Duchess speaks on life after prince
By Cary Ginell soundthink@aol.com

Sarah Ferguson

Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, spoke to a rapt audience at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza last week as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series. Her appearance had been publicized as an address but instead turned out to be a rambling, yet refreshingly unpretentious, talk about her life as a member of Britain's royal family and her resilient comeback after her divorce.

Ferguson acknowledged at the outset that she was not a public speaker, but "decided to launch onto the public stage and be who I was." The result was an uneven but interesting evening: The Duchess arrived late, spoke for less than hour but still managed to charm the audience with her forthrightness about the vicissitudes of her life in the public eye.

After the tragic death of her sister-in-law, Princess Diana, in 1997, many expected a similar fate to befall Ferguson, who divorced Prince Andrew in 1996. But instead of becoming like Diana, a reclusive jetsetter hounded by press and paparazzi, Sarah rebounded from a period of self-loathing and self-doubt, which had manifested itself in binge eating.

Today, she's not only the proud spokesperson for the Weight Watchers system, but is also a supporter of a variety of charitable causes.

Ferguson's troubles began when she was 12. Her parents divorced and her mother moved to Argentina. Blaming herself, Ferguson became frustrated, insecure, neurotic, emotional and dependent on food.

She married Britain's Prince Andrew in 1986, but the smothering press and the strict requirements of her position resulted in her seeing her husband not more than 40 days a year for the first five years of their marriage.

Today, she and Andrew are "the happiest divorced couple in the world." She still refers to Andrew as "my prince."

Ignoring her prepared notes at one point, Ferguson stepped away from the podium to address the audience members as if they were girlfriends chatting over a cup of tea, even confiding to an inquisitive 8-year-old in the audience, "I'll tell you all about marrying a handsome prince. . . ."

Ferguson gives Americans credit for rescuing her when her weight ballooned to 220 pounds after her divorce and Diana's death. According to Ferguson, Americans "accepted me for who I was" and, in the process, saved her life.

In addition to joining Weight Watchers, Ferguson founded Hartmoor, a company devoted to promoting wellness and supporting motherhood. Her two daughters are not without their own travails: one suffers from scoliosis, and the other, dyslexia.

Ferguson adopted as her symbol "Little Red," a rag doll that stands for children's rights. The doll was in Ferguson's New York City office, on the 101st floor of the World Trade Center, on 9/11; it was found, undamaged, in the rubble.

She also founded the Sarah Ferguson Foundation and travels the world to provide aide to abandoned, abused and forgotten children.

Ferguson's motto, which she repeated throughout her address, is: "The Three Cs: Communicate, Compromise and Compassion," which, she said, are what it takes to have a happy relationship.

One would have liked the Duchess to have been better prepared for her address; she appeared flustered and distracted by logistical problems, but still came off as unpretentious, feisty, selfdeprecating, compassionate and straightforward. As she took questions from the audience, her sharp wit and sense of humor were evident; she answered with great patience- and sometimes mock anger- some of the more inane queries.

All in all, one felt closer to understanding who Sarah Ferguson is, although many would have liked to learn more about what she does and what lessons can be learned from her experiences.