The Diana Only I Knew

SARAH "FERGIE" FERGUSON IS LOOKING BACK ON HER CLOSE AND COMPLICATED FRIENDSHIP WITH THE LATE PRINCESS DIANA.

IN December 1991- one year before her divorce from the future King Charles III - Princess Diana wrote a heartfelt letter to her interior designer friend revealing the tremendous loneliness she was feeling as she grew more and more distant from the royal family. "I do feel extremely isolated more than ever now," she said in the note, which was put up for auction in 2020. "I am continuously misunderstood by those around me."

For years, there was only one person Diana felt she could trust: her longtime pal and former sister-in-law, Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson. The People's Princess and the Duchess of York had been close since their teen years, but their relationship deepened when Fergie married Charles' younger brother Prince Andrew in 1986. The 63-year-old has shared the truth about their friendship-how they bonded over being royal outsiders and why they weren't talking at the time of Diana's tragic death in 1997. "Fergie was like a big sister to Diana," a source tells Star. "They were each other's biggest supporters and told each other things no one else knew."

INSTANT CONNECTION

According to Fergie, she was 15 when she and a then-14-year-old Diana became fast friends. In fact, their mothers were schoolmates, but the two drifted apart until shortly after Diana married in 1981.

Fergie became Diana's confidante as she struggled to adjust to royal life. And in 1985, the princess introduced her to Andrew. "It was Diana who said, 'No, no I need you to come stay at Windsor Castle and you need to be with my brother-in-law, Andrew,"" Fergie told one outlet.

"When I came out of lunch I remember coming up to her and saying, 'Ah, he's really cute,' and she said, 'Duh, Fergie."" Diana showed her sister-in-law the ropes as Fergie adjusted to royal life.