Sarah Ferguson has paid tribute to Princess Diana on her birthday.
Ferguson took to Instagram to mark the late princess’s 63rd birthday, posting a photo of the pair smiling together on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the Battle of Britain Remembrance Parade in September 1990.
“Happy birthday to my dear friend Diana. You were a beacon of light and love, and the legacy you leave behind is truly amazing,” she wrote in the caption. “I will forever remember our laughter and the kind, gentle spirit I found in you. I am sure you are always watching over us. Rest in peace, my friend.”
When Diana married Prince Charles and Fergie married Prince Andrew, the two were very close as members of the royal family. But their friendship goes back much further. They first met when Diana was 14 and Fergie was 15.
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Sarah Ferguson celebrated the late Princess Diana’s birthday with an Instagram post. (Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty Images)
“Her mother and my mother went to the same school, and they were very close friends,” Ferguson said on her podcast “Tea Talks with the Duchess and Sarah” in June 2023. “And Diana was my cousin. You know, it’s really amazing that we ended up together.”
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The two joined the royal family a few years apart: Princess Diana married the current Prince Charles in July 1981, and Ferguson married Prince Andrew five years later in July 1986.
After marrying Prince Andrew, Ferguson became the Duchess of York, and on the podcast she admitted she often looked up to Diana while learning about her job.
“I remember when I first became a princess as Duch (Diana’s nickname), I watched her work the room and I copied her. I copied the way she did it. She was incredible,” she explained. “She just went in with her heart. She put her heart into it, she had energy, she left it all at the door.”
Both Ferguson and Diana eventually divorced their royal husbands. (Jane Fincher/Princess Diana Archives/Getty Images)
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Both women eventually divorced their royal husbands in 1996, with Diana and Charles’ divorce finalising in August of that year and Ferguson and Andrew’s in May.
A year later, Princess Diana tragically died in a car accident in Paris at the age of 36. An estimated 2.5 billion people watched as young Princes William and Harry walked behind their mother’s coffin at her funeral, which was broadcast live around the world.
“There’s nothing like it,” William said of his mother’s death in the 2017 HBO documentary “Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy.” “There’s nothing like it. It was like an earthquake had just torn through the house and the life and everything. It completely tore apart your spirit. And it took a while for it to really sink in.”
In March 2024, William spoke at the Diana Award ceremony at the Science Museum in London. According to the website, the main goal of the program is to encourage people working for humanitarian and social change.
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Prince William remembered his mother when he spoke at the Diana Awards ceremony in March 2024. (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
During his speech at the event, Prince William spoke about the legacy his mother left to the public and to him personally.
“She taught us that everyone has the potential to give something back. Everyone in need deserves a helping hand in their life,” he said. “That legacy is something Catherine and I have tried to focus on through our work, and it is also something that the 50,000 young people who have received a Diana Award over the past 25 years have done.”
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