The Duchess of York is the second daughter of the late Major Ronald Ferguson and the late Mrs. Hector Barrantes. As Sarah Ferguson, she married Prince Andrew, the second son of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey on July 23,1986.
Sarah Ferguson was born in the Welbeck Clinic in London on October 15th,1959. She spent her early years at her parents’ home in Sunninghill, Ascot and was educated at two local boarding schools, Daneshill and Hurst Lodge. On leaving school, she attended Queens secretarial college in South Kensington and, after working in an art gallery in Covent Garden, she joined the London offices of a Swiss fine art publishing company, where she was working at the time of her marriage.
The Duke and Duchess of York have two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. They are fifth and sixth in line of succession to the throne. The Duke and Duchess divorced amicably in 1996 after 10 years of marriage and the couple is frequently cited as a model for civilized divorce and successful co-parenting.
The Duchess of York devotes much of her life to supporting a variety of charitable causes. In April 1993 she founded Children in Crisis and is Life President of the charity. To date, Children in Crisis has raised in excess of £15 million, helping disadvantaged children all over the world. The charity was created to highlight the plight of suffering children and works with international and national aid agencies.
Building on the success of Children in Crisis, The Duchess founded Chances for Children in America in November 1994. It was established as a fund-raising arm for non-profit organizations and for individual children, concentrating on smaller areas of need which larger organizations do not have the time to focus on.
Other charitable Patronages include Teenage Cancer Trust, SOS Children’s Villages, Tommy’s, and The Motor Neurone Disease Association/(ALS).
In September 2006 the Duchess established the Sarah Ferguson Foundation, which aims to fund charities around the world.
In January 1997 Sarah Ferguson became the U.S. spokesperson and published author for Weight Watchers International. She has published five books that deal with weight loss and health issues.
A successful author, she has written two historical books on the life and travels of Queen Victoria. Victoria and Albert – Life at Osborne House and Travels with Queen Victoria were written with the assistance of historian Benita Stoney. The Duchess has also written a number of popular children’s books, which include Budgie The Little Helicopter series, as well as the Little Red series – companion stories to the doll designed by The Duchess. The first book, Little Red, was published in the autumn of 2003 and the second, Little Red’s Christmas Story, was released in October 2004. The third book, Little Red’s Summer Adventure, was released in June 2006. In 1996, The Duchess’ autobiography My Story was published, and in 2003 The Duchess brought out Moments–Reflections in Words and Pictures, a collection of photographs taken by The Duchess herself, from which all author royalties were donated to Children in Crisis.
In the autumn of 2008, the Duchess accepted an invitation from Israel’s President Shimon Peres to speak on her child advocacy work at the closing session of the 10th Anniversary Conference presented by the Shimon Peres Center for Peace.
In collaboration with a news team from Britain’s ITV Tonight show, the Duchess went undercover to report on abuses against disabled children in the care of state run orphanages in Turkey and Romania. The resulting two-part documentary aired primetime on ITV in November of 2008.
The Duchess is also a special correspondent for NBC’s Today Show in which she presents inspiring segments for a series titled “From the Heart.”
The Duchess of York is also co-executive producer (with Martin Scorsese) on a film about the early years of Queen Victoria’s rule Young Victoria, scripted by Julian Fellowes, will focus on the often turbulent period after Victoria became queen at the age of 18 as well as her romance and marriage to Prince Albert. The film was released in the spring of 2009.
The Duchess is a frequent guest on national talk shows and she has served as a substitute host for popular programs such as CNN’s Larry King Live and ABC’s The View. In 2007, she was a presenter on two televised award programs: CNN's Heroes, which was broadcast worldwide, and NBC's Quill Awards, which honored America’s top authors.
In Britain, the Duchess has served as guest editor on BBC Radio 4's Today program and regularly contributes to BBC Radio 2’s primetime lifestyle show Steve Wright. Previously she co-produced and served as presenter in a documentary for BBC television called In Search of the Spirit.
The Duchess of York is an internationally respected public speaker on topics ranging from health and wellness, motivation, women’s/family issues and philanthropy.
