1 British Royal Recalls Working Through ‘Depression’ and ‘Critics’ After Having Her First Baby: ‘It Makes Me Cry’
When you become a member of the British royal family, you essentially open yourself up to a world of fame that you never knew could exist. It’s not quite the celebrity type of fame, where you’re either admired or not talked about. Rather, it’s a balance of admiration and criticism, with the press publishing anything they believe will get eyes on it.
And nobody knows that better than Sarah Ferguson, who married Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, back in 1986. In a recent interview, Sarah spoke out the criticism she received and the “depression” that took a toll on her while trying to raise her first baby, Princess Beatrice.
Sarah ‘Fergie’ Ferguson recalled the difficulties with the press in the 1980s
Anyone who has experienced life within the royal family would probably say the same thing: It is not for the faint of heart. Such is the reason Prince Harry and Meghan Markle disconnected from the royals back in 2020, and they have since been living a much better life in the United States. But one royal who did not leave was Sarah Ferguson; she was married to Prince Andrew for 10 years, and they welcomed two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
But during the late 1980s, Sarah was feeling depressed and working through her first pregnancy, and as a result, she was eating more than usual. While she credits her eating habits with saving her life, it opened her up to harsh “critics.”
“The fact I could eat my emotions was the only thing that saved my life,” Sarah said in a December 2024 interview with The Sunday Times. “I was huge, more than 14 stone when I had Beatrice in 1988, and I think I had postnatal depression.”
Sarah recalled a difficult nickname she earned in the media. “Everybody said, ‘You’re the Duchess of Pork,’ and I believed my critics,” she said. Sarah also recalled how Queen Elizabeth II continued to support her throughout the criticism and told her that she was always good enough. “It made me cry,” Sarah said of that final advice the queen gave her before her death.
Sarah Ferguson will not attend the royal family’s Christmas celebration this year
Sarah and her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, have not been married in years, but she continues to stand by his side. Andrew and Charles are currently at odds over a number of things (Charles even cut Andrew off financially earlier this year), and Andrew has decided to back out of Christmas at Sandringham.
As a show of solidarity, Sarah will not attend, either. Sarah and Andrew’s daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, also will not attend the royal Christmas, which will be their first time ever missing it with the exception of covid.
