From the loss of the HRH title to ‘reality TV’ shows, Meghan Markle‘s transformation from commoner to Duchess seems to have followed a similar blueprint to Sarah Ferguson.
Indeed, while Fergie, dubbed the ‘Duchess of Excess’ and Meghan, nicknamed ‘Duchess Difficult’, entered the Royal Family during vastly different eras, several parallels can be noted in both their public endeavours and appearances.
Sarah Ferguson was first embraced into the Firm aged just 26, marrying Prince Andrew at Westminster Abbey in July 1986.
However, while the Duchess of York came from a background of wealth and aristocratic connections, Meghan was born across the pond and, prior to meeting her Prince, had been working as a leading actress in popular TV show Suits.
Meghan and Harry wed in a fairytale ceremony held at St George’s Chapel in 2018, with it hoped that the American actress-turned Duchess would carve out the way for a new, modern age of royalty.
Yet, like Fergie, her royal tenure was to be rather short-lived.
In January 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their plans to step back as senior members of the Royal family, with the pair later relocating to California in a bid to ‘carve out a progressive new role’.
Meanwhile, Fergie’s life as a working royal came to a dramatic close after the Duke and Duchess of York publicly divorced in 1996, the aftermath of a scandalous marriage breakdown that garnered significant public attention.
And yet despite their different backgrounds and having withdrew from Royal duties under dissimilar circumstances, both Meghan and Fergie’s lives in the public eye seem to hold somewhat interchangeable connections.
While Fergie, dubbed the ‘Duchess of Excess’ and Meghan, nicknamed ‘Duchess Difficult’, entered the Royal Family during vastly different eras, there have been several parallels noted in their public endeavours and appearances
In January 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their plans to step back as senior members of the Royal family. Meanwhile, Fergie’s life as a working royal came to a dramatic close after the Duke and Duchess of York publicly divorced in 1996
Following their respective exits from Royal duties, both women were stripped of their HRH titles. While Fergie retained her title as the ‘Duchess of York’ as a courtesy, the styling shifted from ‘Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York’ to ‘Sarah, Duchess of York’.
Likewise, while no laws were passed or documents signed to prevent Meghan or Harry from continuing to use the HRH title, the pair made an agreement with the late Queen and senior officials that they would stop using the word ‘Royal’ and their ‘HRH’ duties as a mark of respect.
But it appears that the women may have faced similar struggles with accepting such reality.
As revealed in Andrew Lownie’s bombshell biography about Prince Andrew – Entitled, at the time of the release of her memoir, My Story, Fergie’s ‘continued use of HRH caused controversy, as she claimed it had not been formally withdrawn.’
But, as Lownie highlights, ‘royal lawyers quickly pointed out that she had been stripped of the title months before through an announcement in the London Gazette’.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, Meghan sparked widespread controversy after her friend Jamie Kern Lima shared a picture of a food hamper with a note that said it was ‘With the compliments of HRH The Duchess of Sussex’.
The image suggested that Meghan calls herself Her Royal Highness to friends and in personal correspondence. However, a spokesman for the Sussexes insisted that the couple do not use HRH titles for commercial purposes.
Royal commentator Ingrid Seward said: ‘I think if her late grandmother-in-law Queen Elizabeth was still around she would be highly offended, as she was very sensitive about that.
As revealed in Andrew Lownie’s bombshell biography about Prince Andrew – Entitled, at the time of the release of her memoir, My Story, Fergie’s ‘continued use of HRH caused controversy, as she claimed it had not been formally withdrawn’
Meghan sparked widespread controversy after her friend Jamie Kern Lima shared a picture of a food hamper with a note that said it was ‘With the compliments of HRH The Duchess of Sussex’. It suggested that Meghan calls herself Her Royal Highness to friends
‘The Queen didn’t remove HRH but told them not to use it. But she isn’t here anymore so maybe Harry and Meghan think they can get away with it.’
She told The Sun: ‘Remember she removed the HRH titles from both Diana and Sarah Ferguson’.
Indeed, the two Duchesses inability to entirely remove themselves from the public domain despite withdrawing from the Firm can also be seen in their respective ‘reality television’ projects.
As Lownie reveals, Fergie turned towards ‘reality television’ in a desperate bid to pay off her hefty debts that had racked up into the millions.
Her 2011 six-part series, Finding Sarah, was also hoped to help redeem her public image following a litany of public scandals that included her infamous cash-for-access proposition.
The Oprah Winfrey Network programme, commissioned for $300,000, granted cameras never-before-seen access into the Duchess’ life and was subtitled ‘Going on a journey to find myself again’.
Over the course of the show, the Duchess was hypnotised, visited a horse whisperer and shaman in the Arizonian desert, walked around a garden – in an attempt to find a ‘path for life’ – and even trekked 26 miles through Canada’s Arctic region.
But given it followed extensive public interest and offered viewers intimate access into the life of a once senior Royal, one can’t help but notice it bears some similarity with Meghan’s prominent Netflix show, With Love, Meghan.
The two Duchesses have both embarked on television projects. Fergie released a six-part series, Finding Sarah, in 2011, while Meghan has released two series of With Love, Meghan. Pictured: Meghan and Fergie at Princess Eugenie’s wedding in 2018
Released in August, the second series of the eight-part programme featured celebrity guests including Chrissy Teigan, while also showcasing personal details of Meghan’s family life – from her early dates with Prince Harry, to her children Archie and Lilibet.
Like Fergie, Meghan’s ‘reality’ series followed an intense bout of public scrutiny and interest following her and Harry’s departure from senior Royal duties.
And it was not the Duchess’ first television stint either. In late 2022, and despite citing privacy as one of the key reasons for ‘Megxit’, the Sussexes released a six-part Netflix documentary series, titled Harry & Meghan.
Delving deep into the personal details of the Royal couple, from their first dates to their scandalous exit from the Firm, the series saw them make a number of devastating accusations that shook the Palace to its very core.
The documentary series was branded by Netflix’s chief executive, Ted Sarandos, as ‘successful in every measure’, having pulled in 5.3million views as part of the couple’s lucrative £78million deal with the network.
But Meghan’s second series of With Love, Meghan, appeared to have failed to match such success rates – reaching just 136 in the Netflix chart just under two weeks after its release in September.
Perhaps indicative of both Duchess’ deviation from the Royal norm of ‘never complain, never explain’, both Meghan and Fergie have also appeared on the now-defunct Oprah Winfrey Show to disclose intimate details about their time in the Firm.
Perhaps indicative of both Duchess’ tendency to deviate from the Royal norm of ‘never complain, never explain’, both Meghan and Fergie have also appeared on the now-defunct Oprah Winfrey Show to disclose intimate details about their time in the Firm
Just over a year after Harry and Meghan had fled the Royal Family and the UK to begin their new life in America, the pair also conducted a bombshell interview with Oprah. Some 50-million people worldwide watched as the duo took part in an 85-minute tell-all interview in 2021
Following her split with Prince Andrew, in 1996, the Duchess appeared on the high-profile show to candidly discuss the realities of Royal life, admitting it was ‘not a fairytale’.
She also compared herself and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, as being ‘like rivers’, adding: ‘We want to learn more, we want to go around the corner, we are hungry for more’.
Then, in 2010, the Duchess returned for a second candid conversation with the US talk show host to discuss her lengthy financial problems, in particular her cash-for-access bribery scandal.
Just over a year after Harry and Meghan had fled the Royal Family and the UK to begin their new life in America, the pair also conducted a bombshell interview with Oprah.
Some 50-million people worldwide watched as the duo took part in an 85-minute tell-all interview in 2021 in the sun-kissed garden of a Californian mansion.
Writing in his book, Charles III: The Inside Story, Mail columnist Robert Hardman described the interview as ‘the most astonishing unburdening of family secrets since the late Princess of Wales sat down with the BBC’s Martin Bashir in 1995’.
During the explosive interview, a heavily-pregnant Meghan revealed that Fergie herself was the first person who had taught the American actress how to curtsey when she met the Queen for the first time at The Royal Lodge in Windsor.
Making a number of allegations that rocked the monarchy to its very core, Harry and Meghan claimed comments had been made about how dark Prince Archie’s skin might be when he was born, while Meghan accused Catherine, Princess of Wales, of making her cry over bridesmaid dresses just days before her wedding.
Similarities are even clear in the Duchesses holiday destinations – The Duchess of York is pictured at Disneyland Paris in 2001 with her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who was celebrating her 11th birthday
Following in Fergie’s footsteps, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were pictured with their two young children, Archie and Lilibet, at the iconic theme park earlier this year. The Sussexes covered their children’s faces with heart emojis due to privacy concerns
Queen Elizabeth II then issued a statement saying the issues raised in the interview would be dealt with privately as a family, adding that ‘recollections may vary’.
Since the revelatory interview, the Sussexes have been accused by the likes of Piers Morgan of lying, with the couple themselves taking back some of their statements.
In a later discussion of their ‘Megxit’ interview, Fergie revealed that Oprah ‘helped her greatly’ when she was interviewed by her in the US.
She told The Telegraph: ‘I’m a great supporter of Oprah and everything that she does…I wouldn’t presume to give advice to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex except to say to be happy.’
What’s more, similarities are even clear in the Duchesses holiday destinations – The Duchess of York is pictured at Disneyland Paris in 2001 with her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who was celebrating her 11th birthday.
Following in Fergie’s footsteps, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were pictured with their two young children, Archie and Lilibet, at the iconic theme park earlier this year. Though the Sussexes covered their children’s faces with heart emojis due to privacy concerns.
Having tried their hands at television, it seems almost unsurprising, therefore, that both Fergie and Meghan embarked towards achieving literary success following their respective Royal exits.
In 1996, after giving birth to her first daughter Princess Beatrice, Fergie looked towards beginning her writing career as a children’s author.
Having tried their hands at television, it seems almost unsurprising, therefore, that both Fergie and Meghan embarked towards achieving literary success following their respective Royal exits. In 2008, Fergie released children’s book Tea for Ruby
Following in the Duchess’ footsteps, Meghan released a children’s book The Bench, in 2021 at a cost of £12.99. However, unlike the wealth of success Fergie reaped, Meghan’s book failed to hit the UK Official Top 50 chart in its first week, selling just 3,212 copies
Panned by some critics as ‘ghastly’ and ‘bland’, her debut novel Budgie the Little Helicopter, followed by Budgie at Bendick’s Point, sold 100,000 copies, netting the Duchess more than £140,000 in US serialisation rights and a newspaper deal.
The Duchess claimed the books were inspired by her own helicopter lessons but she was later accused of copying the idea from an out-of-print 1964 book Hector the Helicopter by Arthur W Baldwin. She denied the claim.
Despite the adverse publicity, she went on to land a £3 million TV deal for an animated series which ran for 39 episodes on ITV and went onto air in the States and Canada.
The first series attracted 1.5 million viewers but it was the money-spinning marketing deals, including Budgie fridge magnets, Easter eggs, underwear, cutlery, bubble bath, soft-pile rugs, foil balloons and chocolate cake, that made Fergie a fortune.
In 1996, Fergie went on to publish two additional children’s books, aimed at seven-to eleven-year-olds, titled The Royal Switch and Bright Lights, dedicating the novels to ‘my best friends’, her daughter’s Beatrice and Eugenie.
And more than a decade later, in 2008, she teamed up with New York Times bestselling illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser for her children’s book Tea for Ruby.
Following in the Duchess’ footsteps, Meghan released a children’s book, titled The Bench, in 2021 at a cost of £12.99.
Inspired by a poem she wrote for Prince Harry’s first Father’s Day the month after their son Archie was born, the novel sought to explore the ‘special bond between father and son’ as ‘seen through a mother’s eyes’.
The striking resemblances do not stop there – with Fergie’s release of a range of products in 2020, including a tea and biscuit set, pin brooch and facemask, bearing an acute resemblance to Meghan’s notorious As Ever brand
Perhaps in keeping with her husband’s British roots, Meghan debuted her As Ever brand in April, featuring a range of products including jam and several variations of herbal tea. The items were reportedly sold out within half an hour of going live
However, unlike the wealth of success Fergie reaped, Meghan’s book failed to hit the UK Official Top 50 chart in its first week, selling just 3,212 copies.
The title did, however, land the top spot as the UK’s best-selling picture book the previous week, with industry experts suggesting that the Duchess could have commanded a £500,000 advance alone.
Given the success of her previous publications, and having reportedly accumulated a £4.2million overdraft at the time of her divorce, in 1995, Fergie threw protocol to the wind and began writing her autobiography, My Story, co-authored by New Yorker writer Jeff Coplon.
It earned her an advance of £800,000 and made it into the top three in American bestseller lists.
And while Meghan is yet to have released an autobiography herself, the world of self-written novels that delve into the intimate details of one’s life is not an unfamiliar phenomenon to the Duchess.
Indeed, her beloved husband, Prince Harry, released his own explosive memoir, Spare, in January 2023.
The hardback edition broke records at bookshops, serving as Britain’s best-selling book of the year, with more than 750,000 copies sold in the UK in its first week alone.
It included controversial claims of being physically attacked by Prince William, a revelation that he had killed 25 Taliban members during the Afghanistan war, admissions of taking drugs including cannabis and magic mushrooms, and losing his virginity in a field behind a pub to a cougar ‘horse enthusiast’ aged 17.
The Daily Mail’s Sarah Vine reported: ‘They both demand, and expect, the absolute vippiest of VIP treatment, at all times’. Pictured: The Duchess of York sat front row at the Mercedes-Benz show at New York Fashion Week 2007, alongside Donald Trump and his wife Melania.
Just last week, Meghan made a public appearance at Paris Fashion Week, cutting an elegant figure in a stylish white oversized button-through ensemble at the Balenciaga show
And the striking resemblances do not stop there – with Fergie’s release of a range of products, including a tea and biscuit set, pin brooch and facemask, bearing an acute resemblance to Meghan’s notorious As Ever brand.
The Duchess’ ‘Brew For The Crew’, featuring 80 English teabags and four packets of salted caramel and chocolate chip biscuits branded ‘Duchess’, came at an eye-watering cost of £35, or even just £20 for the teabags alone.
Her branded items, which also included a cotton children’s face mask featuring her Budgie the Helicopter children’s book character costing £12 — were sold in 2020 on a website called Duchess Collection.
However, while the profits made from Meghan’s As Ever brand are entirely intended to fund the Duchess’ lifestyle, Fergie’s collection was purely charitable – designed to help support frontline workers and local heroes during the pandemic.
Perhaps in keeping with her husband’s British roots, Meghan debuted her As Ever brand in April, featuring a range of products including jam and several variations of herbal tea. The items were reportedly sold out within half an hour of going live.
The Duchess later followed up the launch with an apricot spread and another honey, before expanding into the world of alcohol when she dropped her own wine – the 2023 and 2024 Napa Valley Rosé.
Aside from the release of books and products for public consumption, eagle-eyed royal fanatics may also notice that the two Duchess’ have also leaned into the glitz and glamour that accompanies a life in the public eye.
As the Daily Mail’s Sarah Vine previously reported: ‘This is something that comes up time and time and again in private conversations with people who know or have known them both over the years’.
Backstage, Fergie was tended to by an exclusive glam squad in 2005. Unafraid of a scandal and more than happy to rock the boat of the steady institution of the monarchy, both Duchesses appear, at least somewhat, to have been cut from the same cloth
In preparation for Meghan’s first appearance on European soil for more than two years, behind the scenes footage showed the Duchess’ glamorous prep for the show, capturing glimpses of the team who worked tirelessly to help her achieve her desired look
She adds: ‘They both demand, and expect, the absolute vippiest of VIP treatment, at all times’.
Continuing to revel in celebrity-esc public appearances – the Duchess of York was pictured in 2007 sat front row at the Mercedes-Benz show at New York Fashion Week, alongside Donald Trump and his wife Melania.
Backstage, Fergie was tended to by an exclusive glam squad, while she also occupied a front row seat at the Dolce & Gabbana runway show in 2004 alongside American model and actress Amber Valletta.
In a similar vein, just last week, Meghan made a public appearance at Paris Fashion Week, cutting an elegant figure in a stylish white oversized button-through ensemble at the Balenciaga show.
Appearing amongst high-profile celebrity guests such as Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, FKA Twigs and Anne Hathaway, Meghan had her own catwalk moment as she channeled her inner supermodel in front of numerous cameras while exiting the star-studded show.
In preparation for her first appearance on European soil for more than two years, behind the scenes footage showed the Duchess’ glamorous prep for the show, capturing glimpses of the team who worked tirelessly to help her achieve her desired look.
Unafraid of a scandal and more than happy to rock the boat of the steady institution of the monarchy, both Duchesses appear, at least somewhat, to have been cut from the same cloth.
Perhaps indicative of the fact that life as a working Royal was never truly the right fit for Fergie, during 1987, she was reported to have undertaken just 55 public engagements, compared to the Princess Royal’s 429.
Meanwhile, Meghan also faced resembling public criticism in 2018 having, according to the Court Circular, carried out 28 engagements. The figure came to14 less than the amount undertaken by the Duchess of Cambridge during the year she gave birth.
But despite the vast number of acute similarities noted between the two Royal women, ultimately the chances of a firm friendship between the pair seems unlikely.
After making things official with Meghan, Harry claimed in Spare that he wanted Fergie to be the first royal to meet her – and the group even enjoyed drinks at the Royal Lodge together.
However despite Meghan’s close friendship with Fergie’s daughter Eugenie, and the fact they have attended a number of weddings, as well as the Queen’s funeral, together, in 2023, Fergie claimed she ‘doesn’t really know Meghan’ and they ‘haven’t really met’.
