Will Prince Andrew be the Duchess of York's key supporter as she recovers after breast cancer operation?

Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, who is 63, is recuperating at Royal Lodge in Windsor, Berkshire, with her family after undergoing a single mastectomy following a breast cancer diagnosis. After having the operation at King Edward V11 hospital in London (which is renowned for treating the royal family), she is now recovering at home. 

Ahead of her breast cancer operation, the Duchess of York discussed the procedure in her new podcast, Tea Talk. “I want every single person that is listening to this podcast to go and get checked,” she said.

Sarah Ferguson went on to say that “!’m taking this a real gift to me to change my life to nurture myself.” She also said: “I can’t make another excuse. I have to go through this operation and I have to be well and strong. And therefore no choice is the best choice.”

The BBC reported that “She had been ‘symptom-free’ before the screening and the statement said she ‘believes her experience underlines the importance of real screening.”

The Duchess of York is recuperating at Royal Lodge in Windsor, where she still lives with former husband Prince Andrew. Although the couple divorced in 1996 after being married for 10 years, they still remain incredibly close. 

The Duchess of York has always stayed incredibly loyal to Prince Andrew and this was demonstrated only a few months ago when she sat down with Glamour editor Samantha Barry to discuss her book in New York. Although she was reluctant to discuss him in detail, she did refer to him as ‘a good man.’ 

Prince Andrew has of course fallen from grace in recent years after he was caught up in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. After his disastrous Newsnight interview, he revealed that he was stepping back from royal duties and had asked the then Queen for permission to withdraw for the ‘foreseeable future.’

Despite all this, the Duchess of York has remained steadfastly loyal to her former husband and Prince Andrew, along with their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, is said to be helping support Sarah Ferguson with her recovery at home.

The Duchess of York will need the support of her ex-husband and two daughters as her oldest sister Jane lives in Australia with her partner Ramin Marzbani. Despite the distance, the two sisters are reportedly very close. 

On National Siblings Day in the past, Sarah Ferguson has paid tribute to her older sister and said: “There is nobody like my @janeferguson.7 She is a dream of a sibling (not a pain!). My sister makes my world so bright and I somehow accept when she says I am not right.;"

Jane and Sarah are the daughters of Major Ronald Ferguson and Susan Barrantes, the couple divorced in 1974. The Duchess of York’s parents have both passed away, Susan Barrantes tragically died in a car accident at the age of 61 in 1998 whilst Major Ronald Ferguson passed away in 2003.

Sarah and Jane also have half siblings as Major Ronald Ferguson went on to have three more children, Andrew, Alice and Elizabeth, with his second wife Susan Deptford. 

Have any other members of the royal family suffered from breast cancer?

According to her biographer William Shawcross, the late Queen Elizabeth 11’s mother, known as The Queen Mother, suffered from breast cancer in her eighties  as well as colon cancer when she was in her sixties. In 1966, she had an operation to remove a tumour from her colin and 18 years later, had a cancerous tumour removed from her breast.

Like the Duchess of York, The Queen Mother was treated both times at the King Edward V11 hospital. The Queen Mother died in 2002 at the age of 101.