Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York has shared the poignant final message she received from the late Queen Elizabeth.
The monarch died at her Balmoral estate in Scotland in September 2022 at the age of 96 and Sarah has now revealed the Queen’s final words to her were a “gift” as she urged her former daughter-in-law to “be yourself”.
Sarah told Platinum magazine: “The last thing the late Queen said to me was ‘be yourself’. That was the best gift, apart from the corgis, that she gave me.
“She also said: ‘I cared for you, Sarah, and I love you and that you’re good enough. Just be it’.”
Sarah explained the Queen’s kind words meant a lot to her because she always felt as if she was negatively compared to her late former sister-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales.
She added: “When you’re permanently compared to Diana or always in the newspapers seen to be doing something wrong, called ‘Bad Fergie’, ‘Furious Fergie’, ‘Fat and frumpy Fergie’, ‘Frolicking Fergie’, you eventually believe it. I’m much better now, but you still have to work through things.
“At 64 I finally feel free to be myself. Rather than trying to please all of the people all of the time, I can accept that isn’t possible and get on with living my life.”
After the Queen died, Sarah adopted the late monarch’s remaining two corgis – Sandy and Muick – and on the first anniversary of her death the duchess shared a sweet message calling her a “second mother”.
In a post on Instagram, she wrote: “You were a wonderful friend, a mentor, a second mother to me and grandmother to my daughters who share so much of your courage and heart.
“You will always be loved and missed by our family and our nation.”