‘It’s about love, not judgment of race’: Duchess of York’s Christmas message to Royal family
The Duchess of York has said that Christmas is about “no judgment of race, creed or colour, just love”.
Sarah Ferguson, 64, made the remarks when asked if the entire Royal family would be able to come together again during the festive season in the spirit of the holiday.
Speaking to Lorraine Kelly on her breakfast programme, the Duchess said: “I feel strongly the greatest gift you can give today is understanding, no judgment, no race, creed, colour or any other domination, just love. There’s no better gift than love.”
She made the comments about race amid continued fallout over accusations of racism in the Royal family.
It was claimed that the King and the Princess of Wales were the members of the Royal family who had remarked on the skin colour of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s son, Prince Archie.
The so-called racism row first emerged over a letter Meghan sent to the King in 2021. The alleged names of those involved were published in the Dutch translation of a new book, Endgame, by Omid Scobie, last week.
On Tuesday morning, Lorraine asked Prince Andrew’s ex-wife whether “the whole family, all of you, will be able to have Christmas together”, since the festive season “brings people together and that’s what it should do”.
The Duchess responded by saying she “couldn’t agree more”, before pointedly adding that there should be no “judgment of race” but just love.
She said: “If we watch enough of these Christmas movies and sing enough of these Christmas songs... Can we just all have love, forgiveness and happiness and joy?”
“People say to me, you don’t wear your heart on your sleeve, Fergie or Sarah, you wear it all over your body because that’s what I am. I really believe you can give love.”
Lorraine also asked if she minded people calling her Fergie and she said, “I like it, I like anything”.
‘I’m all about positivity’
The Duchess, who is recovering from breast cancer, gave an update on her health, saying: “I’m doing well… I’m all about positivity and I feel the potential of optimism is what I would love for everyone to come away from this show with.”
Meanwhile, senior Royals will put on a united front on Tuesday evening as they will be pictured together at a diplomatic reception for the first time since being thrust into the heart of the row.
The Sussexes have so far declined to publicly defend their relatives and the publisher has also remained tight-lipped about how the names emerged in the Dutch version of Scobie’s book.
Senior advisers from Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace were due to hold high-level discussions this week about how to respond.
Lorraine is scheduled weekdays from 9am on ITV1 and ITVX.