Sarah, Duchess of York often shares personal anecdotes about her children, grandchildren and her relationship with members of the royal family on her podcast.
In the series one finale of Tea Talks With The Duchess and Sarah, the author is asked to dispel some rumours by her co-host, Sarah Thomson, including one about the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
She asks: “There are two stories I want to ask you because they may be rubbish, but I’ve read them and I’ve got to ask you. One is that Diana had the hots for Prince Andrew and had pictures of him up. Is it rubbish?”
Sarah, Duchess of York replies: “What a load of rubbish. Diana always got on very well with him, and I say that he’s certainly the best-looking prince.”
Her co-host then asks: “And then the other one was, which I’m sure you’re going to tell me is rubbish as well, is that your father asked Diana’s mother to marry him?”
“Rubbish too,” the Duchess responds, “Although Diana’s mother and my mother were at school together and we were all very close, but that’s rubbish.”
The Duchess and Diana shared a close friendship, with Sarah calling the Princess “Duch” as a nickname.
Sarah married Prince Andrew in 1986, and welcomed their first child, Princess Beatrice, in 1988, followed by Princess Eugenie two years later.
The former couple have remained good friends since their separation in 1992 and subsequent divorce.
Sarah and Andrew currently live together at Royal Lodge in Windsor and travelled to Scotland last week to join King Charles and Queen Camilla at Balmoral Castle.
On the previous episode of her podcast, the Duchess spoke about her “Cinderella” moment at her royal wedding.
The bride wore an ivory duchesse satin gown designed by Lindka Cierach, and was given the York tiara – a floral-shaped diamond scroll headpiece designed by Garrard – by the late Queen and the late Duke of Edinburgh.
Sarah said: “In 1986, the nation stopped and took a holiday on July 23 for the farmer’s daughter going up the aisle with an extraordinary tiara given by Her Majesty, which had gardenias floating through it so you could see sparkles but you couldn’t see the tiara.
“It’s an extraordinary story of Cinderella, isn’t it? I wasn’t exactly milking the cows on the farm, it was a very lovely life I had, but my father still farmed.
“Up I went, up Westminster Abbey, and there at the end was the handsome prince with his full naval uniform on and the nation stopped. Westminster Abbey was just abuzz with belief.”
When asked by her co-host if she experienced nerves on her wedding day, Sarah replied: “Like every bride is always nervous, I don’t know why… when I came down the stairs from Clarence House, where I spent the night before, everyone is going ‘Fergie! Fergie!’ on the streets. When I came down the stairs, there was my father at the bottom of the stairs.”
She later added: “It was one of those moments… I was watching Cinderella with the girls the other day, Ella Enchanted. I did that! I had that moment, and Dad was at the bottom.”
