Sarah Ferguson reveals ‘isolated’ Prince Andrew’s ‘grief’
Sarah Ferguson has revealed that Prince Andrew has felt “lonely” after the deaths - in quick succession - of the Queen and Prince Philip while the Duchess gave an update on her health.
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Prince Andrew feels “lonely” without his parents who both died within 17 months of each other, Sarah Ferguson has revealed.
Speaking on her Tea Talks podcast, Ferguson spoke about her ex-husband’s grief, revealing that the pair recently reflected on the loss of the Queen and Prince Philip together.
Ferguson said that she and Prince Andrew opened up on their feelings around the two senior royals’ death while on a walk around the Windsor estate with the late Queen’s corgis.
“It was actually very wonderful to have a moment to really remember because this time last year the Queen would have been going to Balmoral and we would have walked exactly where we walked yesterday together, and then the Queen would have said ‘See you up in Scotland,’” Ferguson recalled.
“It was very moving actually and at one stage we both, Andrew and I, just sat quietly under some really beautiful trees and sort of I asked him if he was all right without his mum and dad.
‘He said … it’s lonely, you know. He thinks about it a lot … It’s sort of like, people process grief in their own way, and it’s not just him … he’s human like everybody else.”
Ferguson also agreed with her co-host and friend Sarah Thomson, who suggested that Prince Andrew’s difficulties may be intensified as he lost both parents in a short time frame.
Prince Philip was 99 when he died in April 2021 – and just over a year later, the Queen died in September 2022, at the age of 96.
“I think that is what’s hard,” she said. “His grief must be even more of a huge gap.”
Ferguson said that she found experiencing grief “interesting” because of it’s unpredictability.
“It comes up in tidal waves. Then it goes away again, and you cry and you’re sad, and then you just keep going and the next day it’s OK, or the next minute.”
The Duchess also gave listeners an update on her own health after undergoing surgery for breast cancer, describing how the Queen’s corgis are playing a part in her recovery.
Ferguson said she is “slowly working her way back to a healthy body” following the procedure with the help of her beloved dogs.
Following the Queen’s death last year, Ferguson and Prince Andrew – who already had five Norfolk terriers – welcomed the late monarch’s corgis Muick and Sandy into their home at Windsor.
Describing the days after her surgery, Ferguson said: “Having seven dogs, they don’t understand that perhaps I’m not as mobile as I was.
“They’re going, ‘Hello! Come on, it’s all about me!’ Dogs are very needy, aren’t they?’’
She revealed the Queen’s corgis are even walking in the footsteps of the late monarch.
“I took all the seven doggies yesterday to where the Queen would have walked them, and so I was chatting to them saying, ‘Now where do we go?’ And they were sort of showing me the way. And there was a little woodland walk that was made specially for the Queen and just so special.”
Last September, the Duchess said that being asked to take care of Sandy and Muick has been a “big honour”, according to the Telegraph.
Speaking at the Henley Literary Festival, Ferguson said that she’s well aware that the two new additions to her household are “national treasures” who have been “trained well”.
Speaking about her own cancer diagnosis, Ferguson encouraged her followers to keep an eye out for symptoms, saying: “I can’t thank my doctors, nurses, and medical professionals enough. I encourage anyone who can to get screened. Don’t wait.”
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Originally published as Sarah Ferguson reveals ‘isolated’ Prince Andrew’s ‘grief’
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