were safe.”
