Fergie finds her voice 'I'M NOT EXCUSING MYSELF ANY MORE'

After more devastating news, she's determined to live life on her terms

- Judy Kean

It was the worst possible way to start a new year. At 4pm on New Year's Eve, 2023, Sarah, Duchess of York, received a phone call from her dermatologist with news that left her reeling.

A mole the specialist had removed that was expected to be non-cancerous had turned out to be malignant melanoma. It was just six months since Fergie, 64, had been diagnosed with breast cancer and she'd just undergone a reconstruction following a mastectomy.

Of the shocking news, Fergie says, "My heart fell...it was a difficult weekend."

Yet with her trademark positivity, Prince Andrew's former wife insists her experience with cancer has changed her life for the better.

"It woke me up," she says.

"It gave me a swift kick in the butt and told me, 'Right, are you going to start living now, at 64, or are you going to keep on not quite living?""

Cancer has made her realise that she should just be herself. "You don't have to be what everybody wants you to be," she tells. "One of the only people who saw me properly was the Queen [Elizabeth II] and before she died, she said, 'Sarah, being yourself is enough.' I haven't shown my huge personality properly because I've tried to keep it under the cushion."