Sarah Ferguson’s incredibly touching tribute to “dear Diana”
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, made an incredible touching honour to the late Princess Diana, her close friend and confidante before her death in 1997.
In a social media post, Ferguson shared a collection of photographs of some of the “strong women” in her life, including her late mother and her two daughters, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice.
"Thinking of some of the strong women who've been part of my life – my late mother, my dear departed friends Diana and Carolyn Cotterell and of course my fierce, beautiful, loving daughters who make me proud every day," she captioned the images.
Included in the series of photographs was a younger Princess Di and Fergie in their royal days, smiling happily.
The post was in tribute of International Women’s Day on March 8 – a global movement celebrating the achievements of women in society as well as a movement which calls for gender equality.
Fans showed their delight with the touching tribute.
“You are truly an amazing woman yourself you are strong and beautiful and have a wonderful family. Thank you for remembering Diana,” wrote one Instagram user.
“Lovely photos! Thanks for honouring Diana! You and your daughters are wonderful women! Happy International Women’s Day!” added another.
Sarah has explained that the negative coverage framing her and Diana as rivals was untrue as the duo were extremely close and found comfort in each other during their royal days.
"Women, in particular, are constantly pitted against and compared with each other in a way that reminds me of how people tried to portray Diana and me all the time as rivals, which is something neither of us ever really felt," she wrote in Hello! Magazine.
Both and Sarah and Princess Di had in fact known each other years before they were both married into the royal family – Diana playing a massive role in Fergie’s and Prince Andrew's whirlwind romance.
The duo leaned on each other during tough times, especially when both marriages were facing increasing difficulty.
“We burned the phone wires into the night, trading secrets and jokes that no-one else would understand,” Fergie wrote in her autobiography.
However, despite their close relationship, the two had their own personal reservations with each other – Diana cut off ties with her dear friend in 1996.
The Duchess has said that she had no idea why their relationship came to an end, but royal insiders believe it had something to do with what was written about Princess Diana in Sarah’s book.
“We were like siblings … we rowed. And the saddest thing, at the end, we hadn’t spoken for a year,” Ferguson revealed to Harper’s Bazaar.
“I tried, wrote letters, thinking whatever happened didn't matter, let's sort it out. And I knew she'd come back.
“In fact, the day before she died, she rang a friend of mine and said, 'Where's that Red? I want to talk to her.'”