Sarah Ferguson says she feels 'proud' to have launched new career as an author in her 60s
Sarah Ferguson has shared how "proud" she feels at successfully forging a new career as a best-selling author in her 60s.
The Duchess of York, 63, noted how "liberating" it felt to establish herself in the literary world after previously being predominantly known as a member of the Royal Family.
Speaking to OK! magazine, she said: "I feel very proud to have embarked on a new career in my sixties.
"Not many people get that opportunity. Now having married into the Royal Family isn’t my only claim to fame, I’m an author who has made The Sunday Times Bestsellers List.
"It feels like this is my time. It is very liberating.”
The duchess, who was married to the late Queen's son Prince Andrew from 1986 to 1996, has written more than 20 books.
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In recent years, she has garnered positive reviews for her novels including Her Heart for a Compass, When I Heard The Birds Sing and A Most Intriguing Lady.
The former royal also opened up about how her childhood mental wellbeing was impacted by her mother leaving her to move to Argentina when she was just 13 years old.
She said: “I think looking back on it, my parents’ separation and my mother’s decision to leave us and move to South America had a profound impact on me.
"I don’t know if it would now be called post-traumatic stress disorder, but certainly my mental health suffered."
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The duchess – who is mother to Princess Beatrice, 34, and Princess Eugenie, 33, and a grandmother-of-two – revealed that she is now "very comfortable in talking about my emotions".
She added: "I encourage my girls to be the same, but that is not how I was brought up. In some ways I actually thank my mother now for leaving, because it made me absolutely determined never to do anything like that to my own children.”
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