Sarah Ferguson stopped being an official member of the royal family back in 1996 following the end of her 10-year marriage to Prince Andrew. But her friendship with the Queen lasted for many more years, right up until the death of the monarch in September 2022.
The Duchess - mother to Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie - has spoken about her bond with her former mother-in-law on a number of occasions, describing her as her "greatest mentor" and inspiration.
In August 2021, 13 months before the Queen passed away, Sarah appeared on the Tea with Twiggy podcast to promote her debut novel, Her Heart for a Compass, and wound up discussing her extremely close relationship with the monarch.
"I think to myself that honestly, my mother-in-law has been more of a mother to me than my mother. [She's] never faltered," she said.
Sarah's own mother, Susan Barrantes, divorced her father in 1974 when she was a child and left their family to move to Argentina with her new husband, professional polo player Héctor Barrantes. She later died in a car crash in 1998.
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The Duchess continued, "I lost my way. I became deeply insecure [after my mum's passing]. I suppose it wasn't until my lovely ex-husband, lovely Andrew, that [I found my voice]. He always believes in me."
She then credited the Queen as being the ultimate role model. "I absolutely admire the incredible way Her Majesty is so modern. And how flexible, and how understanding, and how forgiving and how generous," Sarah said. "And kind. I absolutely think there is no greater mentor.
"The consistency of Her Majesty has been a great honour. A huge honour. Makes me want to cry."
In a recent interview with HELLO!, Sarah revealed something very poignant the Queen once told her, which ultimately helped her deal with her own personal struggles.
She said: "One of the only people who saw me properly was the Queen [late Elizabeth II], and before she died, she said: 'Sarah, being yourself is enough.'
"I haven't shown my huge personality properly, because I've tried to keep it under the cushion. 'It's too much,' or: 'Shut up, no one wants to hear from you.' I remember my father telling me: 'You're a bore.' And now I'm just not excusing myself any more."
Elsewhere in the interview, Sarah shared a positive update following her cancer diagnosis. The 64-year-old was diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2023 and underwent a mastectomy to have the cancer removed. Following the operation, Sarah later underwent a reconstruction procedure, but during the surgery doctors noticed an unusual skin lesion which was sadly later identified as malignant melanoma. Happily, she told the publication that the cancer has been removed.
"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. 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."
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