Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York

Sarah Ferguson's Key Accomplishments Include . . .
The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, is the second daughter of the late Major Ronald Ferguson and his former wife, the late Mrs. Hector Barrantes. The Duchess of York married Prince Andrew, second son of Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey in 1986. The Duke and Duchess of York have two daughters, Princess Beatrice Elizabeth Mary of York and Princess Eugenie Victoria Helena of York.

The Duke and Duchess divorced in 1996 and for the past 12 years Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York, has successfully balanced motherhood, health advocacy and charity work, with a diverse and challenging international career.

In her presentations, the Duchess talks candidly about her life and how she coped with the most challenging times: her parents’ divorce, her sudden catapult into the spotlight of the world stage, her brief honeymoon period with the international press before the ensuing years of vilification at the hands of the British media, the tragic death of loved ones, and most recently, re-building her U.S. charity after its New York offices were destroyed in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

In 2006 the Duchess founded Hartmoor, a lifestyle and media company based in New York that is devoted to promoting wellness and supporting motherhood. The company earmarks a portion of its profits for charity through the Sarah Ferguson Foundation. It is the Duchess’s vision to pursue successful business ventures that will in turn, have a positive social impact.

More About The Duchess of York . . .
In 2007 the American Cancer Society named the Duchess of York its organization’s Mother of the Year. That same year, the Duchess established the Sarah Ferguson Foundation in New York to fund programs that aid children and families in dire need. In 1993 the Duchess founded Children in Crisis, based in London, and she remains active its mission to provide aid to forgotten children around the world. The Duchess recently toured CIC projects in Poland, Albania, Sierra Leone and Russia.

For ten years, the Duchess of York has served as U.S. spokesperson for Weight Watchers International, Inc. The Duchess remains a popular role model for millions who struggle with weight management and in recent years she has emerged as an international voice on healthy weight.

Since 2005 the Duchess has served as a Global Ambassador for World Children’s Day, an international campaign produced by Ronald McDonald House Charities.  In 2004, The Duchess became a spokesman for SOS Children’s Villages, the world’s largest independent, non-political child welfare organization providing stability for abandoned and abused children.

The Duchess was a founding supporter of The American Cancer Society’s “Great American Weigh In”, an annual campaign (modeled after the Society’s “Great American Smoke Out”) aimed at raising awareness of the link between excess weight and cancer. In March 2003 she joined the American Cancer Society at a congressional briefing.

In Britain, The Duchess is a long-standing patron to a number of British charities, including the Teenage Cancer Trust and the Motor Neurone Disease Association. 

In mid-2008 the Duchess will publish her first historical romance novel called Hartmoor, which is set in 1812 and draws vividly on her own noble ancestry in Ireland.

The Duchess is also a popular children’s author. Among her titles:  The Adventures of Little Red; A book and video/TV series about Budgie the Helicopter; and two books for young readers called The Royal Switch and Bright Lights.

For Weight Watchers, the Duchess of York published: Energy Breakthrough; Reinventing Yourself; Win the Weight Game; Dieting with The Duchess; Dining with The Duchess 

In 1996 The Duchess published her best-selling autobiography My Story. In January 2003, the Duchess published: What I Know Now: Simple Lessons Learned the Hard Way. 

The Duchess co-wrote two authoritative books about the travels of Queen Victoria with historian Benita Stoney. 

The Duchess is a special correspondent to NBC’s Today Show for which she presents inspiring segments for a series called “From the Heart.”

She has also served a guest-host for programs such as CNN’s Larry King Live and ABC’s The View. In Britain, the Duchess has served as guest editor on BBC Radio 4 “Today” program and regularly contributes to BBC Radio 2’s primetime lifestyle show “Steve Wright”. Previously she co-produced and served as presenter in a documentary for BBC television called “In Search of the Spirit

 The Duchess of York will have a producing role in the latest Martin Scorsese film about the early years of Queen Victoria’s rule.

• Overcoming Adversity
  

  Sarah Ferguson has faced numerous obstacles during her extraordinary life and in this very personal speech she talks candidly about some of her most formidable challenges: her parent’s acrimonious divorce, her difficulty adjusting to official life as The Duchess of York, her despair over the unrelentingly vicious British press, the heartbreaking failure of her own marriage and the burden of massive personal debt she took on as a single working mother. Sarah credits her faith, values, and devotion to family, for enabling her to navigate crisis and grow from life’s experiences. * The Duchess will present this speech with a selection of family and news photos that provide a fascinating behind-the-scenes view of her life.

• My Road to an Authentic Life
  

  Sarah Ferguson describes herself a born people-pleaser. When her marriage into Britain’s royal family thrust her onto the world stage, she says her seeming inability to please everyone caused her to lose confidence and direction. Following her divorce in 1995 the Duchess says the process of starting a new life helped her to refocus, rebuild her esteem, and find the inner peace she thought she’d lost. In this speech the Duchess uses personal accounts to dramatize the differences between her former “inauthentic” life and the “authentic” life she lives today. * The Duchess will present this speech with a selection of family and news photos that provide a fascinating behind-the-scenes view of her life.

• Motherhood & The Spirit of Caring
  

  Nature provides mothers with a powerful instinct for caring. In this speech the Duchess shares her views on motherhood, based on her unique perspective as a hands-on mother of two royal princesses, as well as from her experiences as an international humanitarian who has witnessed extraordinarily caring and courageous mothers all over the world. * The Duchess will present this speech with a selection of family and news photos that provide a fascinating behind-the-scenes view of her life.

• Risk & Self Discovery
  

  Sarah Ferguson says that on the first day of her divorce it was as if all doors suddenly slammed shut. “If my marriage in a fishbowl had been disorienting, divorce for me was like being cut adrift in a raging sea.” Faced with a staggering personal debt and with two young daughters to raise, one thing was certain: Sarah needed to go out and earn a living; and to do that she began commuting to work in America where she said people gave her a “second chance” and encouraged her to take risks while building a new career. In this inspiring speech the Duchess talks about how she broke with the past and learned to embrace risk for personal growth. * The Duchess will present this speech with a selection of family and news photos that provide a fascinating behind-the-scenes view of her life.