In June, Sarah Ferguson was diagnosed with breast cancer, and a single mastectomy was performed. The news was only announced after the surgery, and Fergie is apparently recovering at Royal Lodge, where she has her own suite of rooms in the Royal Windsor estate her ex-husband leases. I’ve been curious why we haven’t heard any PR puff pieces about how Prince Andrew is worried sick and how he’s looking after his ex-wife. I guess they can’t even say that because it’s clear that Andrew isn’t doing anything – it’s fallen on Princess Eugenie to help her mom. Meanwhile, King Charles has apparently “shelved” the talk of evicting the Yorks from Royal Lodge.
Brave Sarah Ferguson has told friends she feels “very lucky to be alive” after a gruelling eight-hour breast cancer operation, we can reveal today. The Duchess of York, 63, is said to be in good spirits and recovering well after spending four days in intensive care in hospital following her exhausting ordeal. It is believed mum-of-two Fergie needed round-the-clock monitoring after the anaesthetic took its toll during what friends confirmed was “successful” surgery. She has returned home following the procedure at King Edward VII’s Hospital in Marylebone, central London, in which a breast was removed and reconstructed.
Friends say daughter Eugenie, 33, has “all but moved in” to Royal Lodge in Windsor, Berks, to look after her, while older child Beatrice, 34, has been “constantly on the phone”. Fergie is also being supported by former husband Prince Andrew, 63.
A palace insider said that plans for the family to move into nearby Frogmore Cottage, Harry and Meghan’s former home, have been “quietly shelved” for now. King Charles, meanwhile, has written to his former sister-in-law to offer his “sincere wishes for a speedy recovery”.
Surgeon Christine Choy carried out the single mastectomy while colleague Stuart James reconstructed the breast using fat from Fergie’s stomach. A friend of the duchess said: “The surgery took getting on for eight hours and was more involved than people think. Today, the message she wants to get out is that she’s very grateful and she feels very lucky to be alive. She wants to thank the two incredible surgeons Christine Choy and Stuart James who saved her life and all the medical team who worked tirelessly to help her.”
A source said Fergie, who was discharged from hospital last Sunday after six days of medical care, was lucky as her cancer was caught early. They added: “Most people usually associate breast cancer with a lump but that’s not always the case. A lump can be detected by the patient, but this was a ‘shadow’, which can go undetected as it’s a wider spread of cancerous cells. In Sarah’s case, a biopsy was taken from the shadowy area of tissue and a few days later the results came back to confirm the diagnosis — breast cancer.”
Eugenie is only one month postpartum with her second child, I really hope all of this hasn’t fallen on her. Fergie better be getting real help from nurses and healthcare professionals as she recovers. Again, note that no one can even say if Andrew is helping out at all! Anyway, I feel for Fergie and her daughters. I genuinely hope Fergie makes a full recovery. And I also hope that Fergie moves out of Royal Lodge when she feels better. She’s got that other home in London now.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- 138925, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson arrive together at Royal Ascot. Day 4 of Royal Ascot. Picture by Ben Stevens / i-ImagesUK, FRANCE, AUS, NZ, CHINA, HONG KONG, TAIWAN, SPAIN & ITALY OUT Photograph: © i-Images, PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office: +1 310.822.0419 sales@pacificcoastnews.com FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE,Image: 533485865, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: i-Images, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- The Duke of York, Sarah, Duchess of York and their daughter Princess Beatrice during the wedding of Princess Eugenie to Jack Brooksbank, at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.,Image: 534314437, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
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- Sarah Ferguson arrives at the state funeral of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, at Westminster Abbey in London, Britain, September 19, 2022.,Image: 724104766, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Geoff Pugh for the Telegraph / Avalon
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- The Andrew Martin Interior Designer of the Year Award Featuring: Sarah Duchess of York Where: London, United Kingdom When: 17 Oct 2022 Credit: PinPep/Cover Images **EDITORIAL USE ONLY**
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- Sarah Ferguson Spotted Leaving Loulou’s After A Quick Dinner Featuring: Sarah Ferguson Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 28 Feb 2023 Credit: Blitz Pictures/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North/South America and Australia Rights Only**
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- UK premiere of Marlowe at Vue West End in London. Featuring: Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York Where: London, United Kingdom When: 16 Mar 2023 Credit: Matt Crossick/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
Where is beatrice. I doubt there were any real plans for Andrew to move out
Seriously. Euge has a newborn; Bea’s kid is 2. She should be there helping more. “Being on the phone constantly” is bullshit.
Eugie shouldn’t be there at all! I had to read that twice as I thought I was misreading it, but no. So on top of taking care of her mother, she is caring for a newborn AND her sisters constant calls. Got it!!
Bea should get ass over there as Edo can care for their child and Eugie can take her infant home and recover from giving birth as well.
Let’s also not forget that they CAN afford care from a private nurse too!
If Royal Lodge is a toxic mold heap and crumbling death trap, it’s not the right environment for someone sick or with a compromised or overtaxed immune system to be dwelling in. She’d be better off elsewhere for the time being.
Thank you ThatsNotOkay!!! Exactly what you said: a place that needs to be renovated is no place for someone who needs to recover from either an illness and/ or surgery. This is about the York women jumping in to “save” Royal Lodge from being taken away. Sarah could literally go to several other places, which would be better for her recovery.
Oh, that’s not good. Not good at all for Fergie to be in that environment. She needs to move to another place. Mold is extremely toxic and no one should be living in that place.
Knew she had the breast reconstructed from the length of time she was under. Mine was 10 hrs. I doubt Eugenie is taking care of Sarah and her new baby. Sarah wouldn’t need round the clock care, unless there were complications. Someone to change her bandages. I doubt she still has the drains. She’ll be sleeping mostly because the surgery and healing takes its toll on the body.
I completely forgot they were repairing Royal Lodge’s roof. I hope she’s home in London.
Hope you are doing well
Thanks, Jay& Bothsidesnow! I’m doing really well. It’s been nearly 15 yrs since my mastectomy & reconstruction. Cancer free as well.
I do hope that you have recovered fully and remain cancer free!!
What happened to the residence Ferg ie purchased in London
I was asking myself that same question. Unless she felt more comfortable at RL?
Wow! Princess Eugenie has really upped her style game! Peace and to love Fergie, heal well.
Eugenia is one of the few human beings in that family. But I worry about her and the baby.
I will say that despite Sarah being a grifter and Andrew being an arrogant prick and asshole (& pedophile), they managed to have seemingly two well-adjusted daughters who really care about their parents (despite everything) and vice versa.
I do hope Beatrice is helping, and she probably is, but I think if she isn’t there is a good reason. (Is she still working? I think Eugenie is probably on maternity leave and has a freer schedule, but still that is a lot for her.)
Eugenie was at Glastonbury last week so I doubt she’s providing round the clock care.
It was Beatrice that attended Glastonbury last week.
I had the same surgery that Fergie did — it’s called a DIEP Flap and it is effing grueling. I had 2 separate surgeries — a partial mastectomy and 2 years later the reconstruction. The first was a piece of cake and I was home the same day. The second was gawdawful. I was in surgery for 6.5hours, in hospital for 4 days and a 2 month period of recovery. So she has my sympathy and best wishes for a healthy recovery, it’s not easy surgery to bounce back from, especially if you’re older.
I had a DIEP flap reconstruction too and that surgery is ROUGH. 10 hour operation, 6 days in ICU, and months of recovery. The tummy incision is the hardest as it is hip to hip. You have to stay hunched over when walking and folded up when sleeping so you don’t pull your stitches. I needed a lot of support from family and I hope Fergie has someone who can be with her 24/7. Stairs are also extremely tricky after this operation as is just getting a shower. I was so weak when I got home from the hospital, but was dying to wash my hair. My husband stood outside the shower holding my drains while I managed to wash my hair. He told me it was time to get out when I started shaking from the effort.
So sorry you had to endure that ordeal, Jaded and LPete.
@LPete — yeah, I remember that first shower after getting home as I HAD to wash my hair. It took all my strength to do it and I had to go right to bed after and have Mr. Jaded bring me soup. Hope you’re doing much better these days!
one thing i will say about fergie, is that she knows what colors look good on her. perhaps she could help kate with her wardrobe pallette!
i think it would be reasonable to surmise that there is household staff, a nurse, and a nanny in there somewhere whether full time or part time. I have several friends who have had these operations and all the husbands have been excellent primary care givers during the initial stages of recovery. Where the hell is Andrew in this? They’re divorced, but she is still the mother of his children.
I hope that Sarah have a smooth recovery.
God Speed..
Yea, Kaiser, there’s no way Eugenie is taking care of her mother. I realize this a little tinfoil tiara-y, I also think I saw something somewhere that said that the pictures of Ernest were taken at their home in Portugal, maybe from the metadata?
I had the DIEP surgery 1.5 yrs ago. Even with both my surgical oncologist and two reconstructive surgeons working on me simultaneously, my surgery still took 13 hours. The ladies above are correct. You basically get bisected. A technique where you do not have to take the muscle is being used at a lot of hospitals and looks like it will become the status quo surgery. I had complications from mine despite the skill of my surgeons, so I am considering more surgery later on, if I want to deal with it. I wanted to throat punch anyone who used the words “free tummy tuck.”
F— Peddy Andy, but my heart does go out to Fergie and her two girls. They will now have to live with the fear that the cancer can come back at any time. That’s a heavy weight to live under. However, Fergie needs to move to the house she grifted. If they can’t figure out a way to throw his ass in prison, let Peddy Andy spend the rest of his years living all alone in “his” crumbling estate like a modern day Miss Havisham.
@Cleo17 — I had to have a second recon surgery but it was relatively easy. The surgeon did a fat transfer via liposuction to fill in some gaps that had gradually appeared in my breast. I was in and out in half a day. I hope you’re doing well and have recovered completely! I too hope Fergie moves into her Mayfair home and gets away from the taint of Pedo Andy.