Duchess of York packs venue in first of five WA appearances
By Emma Young
Sarah, Duchess of York, has kicked off her Australian book tour – in the outer Perth suburb of Joondalup, with about 700 people cramming Perth’s Joondalup resort on Friday night to hear her speak.
That’s right, in a refreshing change for West Australians they’re getting prioritised for a national tour, with the Duchess making five WA stops – the other four being in Bunbury, Busselton, Mosman Park and Perth city – then two in Sydney.
The Duchess of York in Perth on Friday.Credit: Chris Huzzard
The reason? An extensive children’s book deal signed with Perth-based Serenity Press, with multiple picture books illustrated by West Australian and Indigenous artists launched on Friday night, all thanks to an impulsive message Perth author Karen Weaver sent.
“She dared, in 2019, to send me a message on Instagram saying, ‘I would love to publish your books for you,’” Ferguson told WAtoday before Friday night’s event.
“Her son was crazy about [my character] Budgie the Helicopter.”
Ferguson is a Sunday Times and New York Times-bestselling author of more than 80 books including memoirs, nonfiction, children’s books and historical and young adult fiction.
The Perth-published Duchess Serenity Press collection launched Friday night also includes Fabulous Food Art, a collaboration with TikTokker Laleh Mohmedi of Jacob’s Food Diaries fame, with recipes based on the picture book characters.
Asked if her grandchildren were keen on her books, Ferguson said they were “major critics”, but that reading to them was a chance to “re-parent”.
She said Australia was close to her heart as it had for nearly 50 years “looked after and embraced” her sister Jane, who had met her on Thursday at Perth airport “pretending to be a koala”.
That was not the only Australian wildlife Ferguson had seen; after the drive down Perth’s Mitchell Freeway, in what she found refreshingly low-stress traffic – “it was so lovely to be able to get from A to B without get having a sort of red-flush moment” – she then saw a kangaroo and its joey on the golf course at Joondalup Resort.
Following her appearance at the resort, however, she would be returning to Perth’s “beautiful” Como The Treasury before heading south for her next appearances.
The Duchess is a prolific author.
Fifteen per cent of the proceeds of the Serenity Press titles will go to the Duchess’ charity Sarah’s Trust, with an announcement of a donation to a Perth-based charity planned for Friday night.
The Duchess is also promoting her new children’s book Flora & Fern: Wonder in the Woods, her first title with New Frontier, the Sydney offshoot of the UK publisher.
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, will further appear on Saturday, November 2 (Collins Booksellers Bunbury, 11.30am, and Dymocks Busselton, 2.30pm); Sunday, November 3 (Open Book, Mosman Park, 11.30am); Monday, November 4 (Dymocks Hay Street, 3.30pm); Wednesday, November 6 (Seed Heritage, Bondi Junction); and Thursday, November 7 (Dymocks George Street).
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