TESTING TIMES SARAH'S 'SHOCK' SECOND CANCER DIAGNOSIS

Sarah, Duchess of York says she's taking some time for herself after she was found to have a malignant melanoma

- REBECCA RUSSELL

Sarah Ferguson is facing a new health battle after being dealt a devastating blow last week when it was announced she had been diagnosed with malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer.

The distressing news came only a matter of months after she underwent a successful mastectomy and reconstructive surgery for breast cancer. And it’s something that 64-year-old Fergie is tragically familiar with as her late father, Major Ronald Ferguson, was also diagnosed with skin cancer.

The bond between father and daughter was ironclad, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond tells OK!. “Sarah and her father were cut from the same cloth – ebullient, social characters with a tendency to land themselves in hot water from time to time. Because her mother left home, Sarah was naturally close to him. Through thick and thin, they supported one another through all manner of crises and embarrassments. And as he suffered both prostate and skin cancer, the Duchess knows only too well the emotional and physical journey that may lie ahead for her.”

But, instead of bitterness or despondency, Sarah is behaving in the only way she knows how – by keeping her head held high and by projecting the same irrepressible positivity the public know and love. In many ways, Sarah’s approach echoes the way her late father dealt with the situation. When he underwent chemotherapy in 2002, he said, “My attitude to cancer was, ‘Right, let’s get on with it.’”