For the first time since her mother, Sarah Ferguson, was diagnosed with breast cancer and skin cancer just seven months apart, her eldest daughter Princess Beatrice is speaking publicly about her health, an update given during an appearance on the U.K. talk show This Morning.
Per People, Beatrice was actually in New York City for the interview, taping the segment on the top of the Empire State Building. The chat highlighted Beatrice’s support for The Outward Bound Trust, an educational charity that works to empower young people through challenging learning expeditions; the organization was once supported by Beatrice’s grandfather, the late Prince Philip. Beatrice was on top of the Empire State Building for a reason, as the charity had organized the first-ever rappel off of the building as a fundraiser.
During the conversation, Beatrice said that her mother—known formally as the Duchess of York and more informally as Fergie—was “all clear” following her cancer one-two punch of the past year. “She’s such a phenomenal icon,” Beatrice said to the ITV show’s co-hosts Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle. “As a mum, she’s been amazing. She’s been through so much, and her sense of purpose and resilience really keeps me going.”
Beatrice continued “She’s doing really well. She’s had a bumpy health scare last year, but all clear now. At 64, she’s thriving. She’s been through so much, but I think really now she’s coming into her own. We’re just reminded when any parent or individual has a health scenario, just really get the checks that you need to get as early as you possibly can.”
Beatrice is the elder of Prince Andrew and Fergie’s two daughters, and is extremely close to her younger sister, Princess Eugenie. “Both my sister and I are so proud of her for taking those steps to get those checks, and it really modeled our health considerations on that,” Beatrice said, adding “There’s nothing more important than family.” (In addition to her birth family of four, Beatrice married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in 2020, and in doing so became a stepmother to his son, Wolfie; together they share daughter Sienna, who was born in 2021.)
Fergie was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in January, just six months after treatment for breast cancer and undergoing breast reconstruction surgery, Hello reports. In January, a spokesperson for the Duchess of York said that “Her dermatologist asked that several moles were removed and analyzed at the same time as the Duchess was undergoing reconstructive surgery following her mastectomy, and one of these has been identified as cancerous,” they said. “She is undergoing further investigations to ensure that this has been caught in the early stages. Clearly, another diagnosis so soon after treatment for breast cancer has been distressing, but the Duchess remains in good spirits.”
Fergie told Hello of her daughters “They support me through thick and thin, not least my recent illness,” she said. “We call each other ‘The Tripod’ because we prop each other up, come what may.”
Royal commentator Phil Dampier told The Daily Mail that “Beatrice and her sister Eugenie are always very happy to talk about their mother, to whom they are very close,” he said, adding that “they are inseparable and always support each other through thick and thin.”
Beatrice is one of only two members of the British royal family—the other being her late aunt, Princess Diana—who has ever attended a Met Gala. Though in New York City yesterday on the day of the Met, Bea wasn’t in attendance like she was six years ago, when she made her Met debut in purple Alberta Ferretti. At that time in 2018, she was living in the Big Apple, and opened up during her This Morning interview about her love for the city. “New York for me, when I was figuring out my life and what I wanted to do, New York gave me a place to have a job and just get on with it,” she said. “So New York has always sort of had a special place for me and for mum, as well. She came out here, started her charity back in the day. So New York for us has always been a great city to spend some time in.”
She added that her “little ones” are “phenomenally about coming to travel” but said she “hasn’t yet braved the international flight” with her daughter, who will turn three in September.
