Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, has opened up about the profound emotional impact of a very public royal snub, confessing it left her feeling 'hurt' and 'totally worthless'.
The Defining Snub
The painful moment occurred around the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on 29 April 2011. Despite her daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, being in attendance, Sarah Ferguson herself was notably absent from the ceremony at Westminster Abbey, having not received an invitation.
In a candid interview with Oprah Winfrey shortly after the historic event, Fergie revealed she chose to escape to Thailand in the wake of the exclusion. "I was not invited, and I chose to go and be in Thailand in a place called Camelia and... the jungle embraced me," she explained.
Living With Regret and Hurt
The Duchess described the experience as "so difficult," expressing a deep desire to have been there with her family. "I wanted to be there with my girls, and to be getting them dressed and to go as a family," she said. She also poignantly noted, "the last bride up that aisle was me," referencing her own 1986 marriage to Prince Andrew.
She credited her ex-husband, Andrew, with trying to soften the blow, saying he made her feel "very part of the day" through their conversations. However, the snub forced her to confront past mistakes, including a major scandal where she was caught offering an undercover reporter access to Andrew for £500,000.
"I went through the phase of feeling so totally worthless and that [it] was quite right they didn't invite me," Ferguson told Oprah. "Why would they - why would they invite me? I felt that I ostracised myself by my behaviour, by the past, by living with all the regrets of my mistakes."
A Connection to Princess Diana
In her reflection, Sarah Ferguson drew a parallel between her own absence and that of the late Princess Diana, William's mother. "I really love the feeling that sort of Diana and I both weren't there," she shared. She added a gracious note about the bride, stating, "But I'm here to say how proud she would have been and Kate looked utterly beautiful."
This revelation comes amid a further dramatic distancing of Ferguson from the Royal Family, linked to her association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This has led to her being stripped of her Duchess title and facing eviction from Royal Lodge, her home since 2008.
The wedding snub over a decade ago now stands as a significant early marker in the complex and often strained relationship between the Duchess of York and the institution she once joined through marriage.
