Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson, who is divorced from Prince Andrew, revealed the final words Queen Elizabeth II said to her before her passing in September 2022.
Ferguson was discussing her battle with breast cancer during the August 30 episode of her podcast, “Tea Talks With the Duchess & Sarah.”
The 63-year-old royal family member said fighting cancer has helped her “wake up” and embrace who she really is, regardless of outside opinions.
“It’s the last thing that the queen said to me: ‘Just be yourself, Sarah,’” Ferguson said.
“And she saw it,” the Duchess of York continued. “She just got so annoyed when I wasn’t being myself. And that’s probably when I got into all the pickles. But now I am myself, and I’m just so lucky to be able to be myself.”
Ferguson was married to disgraced royal Prince Andrew from from 1986 to 1996 and shares daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie with him. Her relationship with the queen was complicated over the years, especially following the infamous “toe-sucking scandal” in 1992. That’s when paparazzi captured photos of the duchess canoodling on a boat with a business associate while on holiday in the South of France.
As Queen Elizabeth II abhorred negative publicity, she referred to this incident and others from that year as her “annus horribilis” (horrible year).
It’s unclear when the queen allegedly made these remarks to Fergie, but a previous report from the Times of London said the queen was in good spirits the weekend before her passing.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP
“It was a fantastic visit,” The Right Rev. Iain Greenshields said of dining with Her Majesty at Balmoral at the time. “Her memory was absolutely amazing, and she was really full of fun.”
“It came as a great shock to me when I heard she was gravely ill because she was in amazingly good form over the weekend … It was only a few days ago, I can’t believe it,” he continued.
Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 after a record-breaking reign of 70 years. It was the longest of any monarch in British history and longest verified reign of any female head of state in history.