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Sarah, the Duchess of York has undergone successful surgery to treat breast cancer, which was detected during a routine mammogram.
In a recorded interview on her podcast Tea Talks With the Duchess and Sarah, the 63-year-old duchess – affectionately known as “Fergie” by royal observers because of her surname Ferguson – urged listeners to undergo a screening.
“Tomorrow I’m going to have a mastectomy,” she said in an interview the day before her surgery. “I want every single person that listens to this podcast to get screened, get screened and do it.”
Despite her initial reluctance to get tested, Ferguson said preparing for the surgery changed her outlook on life.
“I see this as a real gift to … change my life,” she said. “I’m going to get super fit, super strong… and watch it right now.”
After her operation, she showed a good prognosis and was discharged from hospital on Sunday to recover at home in Windsor, her spokesman told the Associated Press.
She underwent the procedure at King Edward VII’s Hospital, a private hospital in central London that regularly treated senior royalty, including the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The Duchess, a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, was largely “symptom-free” prior to the diagnosis and believes “her experience underscores the importance of regular check-ups,” the spokeswoman told the Associated Press.
Sarah left Prince Andrew – the younger brother of King Charles III – in 1996 after ten years of marriage. – divorced and was a popular target for the British tabloids. The couple have two daughters, 34-year-old Princess Beatrice and 33-year-old Princess Eugenie, and three grandchildren. (They are also the handlers of Queen Elizabeth II’s famous corgis.) After the split, she launched a writing career, authoring more than 20 books, including two best-selling memoirs.
A regular on TV shows and now a podcast host, she is described as easy-going and approachable, and often shares her self-deprecating outlook on life, including disappointments at not being invited to the coronation and other royal events. She was close friends with Princess Diana and spoke about their relationship, their loneliness and their shared sense of being outcasts on a recent episode of their podcast.